Kihachi Okamoto (who recently passed on just last month…) cut his teeth on some crime films before directing the picture that he'd be most remembered for, Sword Of Doom (known in Japan as The Incident At Daibosatsu Pass). He also handled directorial chores on such classic swordplay films like Red Lion and Zatoichi Meets Yojimbo

Ryunosuke (with of Akira Kurosawa's Ran) is a young samurai whose emotions tend to run a little bit on the cold side. He's not exactly the friendliest of guys, but he's an expert with his sword. When it comes time for an important fencing exhibition the wife of his designated opponent, a woman named Ohama (Michiyo Aratama), asks him to throw the match. He tells her that to the samurai, the sword is as important as virtue is to a woman, alluding to what comes next – they meet under cover of the darkness, and he has his way with her. She hopes that this will convince him to throw the match, but when it comes time for the showdown, her husband becomes enraged when he finds out about their encounter and in turn uses an illegal move. Ryunosuke counters it, and his opponent ends up dead.

As the plot progresses, the brother of Ryunosuke's opponent, Hyoma Utsuki (Yuzo Kayama of Kurosawa's Red Beard), begins to chase down the young samurai after training with a master swordsman named Shimada (Japanese cinema icon, Toshiro Mifune, of The Seven Samurai). Hyoma also develops a romantic relationship with a young courtesan named Omatsu (Yoko Naito) who further entwines the destiny of the two samurai. Ryunosuke teams up with a gang of young samurai assassins and after working with them for a little while, things turn very sour leading up to the inevitable showdown that, when finally occurs, doesn't at all play out like you'd expect it to.

Sword Of Doom does an exceptional job of trailing Ryunosuke on his journey from fledgling samurai to full fledged demon. We see his character develop across the films two hour running time into something almost resembling a misguided angel of vengeance. He kills without mercy and he kills without compassion and the further along the path he travels, the more cold and the more calculating he becomes, which all culminates in the final scene in which he can no longer contain his rage or his feelings anymore and he snaps and lets it all out in one of the greatest displays of cinematic rage this side of the ending of Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch.

Every one that Ryunosuke encounters sees him as an embodiment of pure evil – like I said, a literal demon. While there's a very strong case for that, the best evidence being the first scene where, as we're introduced to Ryunosuke, he slaughters an old man out on a pilgrimage with his granddaughter (a seemingly merciless act that will come back to haunt him later in the film). Part of the reasoning behind the assumption that Ryunosuke, at least in this film, is such a bastard is because this film is only one part of a larger whole. Sword Of Doom does not adapt the entire story that was laid out in Kaizen Nakazoto's novel, which was very popular in Japan before this film was made. Without prior knowledge of the source material, one can only take the film at face value (the liner notes accompanying this DVD do a very good job of explaining this rather off phenomena). If you look past the surface of the film, and think about Ryunosuke's actions and the reasoning behind them, and you'll notice that, okay, yes, he is running around slaughtering all manner of people but none of these people are particularly innocent or, in his eyes, undeserving of what he doles out to them – hence the comparison to an angel of vengeance.

The performances in the film are solid all around, with Tatsuya Nakadai standing out in his phenomenal turn as Ryunosuke, bringing death to those who either deserve it, or ask for it (quite literally, and somewhat metaphorically). Despite the fact that he's a deplorable sort, you'll still find yourself rooting for him at the end of the film when he squares off against insurmountable odds. Toshiro Mifune, though really limited to a supporting role despite the fact that he's top billed in the opening credits (a testament to his popularity in Japan during the time that the film was made) is as reliable as always as the fencing instructor. Yuzo Kayama's character is also interesting – we should feel sorry for him and want him to avenge his brother's death and run off with the courtesan, but that doesn't happen, really - Ryunosuke remains the focus of the film throughout.

Aside from the characters, what stands out in the film are the action set pieces, and the fencing scenes. One intense moment where Ryunosuke engages in a duel without once swinging his sword is an interesting take on the samurai ideal, and goes to demonstrate how well trained some of these men were. Aside from the blood soaked finale in the room with the blinds, where Ryunosuke lashes out wildly and almost blindly against anything and everything in his way, the other beautifully staged combat sequence is shot out doors in a snowy alley. The blood and corpses make for an interesting visual and allegorical contrast against the pure white snow.

Hiroshi Murai's cinematography (the same Hiroshi Murai who worked on Yasuzo Msaumura's visually stunning Afraid To Die) is eye catching from the very beginning. He makes full use of the 2.35.1 widescreen frame and some of the way that the shots are arranged and put together shows so much intricacy and attention to detail that even if there was no dialogue whatsoever in the film, or no real story being told, the film would be a raving success based on the visuals alone. In short, this movie looks just gorgeous and the black and white film stock lends it an air of antiquity that adds yet another layer of genuine 'coolness' to the movie.

So while aspects of the story are missing or not quite capitalized on, and because of that sometimes the film plays as a little bit confusing if you don't get fully engrossed in it and pay attention, Sword Of Doom is such a wonderful looking movie that it succeeds on those visual merits alone. Add to that the fact that the central character (or anti-hero) in the form of Ryunosuke is one of cinema's coldest and coolest killers and that even by today's standards the final scene packs one Hell of an impact, then Sword Of Doom becomes essential viewing for fans of 'Samurai Cinema.'

Video:

Criterion's 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is very, very nice. It isn't perfect – there are a few spots where the grain is a little heavy, there's some mild print damage in the form of some specks here and there, and you're bound to notice some shimmering especially along the lines on characters clothing and on the blinds in some of the indoor scenes. But overall, Sword Of Doom looks pretty gosh darned good. The contrast levels are very nice and the transfer does a great job of providing very clean, distinct separation between the blacks and the whites in the image – there's never any muddying or blurring.

Compared to the Artsmagic R2 PAL release that came out in the UK awhile back, this release is a marked improvement. The UK disc didn't look bad, but it had an odd green tint that was noticeable during large parts of the film, and it wasn't an anamorphic transfer. Criterion's high definition transfer has been cleaned up considerably and the green tint that plagued the PAL release is completely absent. Criterion issued this title on laserdisc in the past, and again, this new transfer is a noticeable improvement over that release as well.