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Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

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Speaker 2: Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema.

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Speaker 3: This is Rob Lamb and I am Joe McCormick, and

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Speaker 3: today we're going to be talking about a film from

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Speaker 3: the year nineteen eighty, the blood drenched samurai film Shogun Assassin. Rob,

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Speaker 3: this was your pick. How did you get to Shogun Assassin?

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Speaker 4: Oh?

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Speaker 2: Wow? Mainly because I had subscribed to Criterion Channel in

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Speaker 2: order to watch Face behind the Mask for a previous episode,

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Speaker 2: and they have all these little collections in their little

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Speaker 2: playlists of movies to check out, and they had one

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Speaker 2: that was just called synth Scores. So of course I

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Speaker 2: had to dive in and see what kind of movies

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Speaker 2: they had included there. And they included one film that

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Speaker 2: I had heard of but I'd never seen, and that's

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Speaker 2: Shogun Assassin. And so I started playing it like I

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Speaker 2: think I was eating lunch by myself at the time,

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Speaker 2: and it was one of those films where before I

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Speaker 2: knew what had happened, I'd watched most of the film,

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Speaker 2: you know, like I had other things I really needed

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Speaker 2: to do that day, but I was already like sucked

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Speaker 2: into it. It's just if you've never seen it. I

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Speaker 2: highly recommend diving in as well, because I think it

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Speaker 2: will captivate most people who watch it.

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Speaker 3: It is incredible in many ways, and I can see

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Speaker 3: why it would be classified primarily in terms of its soundtrack,

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Speaker 3: because the music in this movie just it washes over

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Speaker 3: you like a like a dark rainbow. It's just unbelievable.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'm really excited to talk about it here today.

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Speaker 2: I made sure to open up a can of my

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Speaker 2: Sun Tory Boss coffee here. I'll show it to you. Hear,

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Speaker 2: Joe did not buy it from a convenience machine on

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Speaker 2: the streets of Japan. This one is just from Super

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Speaker 2: h Mart. But they're not sponsoring this episode, by the way,

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Speaker 2: But I will be drinking my Sun Tory Boss coffee.

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Speaker 3: Wait, what is that coffee or is it some kind

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Speaker 3: of coffee?

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Speaker 2: Plus, it's just a coffee. It's inexpensive, like colbrew black

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Speaker 2: coffee in a can, nice with a fun ly logo

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Speaker 2: on it.

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Speaker 3: I have to try that one sometime. But oh so,

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Speaker 3: Chogun Assassin is a movie that I think we've done

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Speaker 3: films of this kind before, though I can't think at

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Speaker 3: the moment what they were but this is a movie

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Speaker 3: that is not an original artistic product, but rather is

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Speaker 3: made out of other products that already existed.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, we've talked about pictures on the show before that

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Speaker 2: exist in different, sometimes drastically different cuts. We recently did

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Speaker 2: that with Reptilicus. But yeah, today's episode is an extreme

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Speaker 2: case of something like this. Nineteen eighties Shogun Assassin is

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Speaker 2: a Western film release edited together from the first two

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Speaker 2: films in the famous Japanese Lone Wolf and Cub series,

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Speaker 2: those two films being both nineteen seventy two releases, Lone

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Speaker 2: Wolf and Cubs sort Of Vengeance the first of six films,

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Speaker 2: and Lone Wolf and Cub Baby cart at the River Styx,

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Speaker 2: the second of six films. Warning that you know a

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Speaker 2: lot of these film titles. The translation is maybe a

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Speaker 2: little rough, but that's part of its time. So essentially,

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Speaker 2: the American filmmakers involved here set out to take the

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Speaker 2: best parts from these two films and stitch them together

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Speaker 2: into a single coherent narrative featuring, you know, the best action,

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Speaker 2: the coolest visuals, and all of this built around a

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Speaker 2: rather simplified plot. I'll describe the ways that they simplified

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Speaker 2: the plots a little bit as we proceed, but in

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Speaker 2: essence they're just repackaging these two films for the grindhouse market.

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Speaker 3: I would say this movie is very loosely plotted. You

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Speaker 3: barely need to follow what's going on with the plot

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Speaker 3: or the machinations. It is more like a demo reel

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Speaker 3: of sights and sounds, and those sites are samurai action

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Speaker 3: with blood jets squirting, and the sounds are the dark

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Speaker 3: scinthed stylings of our composers who will get to later. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, the plot is greatly reduced here, but in a way,

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Speaker 2: it also makes it super fun to then dive into

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Speaker 2: the full cuts of those first two Lone Wolf and

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Speaker 2: Cub films, which is exactly what I did after watching

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Speaker 2: Showgun Assassin. All of the Lone Wolf and Cub films

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Speaker 2: are available on a Criterion channel as well as of

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Speaker 2: this recording.

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Speaker 3: But I'm curious how significantly different is the mood.

