Movie Review: Satan’s Sword Trilogy

Title: Part 1 – Daibosatsu Toge (Great Buddha Pass)
Part 2 – Ryujin no Maki (The Dragon God)
Part 3 – Kanketsu Hen (The Final Chapter)
Date: 1960’s
Staring: Ichikawa Raizo, Nakamura Tamao, and Hongo Kojiro
Directed by: Misumi Kenji

These three films tell the story of the vicious and psychotic swordsman Tsukue Ryunosuke, a man who is in possession of, and possessed by, an evil sword. It is based on the novel “Daibosatsu Toge” (“Great Buddha Pass”) one of Japan’s greatest novels.

The story within “Satan’s Sword” has been told numerous times, and anyone who has seen the movie “Sword of Doom” will instantly recognize this tale. However, where “Sword Of Doom” left viewers with a cliffhanger, this trilogy tells the complete story.

I was able to obtain the first two of these films at the same time, but it took me over three years to locate part three. That was quite frustrating since like part one, part two ended with another cliffhanger. (Part two ends with the two main characters appearing to fall over the side of a cliff while having a sword fight.) You can just imagine how I felt having no idea how things would turn out.

Sorry no spoilers here. Let’s just say there is a part three, and all the characters are back, a little more battered, yet still intent on finding their destiny.

The Satan’s Sword trilogy is a great movie experience, even though there are some flaws with the overall storyline. I’m assuming this is due to the fact that this story is very well known, and the producers and director must have thought anyone watching it would already know the story and sub plots. (This is not uncommon in Japanese cinema. It’s something that can greatly interfere with one’s Japanese cinema experience, if they don’t know the history, context, or mythology referred to in the film that makes a scene more relevant.)

Since I didn’t know the story prior to seeing the movie, there were times I felt the movie jumped around and wasn’t linear. However, once I viewed the trilogy a second time I was able to better understand all the plots and sub plots.

Clearly, knowing a little about this period in Japan’s history will also help, as a lot of the political intrigue contained within this movie is historically accurate, as are the people and places involved.

One review I read even stated that the main character is supposedly based on an actual individual named Fuda Ryuzaburo Takafumi, a swordsman of the Kogen-Itto-ryu.

Basically, the main plot of this trilogy is a story of revenge, or the hunt for revenge. The plot revolves around the unnecessary yet intentional killing of a samurai during a contest of skill. Hyoma the brother of the deceased hunts Ryunosuke, the killer, who is a psychopathic murderous swordsman.

Of course this search for revenge is set amongst the backdrop of civil war, the search for enlightenment, love, and jealousy.

Needless to say this movie trilogy is loaded with action and there are plenty of sword and spear fights. Most are very well done, and the lead actor, Ichikawa Raizo, displays some excellent skills.

The only thing I didn’t like was how the trilogy ended. I won’t give it away, but it was a let down. While it makes sense in the context of the movie, it most likely won’t be what one expects from a movie of his genre.

Like I said I really enjoyed this trilogy, and I recommend it.