While out hunting, a Japanese nobleman accidently crosses the border to a neighboring fief. He is confronted by officials of the offended noble who, seeing the rank of the hunter (he’s Nariatsu, the son of the former Shogun) decide to let him go with a warning. Rather than being please with their decision, Nariatsu responds by shooting an arrow into the eye of the lead official, a move that sparks a war which nobody but Nariatsu thinks is necessary. So, it’s up to a band of rogue samurai to come up with a plan to stop Nariatsu before the war can begin. The story may be familiar, especially to fans of the other two films in the trilogy from director Eiichi Kudo (13 Assassins and The Great Killing) but the fight of the poor and suppressed to over throw tyrants never gets old, particularly when it’s fought by samurai. Shot in gorgeous black and white by cinematographer Sadaji Yoshida (Return of the Street Fighter), the film is both stylish action-packed.
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