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Speaker 2: I think the mood is pretty much the same, And

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Speaker 2: I think that's the really glorious thing about Shogun Assassin

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Speaker 2: is that it's easy to imagine all the ways that

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Speaker 2: a project like this could go spectacularly wrong, the way

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Speaker 2: that it could be disrespectful to the original pictures, but

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Speaker 2: I do think that the essential vibe is there. So

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Speaker 2: if you go from Showgun Assassin and you're like, yeah,

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Speaker 2: I would like more of this, well, the Lone Wolf

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Speaker 2: and Cub series is more of this, you know, because

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Speaker 2: it is, you know, the full plot, the full character

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Speaker 2: development of everything that is in Showgun Assassin that you love,

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Speaker 2: except for the score, a different score, but still effective

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Speaker 2: scores in the original pictures.

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Speaker 3: So regarding not the original films but Showgun Assassin specifically,

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Speaker 3: I've read this movie is esthetic described in terms like

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Speaker 3: poetic exploitation violence, and I think that's a good way

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Speaker 3: to put it, because this movie feels like it has

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Speaker 3: two souls at once. It is at once a work

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Speaker 3: of art and a piece of trashy grindhouse gore. So

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Speaker 3: on one hand, there really is a kind of poignant,

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Speaker 3: almost literary quality to the way details are observed in

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Speaker 3: a lot of scenes. Just one scene of many that

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Speaker 3: comes to mind is when the young boy is trying

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Speaker 3: to bring water from the river to his badly wounded father,

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Speaker 3: and he's trying to carry it in his hands and

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Speaker 3: it keeps leaking out between his fingers, so he eventually

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Speaker 3: carries the water in his mouth to his father. I mean,

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Speaker 3: it's like a almost kind of beauty, full novelistic detail,

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Speaker 3: and also in terms of style, there is a quite

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Speaker 3: exquisite vision at play with the composition of the shots

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Speaker 3: and very again memorable details, strong misancen. But at the

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Speaker 3: same time, there is a campy Tom Savini Friday the

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Speaker 3: Thirteenth sensibility operating in quite high gear in most of

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Speaker 3: the action scenes, with like a real desire to just

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Speaker 3: see blood squirting and to get the camera all up

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Speaker 3: in the ridiculous wounds, the cloven heads and all that.

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Speaker 3: So it's an interesting combination. It's like some some gore

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Speaker 3: geek exploitation trash and a thoughtful, meditative historical art film

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Speaker 3: about a samurai father and son were merged into one entity.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, like the arterial sprays and there are quite a

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Speaker 2: few of them, will make your jaw drop and exclaim aloud.

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Speaker 2: But at the same time, yeah, there are such beautifully

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Speaker 2: poetic scenes in this picture, Like I cried, I teared

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Speaker 2: up at times, you know, I shed tears just to

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Speaker 2: showgun assassin. So it is both things at once. I

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Speaker 2: think it's a great.

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Speaker 3: Point, especially with the music. The music is a Digros theme,

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Speaker 3: especially that one was it was making me a little misty.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is a strong track. We'll come back of

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Speaker 2: that one for sure.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: One thing I promise not to do in this episode

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Speaker 2: is to painstakingly talk about all the differences between Showgun

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Speaker 2: Assassin and the first two Lone Wolf and Cub movies.

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Speaker 2: We'll come back to some of these details in a bit,

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Speaker 2: but just in broad strokes, I do want to mention

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Speaker 2: that clips from the first film, sort of Vengeance, apparently

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Speaker 2: amount to only like twelve minutes of Shogun Assassin, mostly

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Speaker 2: dealing with the backstory of Lone Wolf and Cup of

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Speaker 2: our Ronan character and the child.

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Speaker 3: Oh well, but that's a lot of what the movie is.

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Speaker 3: I would bet that when people watch this movie and

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Speaker 3: then think back and reminisce about it, the primary thing

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Speaker 3: they probably remember is the feeling created by the opening

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Speaker 3: five minutes or so. Not that the rest of the

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Speaker 3: movie isn't good, but that is the feeling of this

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Speaker 3: movie is really established strongly at the beginning, again powerfully moody,

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Speaker 3: with this strong synth bass melody that plays under Diegoro's

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Speaker 3: the Child, the Child's narration as he describes the backstory,

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Speaker 3: and we see these scenes very rapidly cut together. They

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Speaker 3: condense a lot of story into not much space. But

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Speaker 3: it's quite effective in my opinion.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that narration by the child is quite excellent, and

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Speaker 2: that is something that is original to Shogun Assassin. There

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Speaker 2: is not something like that in the Lone Wolf and

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Speaker 2: Cub movies. We don't really have his insight or reflection

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Speaker 2: on what happens here.

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Speaker 3: Though his narration continues throughout this movie. I mean like

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Speaker 3: he gets to tell us how, you know. We see

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Speaker 3: them pushing the cart through the jungle and they look

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Speaker 3: around and see monkeys screaming at them, and the kid says,

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Speaker 3: this is how I get my education.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so I'll come back to some of the details

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Speaker 2: about the differences, at least the ones that are really

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Speaker 2: key to understanding what's happening in the picture or why

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Speaker 2: things are, you know, proceding the way they are. But yeah, basically,

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Speaker 2: though more time is spent with the characters, of course,

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Speaker 2: more time is spent with the politics and the background.

