Sword OF Doom/ Samurai Films ?

[billy bentley]

Just watched "Sword Of Doom" on DVD and for me something of a confusing experience. I found it fascinating and upsetting. I'm not sure I could sustain such a diet of violence on a regular basis. Are all the classic Samurai films like this ? I'm no peacenik when it comes to watching flicks, but this unsettled me. Any comments ?

[will.15]

I'm no expert on samurai movies and haven't seen that one, but I don't recall Seven Samurai as excessively violent.

[Steve Crook]

name='will.15']I'm no expert on samurai movies and haven't seen that one, but I don't recall Seven Samurai as excessively violent.

It depends on what you call excessive



It's nowhere near as bloody and violent as Kurosawa's Throne of Blood which is based on Macbeth)



But Kurosawa's films aren't generally very violent whereas some other samurai films can be.



Steve

[billy bentley]

I wasn't thinking of Seven Samurai, with which like most folks at Britmovie I am very familiar with. I have also seen Yojimbo and the other flick that became a Leone western. Sword Of Doom is an my opinion an entirely different "beast" and i wonder how it compares to other Samurai films, that were essentially made for the Japanese market ?

[will.15]

I suspect they got progressively violent in the 1960s because action movies in general became more violent. The Wild Bunch could not have been made a decade earlier.

[mark666]

I found 'Sword of Doom' to be rather downbeat and dragged a bit towards the end. I really enjoyed the 'Lone Wolf & Cub' and 'Zatoichi' films but Lone Wolf is more violent than Sword of Doom. A lot of Samurai films are violent but sword fighting is what they are about and as these films depict a time where most women are slaves and men can kill virtually as they choose then human life is not valued. Watch Samurai films made before the 60's if you are concerned with grafik violence but even then lots of people get killed.

[Timmy_Lea]

If you want to see a very different, & probably more accurate, take on Samurai's then try Yoji Yamada's movies The Twilight Samurai, The Hidden Blade, Love & Honour.

[billy bentley]

Thanks Messrs. 666 & Lea. i don't think it was authenticity I was hoping for, (although I plan to watch at least one of Timmy's recommendations) as much as my concern about the possible voyeurism of the violence ? The Wild Bunch is a favourite of mine, but they didn't kill everyone that ever crossed their paths. The Sword Of Doom is beautifully acted, staged and shot and for me at the same time repellent (a la too violent) - perhaps that was the film makers point ?

[will.15]

The 47 Ronin



Are you familiar with this? A lot of movies and television adaptations have been made.