Let's be realistic.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

This is one of these long forgotten obscure films that was very popular amongst my peers back in the day . . My peers were of course schoolboys in their early teens and when you're that age a film's quality is almost down to gore , swearing . nipple count and other low brow criteria . This means the greatest urban vigilante film wasn't TAXI DRIVER but THE EXTERMINATOR with its graphic scenes of mutilation and torture . By the same yardstick the greatest Japanese film wasn't by Kurosawa or Kobayashi but this one here . I didn't see it when it hit home video in the early 1980s where it subsequently banned circa 1983/84 but was constantly told about it by people who enjoyed seeing limbs and heads getting lopped off . After just seeing it I can't help thinking nostalgia plays a primary part in its very high user rating on this website There's no way you can accuse THE SHOGUN ASSASSIN in being boring but at the same time you can't accuse of being anything more than disposable exploitation schlock . Looking through the Movie Connection link on this page it's apparently three earlier films spliced together and dubbed in to English . One wonders how much milage there was in the previous films because story wise this one a very basic revenge tale with episodic fight scenes that go over the top . It's not enough to merely stab or decapitate someone and they must shoot a stream of blood . You know when you get a garden hose and put your finger over the nozzle and the water comes out in a high pressure spray ? Well that what happens here after a sword fight . It does become clearer and clearer the longer the film continues that is all the film rarely contains , a repetitive series of gory sword fights . Bare that in mind if you want to seek out the film due to its high rating . One also might have feared for a customer going in to a video shop in the early 1980s seeing the title and taking it home thinking it was somehow connected to the mini-series SHOGUN starring Richard Chamberlain . It's hardly family friendly but at the same time the violence is so silly and overdone it resembles MONTY PYTHON rather than some of the more infamous video nasties of the era and one wonders did it really need banned ?

I imagine that many Japanese cinema purists look down on Shogun Assassin, viewing it as bastardised art, the film consisting of the juiciest bits from the first two classic Lone Wolf and Cub films edited together and re-dubbed for the US market. I, however, see the film as a fond reminder of the video nasty era when, against the wishes of the BBFC, I proudly owned an ex-rental, big box VIPCO VHS copy of the movie; it was one of the highlights of my collection, a gloriously violent saga that introduced me to the world of unflappable samurais and arterial spray, for which I will be ever grateful.Of course these days the censors have seen sense and all of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies are available in their entirety on DVD (pristine prints in their original language with English subtitles, no less); but while it's great to see the movies as the filmmakers intended, I still get a kick out of Shogun Assassin's incongruous American voice-over, grimy 80s synth score and erratic editing, elements that take me back to a time when collecting banned movies was a challenge and the viewing seemed more rewarding as a result. As soon as Daigoro's narration kicks in, I'm back in the darkened bedroom of my youth, revelling in all the stylish blood and violence wreaked by super cool rōnin for hire Ogami Itto (Tomisaburô Wakayama), enjoying the fact that I'm sampling forbidden fruit, and it tastes good.

Shogun Assassin is a combination of the first 2 movies of the "Lone Wolf and Cub" saga, this "adaptation" was intended for the American grind house circuit and British cienemas, but probably it got a release in other western countries too.Just the fact that this movie is just an adaptation, you would expect something dreadful and horrible....but it's not ! The dubbing is great, but sometimes it gets hilarious, the soundtrack is awesome and it was composed especially for the Shogun Assassin edit, not for the original movies ! The action is cool and well choreographed, with lots of sword fighting and lots of blood, including lots of bloody sword slashings, some finger chopping and decapitations ! The movie is not boring at all, check it out !

In the 19th century in Japan, a lone ronin nicknamed LoneWolf and his son travel the countryside to fight off deadly ninja assassins so he can avenge the death of his beloved wife, a powerful shogun sends out deadly minions to eliminate LoneWolf for good but can the one-man army himself deal with all of them? One of the most violent and goriest movies ever made! this Japanese-American action production is actually three films from the Japanese "LoneWolf and Cub" Series into one movie and dubbed into English. Considered a favorite of Quentin Tarantino and inspired his "Kill Bill" films, this entertaining and gory-as-hell film is a visual action feast with some laughable English dubbing ( i assume the Japanese "LoneWolf and Cub" series is better which i haven't seen) and non-stop ultraviolence such as heads split open, arms being sliced, etc.I can see why this movie has a cult following! if you want a good old fashioned Asian blood feast then maybe you should watch this.Also recommended: "Ninja Scroll", "The Toxic Avenger", "Ichi The Killer", "Riki-Oh: The Story of Ricky", "Shogun Assassin", "Kill Bill Vol. 1", "Kill Bill Vol. 2", "Fist of the North Star (Anime)", "Versus", "Battle Royale", "Cannibal Ferox", "Conan The Barbarian", "Princess Mononoke", "Street Trash", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Running Scared", "Crank", "Bad Boys 2", "Vampire Hunter D", "The Last Samurai", "Ran", "Seven Samurai", "Rashomon", "The Punisher (1989 and 2004)", "Samurai Fiction", and "Blade Trilogy".