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Speaker 2: More time is spent laying out the duties that ogami

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Speaker 2: Eto has. That's our main character, the Showgun's executioner. In fact,

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Speaker 2: the first ten minutes or so the first Lone Wolf

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Speaker 2: and Cub movie is just ogami Eto about to execute

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Speaker 2: a young lord, like a child that is the same

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Speaker 2: age as his own son, on the orders of the Showgun.

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Speaker 2: This is of course the sort of thing that if

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Speaker 2: you are a recent viewer of the excellent Hulu FX

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Speaker 2: mini series Showgun, which is of course more historically based

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Speaker 2: perhaps in some ways than Showgun Assassin, you'll be familiar

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Speaker 2: with this sort of thing. But it does just a

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Speaker 2: great job in the original picture, just laying out like

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Speaker 2: this is the kind of work he has to do,

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Speaker 2: you know, he has to do bloody deets for the

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Speaker 2: Showgun out of a sense of honor and duty, and

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Speaker 2: at night he prays for the souls of those that

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Speaker 2: he has killed. And then finally, I should also mention

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Speaker 2: that both of these films had also already been released

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Speaker 2: in the US by Toho with subtitles, so it's interesting

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Speaker 2: to think about that as well. This is not It's

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Speaker 2: not like Shogun Assassin was the absolute first time US

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Speaker 2: audience has had a chance to see these films. You know,

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Speaker 2: at least some moviegoers out there already were familiar with them.

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Speaker 2: But this was kind of like a you know, a

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Speaker 2: redistribution or repackaging of these films for a new audience,

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Speaker 2: and it certainly seemed to have found its audience.

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Speaker 3: Well, yeah, that makes me think, what is your understanding

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Speaker 3: of the original reception history of this movie. Was it

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Speaker 3: literally like a you know, midnight movie grindhouse kind of

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Speaker 3: kind of thing.

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Speaker 2: That's my understanding. This was like a grindhouse sensation, you know,

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Speaker 2: in which the expectations for cinema were you know, at

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Speaker 2: the extreme. People were tuning in to see those brilliant

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Speaker 2: arterial sprays, the violence and some of the psychedelic sequences,

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Speaker 2: you know. But and and it's through this that Shogun

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Speaker 2: Assassin ended up really resonating with various various folks, everyone

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Speaker 2: from like you know, Quentin Tarantino, members of Wu Tang

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Speaker 2: clan and so forth. There's a lot here that's been

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Speaker 2: sampled elsewhere and so forth. So I think it it

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Speaker 2: also does a great job of just you know, introducing

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Speaker 2: the world of Lone Wolf and cub to a different audience,

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Speaker 2: a wider audience, if you will.

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Speaker 3: You can think of it kind of like one of

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Speaker 3: those sitcom episodes where they do a clip show from

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Speaker 3: the other episodes, but here it's it's a clip show

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Speaker 3: of Lone Wolf and Cub, so you get a you

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Speaker 3: get a flavor of the different adventures.

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Speaker 2: It's hard to imagine another project doing something like this, though,

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Speaker 2: Like can you imagine taking say Predator one in Predator

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Speaker 2: two and then editing them together into one film.

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Speaker 3: It would be easier if they had the same main character.

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Speaker 2: But yeah, I guess. Or how about Godfather one and

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Speaker 2: two edited into a single ninety minute film? Call it

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Speaker 2: Mafia Assassin.

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Speaker 3: Brilliant? I love it.

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Speaker 2: That's maybe more app because in an effort like you

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Speaker 2: would have to like boil out, you know, reduce it

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Speaker 2: and remove all of most of the politics and get

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Speaker 2: down to just like an ultra simplified like you know, plot,

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Speaker 2: which is what we have in Shogun Assassin. Well, on

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Speaker 2: that note, why don't we go ahead and listen to

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Speaker 2: a little trailer audio. This is from the This is

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Speaker 2: the trailer to be clear, to Shogun Assassin, not the

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Speaker 2: original Lone Wolf and Cub films. We're not going to

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Speaker 2: listen to all of it because it is it's kind

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Speaker 2: of long, but I want to make sure we get

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Speaker 2: a little bit of that music and of course, the

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Speaker 2: nearer saying the title of the picture.

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Speaker 4: Return to the vanished kingdoms of ancient times, the journey

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Speaker 4: through a lost empire of man, wizards, wish and barbaric passions.

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Speaker 5: Behold the saga of a legendary warrior, a loving father

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Speaker 5: who has the power of a dozen armies in one.

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Speaker 4: Sweep of his mystic blade.

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Speaker 6: This is a story of honor, disgrace, vengeance, massacre.

