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Kei Sato, Tatsuya Nakadai, Toshiro Mifune

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92% liked it

4,513 ratings

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71% liked it

7 critics

Unrated, 120

Directed by: Kihachi Okamoto

Release Date: January 1, 1966

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DVD Release Date: March 15, 2005

Stats: 335 reviews

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Tatsuya Nakadai in Sword of Doom
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Flixster Reviews (335)

  • her69eyes
    August 15, 2009
    her69eyes
    "An evil sword is an evil soul."

    "The Sword of Doom" is the 1966 epic by Kihachi Okamoto, based on a novel by Kaizan Nakazato which, at the time, was considered to be the largest novel in Japan. The film comes to a strange conclusion, leaving many threads in the plot untouched. ...( read more)It was originally intended to be a three-part trilogy, but the sequels were never made. Instead, the bizarre conclusion is instead the violent slaughter of seemingly hundreds by the film's deranged samurai.

    Taking place in 19th century Japan, the film focuses on a lone samurai warrior, Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadi), a master swordsman who has adapted a style of his own. Early on, without reason, Ryunosuke murders an old man praying on a mountain pass. His daughter, Omatsu (Yoko Naito), discovers the body not long after.

    Ryunosuke is to compete in an upcoming tournament, and his first round opponent is Bunnjo Utuski (Ichiro Nakaya). Bunnjo's young wife, Ohama (Michiyo Aratama), sleeps with Ryunosuke in order for him to take the fall and retain Bunnjo's pride. Instead, however, Bunnjo learns of his wife's plot and tries to kill Ryunosuke during the match for sleeping with her. Ryunosuke kills him instead, and takes his place as the caregiver for Ohama and her child.

    Bunnjo's brother is Hyoma (Yuzo Kayama), who wants revenge on Ryunosuke following Bunnjo's death. He trains under one of the most talented swordsman in Japan, Shimada (Toshiro Mifune), who teaches Bunnjo several finishing blows for their eventual conflict. Ryunosuke doubts his talents when he sees Shimada slay a handful of gang members in a botched assassination.

    In the film's chilling climax, Ryunosuke becomes haunted by the ghosts of those he killed. They surround him in his room, and in a nearly-ten minute scene he starts slashing at the ghosts, the walls, and finally his fellow gang members. The actual bloodshed is more implied than extravagant, but the level of violence surpasses almost anything.

    The film, despite having a number of surprising turns, is easy to follow and very involving. Each performance is a good one, and the cinematography is especially memorable. Despite having such an odd conclusion that leaves so many gaps in the story, it remains a fascinating and completely unique samurai film.
  • rubystevens
    May 1, 2008
    rubystevens
    outstanding! this tale of a psychotic samurai ends rather abruptly as it was meant to be pt. 1 of a trilogy. we can only imagine how that would have turned out but pt. 1 is pretty freakin fantastic. awesome performance by tatsuya nakadai, many incredible fight scenes; the swor...( read more)d is the soul! i wish i could give it more stars :((
  • kenstachnik
    March 6, 2008
    kenstachnik
    Ryunosuke Tatsue would f@*k Anton Chigurh in prison.

    This movie is amazingly bad ass. The camera work i's like the love child of Kurosawa and Leone, simply incredible.

    A must see
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    February 3, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Tatsuya Nakadai in one of his most impressive performances in this "nihilistic" samurai film were doom indeed seems to be the only option for Ryonosuke, and everyone around him. Ruthless ending sequence.
  • mjgildea
    October 30, 2007
    mjgildea
    The first half hour of Sword of Doom is incredibly suspenseful and nothing short of brilliant. Nakadai plays Tsuke incredibly and frighteningly without blinking. The sword fights are equally nerve-wracking and phenomenal--namely the end sequence. Visually Sword of Doom is stunnin...( read more)g although it's without closure on a couple levels. But overall, violent and masterful.
  • ElCochran90
    October 23, 2009
    ElCochran90
    "The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword."

    Dai-bosatsu Tôge (1966)


    Director: Kihachi Okamoto
    Country: Japan
    Genre: Action / Drama
    Length: 119 minutes

    ...( read more)p://s712.photobucket.com/albums/ww125/ElCochran90/Decorated%20images/?action=view¤t=Film_280w_SwordDoom.jpg" target="_blank">Photobucket

    Funnily enough, I was wondering where should I have begun when I first wrote this review, staying frozen with my fingers paralized floating above my keyboard while staring at the wonderful Criterion Collection's cover of the film. This is not an ordinary film, and that is a fact. It is a brutal, uncompromising, psychologically disturbing and beautifully crafted film that purely portrays the samurai and the darkest and cruellest side of the human being. Few times have directors dared to portray such dark thematic elements in such an accurate and poetic form. Let's forget about the huge influence this movie had over several future films around the world and basically over Japanese samurai filmmaking for a while and start talking about what makes it an outstanding classic. This film has never been topped due to the type it belongs.

