Film
What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases
Bookmark this pageLightning Swords of Death (1972)
Director: Kenji Misumi
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
Originally a popular Japanese comic strip, the Lone Wolf character in this film is the star of a whole series of hugely successful features. The lugubrious and podgy hero travels around, pushing his young son along in a wooden pram, journeying through a Japan where the samurai tradition has become debased to little more than a licence to rape and kill. It's the hero's job, of course, to define the true code in a series of episodic adventures that end in displays of amazing swordplay. Meanwhile, the kid just looks on. Best is the climax in which the Lone Wolf is confronted by the Warlord's army, about 200 strong. What to do? Start with a fusillade of rockets from the front of the pram (yes, the kid's still sitting in it), followed by dynamite hand grenades, the remaining 50-odd dispatched with spears (hidden in the pram's handles) and of course sword. Tired, wounded and as glum as at the beginning of the film, our hero staggers off, still pushing the pram. One can almost forgive the appalling dubbing.Author: CPe
Cast & crew
Director: Kenji Misumi
Cast: Tomisaburo Wakayama, Akhiro Tomikawa, Goh Kato, Yuko Hama, Fumio Watanabe full cast
Duration: 83 mins
Most popular on this site
Top Stories
Time Out's 101 Films of the Decade
Ten years, thousands of movies and millions of dollars in international box office, and it all boils down to this
Martin Provost discusses 'Séraphine'
Trevor Johnston talks to the director of 'Séraphine' about bringing a little known French painter back to life
Our verdict on Peter Jackson's The Lovely Bones
Peter Jackson ends a triumphant decade with a sentimental misfire with this lush Alice Sebold adaptation
On the set of Ken Loach's 'Route Irish'
Dave Calhoun meets Ken Loach on the set of his forthcoming Iraq war movie
Stephen Poliakoff discusses 'Glorious 39'
Stephen Poliakoff’s ‘Glorious 39’ is his first film for cinema since ‘Food of Love’ in 1997. Dave Calhoun met him
Is 'Paranormal Activity' the new 'Blair Witch'?
How does a film go from DIY experiment to box-office smash? 'Paranormal Activity' director Oren Peli explains
Steven Soderbergh on 'The Informant!' and 'The Girlfriend Experience'
We talk to Steven Soderbergh about his two forthcoming films: one featuring a porn star, the other a chubby Matt Damon
A gateway to all things 'New Moon'
In anticipation of 'The Twilight Saga: New Moon', Time Out is offering the chance to pick up a limited edition pack with three exclusive magazines and a free poster.
The films that deserve a TV spin-off
With Roland Emmerich suggesting he'd like to make a '2012' TV spin-off, we propose some more movie-to-TV serialisations
Time Out's 50 greatest animated films with commentary by Terry Gilliam
In celebration of the release of Pixar's 'Up' and Wes Anderson's 'Fantastic Mr Fox', read our rundown of fifty classic feature length animations
What do you think?
Post your review now