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Speaker 5: A man who became a demon Shogun Assassin.

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Speaker 2: All right, so, if you would like to watch Shogun

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Speaker 2: Assassin and perhaps all six Lone Wolf and Cub films,

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Speaker 2: it's all currently streaming on the Criterion channel. I've been

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Speaker 2: really digging this resource recently. There's also a great looking

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Speaker 2: Criterion collection box set of the six films. Showgun Assassin

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Speaker 2: itself has been released on Blu ray and DVD, but

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Speaker 2: I think that one might be harder to grab right now.

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Speaker 2: But of course, if you have some sort of rental

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Speaker 2: service at your disposal, be it Videodrome here in Atlanta,

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Speaker 2: whatever your local video rental option is, or even maybe

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Speaker 2: the public library, as a listener brought up in the

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Speaker 2: recent Listener Mail episode, Yeah, don't discount your public library

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Speaker 2: they might have some Showgun Assassin waiting for you. All right, Well,

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Speaker 2: let's talk about some of the people involved here before

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Speaker 2: we get into the plot and so forth. So again,

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Speaker 2: this is a nineteen eighty film release composed edited together

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Speaker 2: from two nineteen seventy two films. We can't do justice

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Speaker 2: to all the folks involved in these different projects, so

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Speaker 2: I want to mostly single out some of the key

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Speaker 2: folks from the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films,

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Speaker 2: as well as key people responsible for the Showgun Assassin cut. Okay,

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Speaker 2: all right, So starting I think at the top where

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Speaker 2: where credit is deserved. The director of both Lone Wolf

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Speaker 2: and Cub films one and two this is Kenji Masumi,

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Speaker 2: who lived nineteen twenty one through nineteen seventy five. Very

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Speaker 2: well regarded Japanese film director, best known certainly internationally for

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Speaker 2: his work on four of the six Lone Wolf and

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Speaker 2: Cub films that's one, two, three, and five, as well

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Speaker 2: as his Zatouichi films. His other movies also include nineteen

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Speaker 2: seventy two's Hanzo the Razor, Sword of Justice and nineteen

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Speaker 2: sixty six's Return of Damigen. This is a Tokusatsu film

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Speaker 2: about a giant demon god. I haven't seen these films,

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Speaker 2: but this was the second in a series that had

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Speaker 2: started earlier that same year. Like a big statue type dude.

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Speaker 3: Well, like a giant statue of a samurai warrior.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, exactly, with a scowl on his face and so forth.

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Speaker 3: See screenshots of one scene where he appears to be

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Speaker 3: walking through a parted see ooh, I don't know. I'll

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Speaker 3: have to flag this one. Come back to it, all right.

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Speaker 2: We also have to credit the creators of Lone Wolf

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Speaker 2: and Cub, two individuals worth singling out here. The first

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Speaker 2: as Kazuo Kooki, who lived nineteen thirty six through twenty nineteen,

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Speaker 2: writer creator of He's the legendary Japanese manga writer, novelist, screenwriter, lyricist,

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Speaker 2: and entrepreneur apparently best known for co creating the Lone

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Speaker 2: Wolf and Cub series, not only writing it but also

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Speaker 2: adapting it for the screen. In both of these the

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Speaker 2: pictures that are used to create Shogun Assassin. He'd continued

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Speaker 2: to do this with numerous other works of his that

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Speaker 2: were adapted to the screen, including nineteen seventy two's Hanzo

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Speaker 2: the Razor. He also wrote a Wolverine story for Marvel.

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Speaker 2: I think I think it's from two thousand and three

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Speaker 2: X Men Unlimited Volume one, issue fifty and he is

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Speaker 2: a member of the Eisner Hall of Fame. And then

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Speaker 2: the artists that were the manga artists that worked with

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Speaker 2: him on this was Goseki Kojima, who lived nineteen twenty

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Speaker 2: eight through two thousand. Yeah, he worked with him on

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Speaker 2: the Lone Wolf and Cub film, so very much a

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Speaker 2: part of the original alchemy of bringing this idea of

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Speaker 2: life on the page. All right, now, turning to the

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Speaker 2: folks heading up Showgun Assassin, we have we have a

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Speaker 2: Shogun Assassin director and writer Robert Houston born nineteen fifty five.

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Speaker 2: So this individual is an Academy Award winning director for

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Speaker 2: a two thousand and four short form documentary titled Mighty

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Speaker 2: Times The Children's March. This was produced by HBO and

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Speaker 2: the Southern Poverty Loss and are dealing with the Birmingham,

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Speaker 2: Alabama civil rights Marches of the nineteen sixties. Long before this, though,

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Speaker 2: he played Bobby in Wes Craven's nineteen seventy seven Mutant

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Speaker 2: Mayhem movie The Hills Have Eyes. What I included it

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Speaker 2: a still for you here Joe's If anyone remembers, he's

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Speaker 2: the blonde kid in the T shirt. Okay, yeah, that's him.

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Speaker 2: That's our director.

