It's no definitive masterpiece but it's damn close.

It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

As others have mentioned, this is a solid film about corruption among feudal samurai. The acting and cinematography are both good and the evolution in the characters throughout the film is solid. The action scenes, while not all too common, are very frenetic and gripping.It is easy to see why this was a Criterion release. There are certainly a number of good samurai movies, but this one isn't like all the others. The title may easily be confused in English with "Sword of Doom" and the protagonist does look quite a bit like Tatsuya Nakadai, but these movies and their themes are completely different. The movie also stayed with me after watching it. It left me thinking about cults, fraternities and clans. Individuals who dedicate themselves most selflessly to a cause or group, aren't they the easiest group members to sacrifice?

Near the end of the Edo Period and on the eve of the Meiji Restoration Japan was a country entrenched in Civil War. Conservative factions supporting the Shogunate and Revisionist factions supporting the Emperor fought each other for the future of the country. Like most revolutionists, Yuuki Gennosuke was quite young and full of ideals when he slew a conservative counselor. However, instead of receiving a higher position after his daring deed, Gennosuke is forced to become a bandit and is pursued by the daughter and son-in-law of the slain counselor.With only his swords and his wits to protect him, Gennosuke continuously flees his pursuers to keep alive. Having abandoned the samurai code, Gennosuke incorporates every method to save his own skin. However, because his pursuers have been granted permission to seek a vendetta against him, vendettas were only official if given government approval, they can also use whatever means necessary to seek their revenge. Heading deeper into the wilderness, Gennosuke learns from a petty vagabond that a nearby mountain is covered in gold. Having to support himself for his life on the run, Gennosuke agrees to help the man acquire some gold. However, it is illegal to search for gold on the mountain and also Gennosuke and his partner are not the only two on the mountain searching for gold… Part of the Criterion Collection's Rebel Samurai Collection, The Sword of the Beast takes the samurai ethics displayed in such classics like Inagaki Hiroshi's Miyamoto Musashi and turns it on its head. Loyalty to friends and loved ones is sacrificed for wealth and in one case with Jurota and his wife Taka the pact of marriage is of lower worth than gold. Full of action and several well done swordfights, Sword of the Beast is not to be missed by fans of samurai cinema, however, for the common viewer Kobayashi Masaaki's Hara-kiri or the samurai films of Kurosawa Akira would be a better place to start.

On the surface this may seem like a typical samurai action flick but like Kurosawa and Kobyashi films there are many social implications beneath the surface.The movie seems to revolve around the irony that while Gennosuke, the main character who is basically cast out of society in to the wild and forced to constantly fight for his survival like an animal, is actually the only character that tries to show any qualities above that of a beast.Every other character from a group of bandits he encounters to the group of clansmen trying to exact revenge after Gennosuke killed their leader, to a man and his wife from a separate clan trying to steal gold to improve their clan status are either acting for revenge, power, or greed. The greed exists because most of the movie takes place around a mountain where gold has just been discovered and Gennosuke is befriended by a poor man hoping to find some for himself.Throughout the movie there is constant backstabbing, deception, and generally brutal acts committed by a multitude of these characters. For instance the man from a separate clan living with his wife on a shack by the river are attacked by bandits in the woods trying to steal the gold they have already mined; they hold the wife hostage in demand for his booty but the man would rather give up his wife then part with his gold. Her saving grace is when Gennosuke shows up on the the scene and acts with the courage and compassion to save her life. The husband does come around a little later in the movie but in the end his rival clan plans to kill everyone on the mountain and save the gold for themselves threatening the couple, Gennosuke, and his persuers.Gosha does a great job with his imagery, demonstrating a wild, dark world threatening to swallow humans whole. Throughout the film, which is almost all outdoors are scenes of men disappearing into woods or buried beneath shrubbery. In fact, it's quite reminiscent of another Japanese Classic, Rashamon. Some of the shots are virtually identical, ie the sun being concealed over the forest canopy or disappearing behind a mountain.One of the best touches is towards the end when soldiers from the rival clan are planning to take the mountain, and kill anyone who knows about the gold. One of them sounds a battle horn to signal the approach, a battle horn made to sound conspicuously like some kind of strange animal call.

One of Gosha's earlier movies, it contains all the elements that made him a "chambara" director to be admired and emulated: Well-composed and thoughtful cinematography, a cynical view of authority (with certain implications for modern Japanese society), human drama, and OF COURSE, some excellent swordplay!Certainly a solid and watchable samurai drama, both for "popcorn" and "cinema" appeal. I'd see Goyokin and/or Hitokiri first, but see this one next!