The Sword of Doom (1966)

[thatguy]

This isn't a review. I just noticed that Cinema SF is showing this at the Balboa in SF

SAMURAI SUNDAY ~ THE SWORD OF DOOM (1966) 

• Sunday, May 18, 2025
  

Merciless swordsman Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai) is a government assassin in feudal Japan who has no remorse and no moral code. When he is scheduled to participate in a friendly fencing contest, he ends up killing his competitor. Next, after a fight with his own mistress, he murders her and deserts their infant son. Later, while spending the night in a haunted geisha house, he sees the specters of all of his victims and spirals into madness, leaving a bloodbath in his wake.

It must be good. It has sword AND doom in the title...

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

It’s awesome

I think it’s on criterion.

[Drunk Monk]

Rewatched because after I posted my endorsement, I couldn’t quite remember what this was about. I only remembered the final fight, which is ridiculous as Nakadai fights through a horde of samurai, and snow fight where Mifune just tears through some ronin assassins. 

It kinda bugs me that this is B&W as it’s several years after the Samurai Trilogy and that’s all in color. Nakadai plays the psycho ronin with an unconventional sword style that makes him unbeatable. He’s an anti-hero, a drunk raping murderer with little redeeming qualities. It begins with the senseless murder of an old pilgrim that triggers a karmic tale of woe, dishonor and political intrigue. Nakadai is solid in the role with his bulging eyes and rbf. It’s a perfect role for him. It got a tad confusing because there are a lot of characters and their hairstyles set them apart until they don’t. I got a few characters twisted because some appear similar. There aren’t that many sword fights, but the two mentioned earlier and great - long one-er sequences requiring both Nakadai & Mifune to deliver long complicated long single shot takes - beautiful to watch as they have very different sword styles. Another Bechdel fail with the female characters. I fixing notice that so much as I was watching it, but in retrospect, it got very obvious. Nevertheless, this is a true classic of the genre.

Seen on criterion 

D00M recommended