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Speaker 3: Wow, Pads crossing, I had no idea.

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Speaker 2: Yeah. He appeared in a handful of late seventies and

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Speaker 2: early eighties pictures before heading up the Showgun Assassin project

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Speaker 2: for producer David Weisman, which would ultimately be released by

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Speaker 2: Roger Korman's New World Pictures. His subsequent directorial and writing

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Speaker 2: credits include an array of thrillers, erotica, an episode of

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Speaker 2: Doogie Howser MD, and of course, Academy Award winning documentary

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Speaker 2: shorts How Strange. Yeah, all right, now. David Weisman, who

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Speaker 2: had just mentioned he is credited with as a writer

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Speaker 2: and a producer on this. He lived nineteen forty two

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Speaker 2: through twenty nineteen. He was apparently part of a splinter

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Speaker 2: group from Andy Warhol's factory back in the sixties, and

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Speaker 2: he went on to produce such films as nineteen eighty

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Speaker 2: five's Kiss of the Spider Woman. All right, now, getting

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Speaker 2: back into the original Japanese cast, the actors who bring

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Speaker 2: this picture to life, it's lone Wolf and cubs. So

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Speaker 2: let's start with Lone Wolf the character of Ogami Eto,

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Speaker 2: the Shoguns executioner turned ronan. He's played by Tomisaburo Wakayama,

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Speaker 2: and he lived nineteen twenty nine through nineteen nine two.

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Speaker 3: He brings a lot to this movie in that he

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Speaker 3: is an absolutely lethal action hero, but he does not

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Speaker 3: I don't know he he doesn't have a very active aura.

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Speaker 3: He brings a lot of stillness and patience. Do you

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Speaker 3: know what I'm getting at here? Yeah?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think it's it's something that's easy to

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Speaker 2: sort of not really process all the way, especially if

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Speaker 2: you're just watching Shogun Assassin, and maybe if you just

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Speaker 2: sort of have it on in the background or something.

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Speaker 2: But it begins to make more and more sense once

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Speaker 2: you really absorb the character, because you know, he he

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Speaker 2: doesn't talk much, but it is a full body performance

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Speaker 2: of kind of this mix of silent honor and determination,

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Speaker 2: but all of it burning within this scowling husk of

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Speaker 2: shame and sorrow, Like he is a man who's been

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Speaker 2: brought low, who's been betrayed, who is marked for death,

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Speaker 2: you know, and all these circumstances are out of his control,

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Speaker 2: but inwardly he's remaining true to his principles while the

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Speaker 2: whole world either turns their their backs on him or

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Speaker 2: turns their blades on him. And then when he does

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Speaker 2: unleash his fury, oh man, it's just this fluid artery

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Speaker 2: severing machinery.

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Speaker 5: You know.

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Speaker 2: It's the and right down to when he's finished, like

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Speaker 2: the fluid sheathing of his sword. You know, it's like

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Speaker 2: a final signature on a regal contract of death.

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Speaker 3: Yes, his presence in the action scenes is very much

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Speaker 3: like a he is a machine where the valve is

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Speaker 3: closed and then suddenly it explodes open and there is

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Speaker 3: a release of activity and then it closes again.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's such a great performance. And when you

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Speaker 2: when you learn a little bit more about Wakayama, like

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Speaker 2: his background makes sense when you see this, because he

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Speaker 2: was an accomplished kabuki actor, uh and a judo practitioner

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Speaker 2: that you know that ended up then getting into film acting.

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Speaker 2: So I can you can, I can see that, like

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Speaker 2: that control of the body, fluid movements, and and then

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Speaker 2: like his his ability to use these often like just

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Speaker 2: smoldering facial expressions, you know, like where he's not just scowling,

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Speaker 2: he's not just like well, I'm gonna look like a

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Speaker 2: like like a badass for this scene. Like, no, there's

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Speaker 2: the there there's stuff going on behind the eyes and

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Speaker 2: you can sense it.

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Speaker 3: Yeah, there's something more sad and also in a way

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Speaker 3: threatening about the kind of the blankness that he often brings.

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Speaker 2: So yeah, just just a wonderful performance, you know. He

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Speaker 2: he's mostly known for, you know, for for these films,

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Speaker 2: the Lone Wolf and Cub films. He's in all of

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Speaker 2: these Original Six pictures. He also had some starring roles

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Speaker 2: and some other Toho Martial Arts films, but outside of Japan,

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Speaker 2: he only ever appeared in two Western films. He pops

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Speaker 2: up as a coach in nineteen seventy eight's The Bad

385
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Speaker 2: News Bears Go to Japan. What, Yeah, I haven't seen

386
00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:05,480
Speaker 2: that one. But then he also has has a turn

387
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Speaker 2: as a as a key yakuza boss in Ridley Scott's

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Speaker 2: Black Rain from nineteen eighty nine. Now I haven't seen

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Speaker 2: that one either. It's, you know, one of Ridley's like

390
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Speaker 2: non sci fi fantasy film, so I've never gotten around

391
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Speaker 2: to it, but I've seen some stills. He looks like

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00:23:20,280 --> 00:23:22,399
Speaker 2: he has a really smoldering presence, and I think he

393
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Speaker 2: gets to deliver a monologue that features the title of the.