    Let's talk about its plot a little bit. The film is set on the second half of the 19th Century and focuses on the story of a relentless, sociopathic samurai named Ryunosuke Tsukue that, when scheduled for a match at his fencing school, meets Ohama, the wife of his opponent Bunnojo Utsuki, who begs him not to kill Bunnojo. He agrees and asks for her chastity in exchange. However, he ends up killing Bunnojo, so his brother Hyoma swears revenge and decides to enter master Shimada's fencing school. Frankly, that's all I will give away of the story.

    There are, of course, several disturbing and unique aspects of the film. The fact that the main character is a sociopathic samurai is a notoriously contrasting change in Japanese films, which normally portrayed a hero guided by moral, loyalty and discipline, like the ones portrayed in Kurosawa and Kobayashi films, whether they were valiant warriors or crafty ronins. Tatsuya Nakadai is definitely a name I will remember for the rest of my days. Although I had already seen him in several Kurosawa films before, his capacity of personifying such a cold-hearted, mentally disturbed samurai without a real man living inside him and with a rotten soul that feels no shame nor guilt, but pride and insanity, was a performance for the ages. It should be right there with the Top 10 villains of all time. His character even goes beyond a villain, but violates every single moral standard imposed in samurai philosophy.

    Overall, the performances were pretty good, and was awesome to see Toshirô Mifune once again, no matter if he played a supporting role, but Tatsuya Nakadai steals the whole show. The image of his face has permanently been glued to my mind. Kihachi Okamoto's direction surpassed any expectation I had before seeing this unusually macabre and violent film, in case I had any. The cinematography and camera placing were beautiful to look at, and the editing was just awesome. The amount of violence was certainly shocking for worldwide audiences (even Japanese) for being a 1966 film. Its style clearly influenced several other films, such as the Kozure Ôkami series and Shurayukihime (1973), but this is some of the best stuff this kind of genre has to offer. There are three major action sequences, one having Toshirô Mifune in action and a closing sequence with Nakadai's character you will never forget.

    My only complaint with this film, despite the past different versions of the story it had, are the several subplots that unfold throughout and that, naturally, do not conclude, due to the fact that this was supposed to be an entire trilogy based on the historical Kaizan Nakazato's novel, which is composed by 41 volumes (1533 chapters) and is reportedly the longest novel ever made. That's why I think it would have been interesting to actually see the trilogy completed. Despite that minor flaw, I prefer to consider this film as an independent entity from the novel and see it as a standalone masterpiece with an abrupt, but openly unconcluded ending.

    The film may shock some viewers and astonish others. I was literally left amazed and caught off guard. I shall never forget the uniqueness and cinematic influence of this Japanese treasure, for all of the reasons mentioned above. Kihachi Okamoto's best.

    94/100
  • Ponanza
    August 19, 2009
    Ponanza
    Absolutely loved Nakadai's sinister lack of sympathy for anyone else but himself. I won't leave any spoilers, but the ending is truly a tumultuous climax.
  • bastet05
    February 22, 2009
    bastet05
    I didn't quite enjoy this. A lot is built up to convince you this samurai is evil, when really, he was just a jerk and killed people that attacked him. Towards the end he was truly crazy and then ending was plain ridiculous- him killing guy after guy for about 5 minutes straight...( read more)- no joke. You get to the point where you think "this is still going on?" I was pretty disappointed for a movie that is built up to be a Japanese masterpiece. the film work was, the story, not so much. It's a shame it the anticlimatic ending was slopped together since it was building for something better.
  • idahoexploded
    December 21, 2008
    idahoexploded
    Killer Samurai movie.
  • villainforhire
    December 11, 2008
    villainforhire
    easily one of the best samurai films i've ever seen. interesting and riveting story, terrific performances, beautifully shot black & white. pity they never went ahead with the sequels.

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Critic Reviews

March 21, 2005
Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

The first rule of Shogunate Japan is, "Don't mess with The Sword of Doom." full review

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  • In the 1966 samurai film The Sword of Doom, how long did the final fight scene last approximately?  Answer »
  • What's so special about the sword Bilbo gives Frodo before he and the Fellowship set out for Mount Doom in "The Lord of the Rings?"  Answer »
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