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Speaker 3: Picture Oh Wow, nineteen eighty nine. Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia,

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Speaker 3: Kate Capshaw. Yeah, oh this looks worth seeing.

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Speaker 2: I remember seeing trailers for it as a kid and

397
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Speaker 2: thinking like, oh, it's more Blade Runner, and then I realize, oh, wait,

398
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Speaker 2: it's not Blade Runner. This takes place in the real world,

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Speaker 2: and then I don't watch it.

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Speaker 3: But hey, the poster is hilarious. I see Michael Douglas

401
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Speaker 3: there with his arms folded, like, yeah, what do you want.

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00:23:56,640 --> 00:23:59,600
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's like something like an American cop must go

403
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Speaker 2: to Japan to track a Yukuza killer or something. I

404
00:24:03,000 --> 00:24:05,680
Speaker 2: don't know, but it may be great if you love

405
00:24:05,680 --> 00:24:06,760
Speaker 2: it right in and let us know.

406
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Speaker 3: All right.

407
00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,520
Speaker 2: So that's our lone wolf, our cub.

408
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Speaker 3: I'm sorry, I'm imagining Michael Douglass doing like Fish out

409
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Speaker 3: of Water scenes where he like tries sushi for the

410
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Speaker 3: first time, Like, oh, what is this?

411
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Speaker 2: I mean it was the nineteen eighties, but I hope

412
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Speaker 2: that's not what Black Rain is. But I know maybe,

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Speaker 2: so all right. Digoro is played by Akihiro Tamakawa born

414
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Speaker 2: nineteen sixty eight. Child actor, cute kid, but like these

415
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,960
Speaker 2: are pretty much his only credits. But still I cannot

416
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Speaker 2: stress enough how cute this kid is just such a

417
00:24:41,880 --> 00:24:46,719
Speaker 2: cute kid. Show any clip that features Lone Wolf and

418
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,159
Speaker 2: Cub to anyone in your vicinity, and that will at

419
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Speaker 2: least be their one of their comments.

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Speaker 3: Cute kid.

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00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 2: A lot of spraying blood.

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00:24:55,840 --> 00:24:58,479
Speaker 3: And so forth. He's even cute when he's operating like

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Speaker 3: the switchblade NYE in his baby carriage.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, he gets to kill two. It's one of the

425
00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:11,640
Speaker 2: interesting details, all right. The chief antagonist of this picture

426
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Speaker 2: is this is kind of confusing.

427
00:25:15,280 --> 00:25:17,240
Speaker 3: Yeah, I was mighty confused by.

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00:25:17,119 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 2: This because when you watch Shogun Assassin, they talk a

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00:25:22,119 --> 00:25:24,680
Speaker 2: lot about the Showgun, and they present the Showgun is

430
00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:31,239
Speaker 2: kind of like this evil, paranoid, corrupted ruler who is

431
00:25:31,359 --> 00:25:35,760
Speaker 2: just exacting his vengeance and paranoia on the entire nation.

432
00:25:36,880 --> 00:25:38,680
Speaker 2: Like that's very much three and that's you know, ed

433
00:25:38,720 --> 00:25:43,600
Speaker 2: works within the context of Shogun Assassin. But the character

434
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,040
Speaker 2: who they identify as the Showgun is absolutely not the

435
00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:50,280
Speaker 2: Showgun in the Lone Wolf and Cub series.

436
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:55,720
Speaker 3: I was so confused because the movie, the way it's edited,

437
00:25:55,800 --> 00:25:57,960
Speaker 3: makes it clear that he's supposed to be the Showgun.

438
00:25:57,960 --> 00:26:00,959
Speaker 3: Because like when the narration mentions the show, they always

439
00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,240
Speaker 3: showed this guy's face. And then I was reading summaries

440
00:26:04,280 --> 00:26:07,040
Speaker 3: of the plot that like, say, no, this guy isn't

441
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:09,840
Speaker 3: the Shogun. He's like the head of the Ninja assassins.

442
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:12,080
Speaker 3: And I was like, well, that kind of makes sense

443
00:26:12,080 --> 00:26:16,760
Speaker 3: because he doesn't really look like he doesn't have shogun regalia, no,

444
00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,280
Speaker 3: not at all, And so yeah, it was I had

445
00:26:20,280 --> 00:26:22,160
Speaker 3: no idea what was going on here, but I did

446
00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,680
Speaker 3: call him the Shogun in my plot summary, So yeah,

447
00:26:24,840 --> 00:26:25,840
Speaker 3: that's what we're gonna go with.

448
00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's totally fair to call him the showgun within

449
00:26:28,520 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 2: the confines of Shogun Assassin, but within the confines of

450
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,840
Speaker 2: the larger Lone Wolf and Cub series and the other

451
00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:41,400
Speaker 2: six movies, this character is Yagyu Rotsuto, and he is. Yes,

452
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:46,040
Speaker 2: he's the head of this group of ninja assassins. He is.

453
00:26:46,160 --> 00:26:49,600
Speaker 2: He's not the showgun. He's one of the Shogun's many vassals,

454
00:26:50,359 --> 00:26:54,640
Speaker 2: but he is working his own political agenda within the system.

455
00:26:55,119 --> 00:26:59,320
Speaker 3: He really just doesn't have shogun energy either. He does

456
00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:03,119
Speaker 3: have big bag energy, but for a Western equivalent, he

457
00:27:03,160 --> 00:27:06,040
Speaker 3: feels more like a like a resputant type character. Like

458
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,200
Speaker 3: he's supposed to be a wicked mad monk or something.

459
00:27:09,720 --> 00:27:12,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, because that's the look he has, like this like

460
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:18,239
Speaker 2: demon white hair and scowl like he out scowls are

461
00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:20,439
Speaker 2: our Ronan here, you know, like he's just it's a

462
00:27:20,480 --> 00:27:25,359
Speaker 2: scowl off between these two. But yeah, Gratzudo is such

463
00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:28,440
Speaker 2: a great villain in this picture. Even even though he's

464
00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,560
Speaker 2: largely an orchestrator, we don't see him directly do anything.

465
00:27:31,920 --> 00:27:35,240
Speaker 2: And that's ultimately kind of the tragedy here. Because this

466
00:27:35,359 --> 00:27:39,359
Speaker 2: character is the long term antagonist of the series. There's

467
00:27:39,359 --> 00:27:41,280
Speaker 2: not going to be any payoff with him. This guy

468
00:27:41,400 --> 00:27:45,520
Speaker 2: is not getting assassinated. No, despite the title Showgun Assassin,

469
00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:48,119
Speaker 2: the Showgun's not getting it in this picture.

470
00:27:48,600 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, the target of our protagonist in the last scene

471
00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:53,400
Speaker 3: in the movie is some guy that's like, who is this?

472
00:27:54,000 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 2: I think in Showgun Assassin they present him as the

473
00:27:56,040 --> 00:28:00,520
Speaker 2: Showgun's brother. Yes, but in the actual movie, the second

474
00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:02,560
Speaker 2: Lone Wolf and Cub film, it's like a.

475
00:28:02,480 --> 00:28:03,680
Speaker 3: Guy who is.

476
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:10,120
Speaker 2: Betraying an Indigo company in order to give trade secrets

477
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:13,080
Speaker 2: to the Showgun. So it's like an entire subplot that

478
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,840
Speaker 2: doesn't really direct I mean, it does impact the Shogun,

479
00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:17,200
Speaker 2: but it's not the Shogun's brother.

480
00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:20,520
Speaker 3: No, the in Shogun Assassin, they describe him as this

481
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:23,359
Speaker 3: evil lord who's the brother of the Showgun and is

482
00:28:23,359 --> 00:28:26,240
Speaker 3: oppressing the people who hire the Lone Wolf.

483
00:28:26,280 --> 00:28:28,600
Speaker 2: But now he's like a corporate defector.

484
00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:32,160
Speaker 3: But like I don't recall if we ever meet him

485
00:28:32,240 --> 00:28:34,760
Speaker 3: much in the movie before this, I mean maybe a little,

486
00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,439
Speaker 3: but yeah.

487
00:28:36,560 --> 00:28:39,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, so at any rate, you can call him Shogun,

488
00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:43,240
Speaker 2: you can call him Ratsudo. But this character is played

489
00:28:43,240 --> 00:28:47,360
Speaker 2: by Yunosuki Ito, who lived nineteen nineteen through nineteen eighty,

490
00:28:47,800 --> 00:28:50,719
Speaker 2: a well regarded Japanese character actor who appeared in more

491
00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:54,040
Speaker 2: than two hundred films from between nineteen thirty two and

492
00:28:54,120 --> 00:28:58,760
Speaker 2: nineteen seventy nine, with parts ranging from hammi performances, which

493
00:28:58,880 --> 00:29:02,960
Speaker 2: I'm to understand are referred to as radish performances in

494
00:29:03,080 --> 00:29:08,040
Speaker 2: Japanese culture, because yeah, apparently he wrote a memoir and

495
00:29:08,080 --> 00:29:10,719
Speaker 2: it was like, you know, like memoir of a ratish

496
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:14,080
Speaker 2: performer or something, you know. But he played everything from

497
00:29:14,320 --> 00:29:19,280
Speaker 2: like comedic characters to memorable villains. His credits include Kuisawa's

498
00:29:19,360 --> 00:29:24,000
Speaker 2: films Ikiu in fifty two, Sandjuro in sixty two, High

499
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,080
Speaker 2: and Low in sixty three.

500
00:29:25,960 --> 00:29:26,280
Speaker 3: He is.

501
00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:28,920
Speaker 2: He's also known for a dual role in the classic

502
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,120
Speaker 2: ninja film Shinobi Nomono, which I think this is one

503
00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:34,880
Speaker 2: that we mentioned in passing in our episodes on the Ninjas.

504
00:29:35,680 --> 00:29:37,560
Speaker 2: This is a picture from nineteen sixty two and it

505
00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 2: was an award winning performance. There's also a picture called

506
00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:45,360
Speaker 2: obamb exclamation Point from nineteen sixty four that's said to

507
00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:48,160
Speaker 2: be a great example of his comedic work. I included

508
00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,080
Speaker 2: a still from Obomb where you can see him like

509
00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,600
Speaker 2: plugging his ears with his fingers and you know, clear

510
00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:56,960
Speaker 2: comedic performance here he's.

511
00:29:56,800 --> 00:29:58,560
Speaker 3: Doing kind of a Don Knat's face.

512
00:29:58,920 --> 00:30:03,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, that style of comedy. So yeah, I love

513
00:30:03,560 --> 00:30:07,160
Speaker 2: Eto so much in this as the villain Ritsudo, but

514
00:30:07,440 --> 00:30:09,360
Speaker 2: sadly he did not return to play the part in

515
00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:14,120
Speaker 2: subsequent films. But here we have just this brooding, demonic

516
00:30:14,280 --> 00:30:18,080
Speaker 2: visage of a man just grating with hatred. And I

517
00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:21,120
Speaker 2: have to say the English dub in Shogun Assassin, I

518
00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:23,840
Speaker 2: feel it does very accurately capture the essence of his

519
00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:28,320
Speaker 2: original Japanese language dialogue as well. Just that just that grating,

520
00:30:28,480 --> 00:30:35,040
Speaker 2: like teeth grinding level of a venom in his voice. Yeah,

521
00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:37,200
Speaker 2: just like you want this guy or you maybe you

522
00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 2: don't want this guy to show up outside your door

523
00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:41,440
Speaker 2: everything every time you do something wrong, like there in

524
00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:41,960
Speaker 2: your place.

525
00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:47,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, they they fit him in well as the Shogun

526
00:30:47,920 --> 00:30:51,120
Speaker 3: with the narration, at least because, as Digoro explains that

527
00:30:51,200 --> 00:30:54,440
Speaker 3: the Shogun was paranoid and saw enemies everywhere, and this

528
00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:57,600
Speaker 3: guy looks like that. He's his eyes are always shifting

529
00:30:57,640 --> 00:31:00,240
Speaker 3: back and forth real quick to you know see he's

530
00:31:00,280 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 3: coming from any corner. He looks suspicious and frightened and angry,

531
00:31:05,120 --> 00:31:09,040
Speaker 3: and also has that general look of someone who's like

532
00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,400
Speaker 3: the not wellness of their mind has affected their body,

533
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:15,080
Speaker 3: Like he looks kind of decrepit in some way.

534
00:31:15,480 --> 00:31:18,120
Speaker 2: Absolutely so, Again, Shogun Assassin does not have time for

535
00:31:18,160 --> 00:31:21,280
Speaker 2: all the politics. They simplify everything. But it's a good

536
00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:23,520
Speaker 2: at it in terms of just presenting a picture that

537
00:31:23,560 --> 00:31:27,360
Speaker 2: the grindhouse audience can enjoy in a villain they can

538
00:31:27,560 --> 00:31:28,680
Speaker 2: ooh an a at.

539
00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:30,560
Speaker 3: This movie has so many villains.

540
00:31:31,120 --> 00:31:34,640
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, because we also have we have numerous heads

541
00:31:34,680 --> 00:31:37,960
Speaker 2: of different Ninja Assassin clans and I'm not even we

542
00:31:38,000 --> 00:31:40,440
Speaker 2: can't even get into all of those but one of

543
00:31:40,440 --> 00:31:42,320
Speaker 2: the key ones. But I would say the key one

544
00:31:42,320 --> 00:31:46,360
Speaker 2: that also ends up becoming an ally of sorts is

545
00:31:46,400 --> 00:31:51,040
Speaker 2: the Supreme Ninja. This is Yagyu Sayaka, played by Keo

546
00:31:51,240 --> 00:31:55,560
Speaker 2: Matsuo born nineteen forty three, our female ninja master of

547
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:59,280
Speaker 2: exceptional skill. She's perhaps best known for this role, but

548
00:31:59,360 --> 00:32:02,719
Speaker 2: she was also in nineteen sixty nine's Outlaw Gangster VIP

549
00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,240
Speaker 2: nineteen sixty four is Gata Flesh. In nineteen seventy is

550
00:32:06,240 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 2: the Vampire Doll.

551
00:32:07,760 --> 00:32:10,280
Speaker 3: So she plays the head of a clan of ninja

552
00:32:10,320 --> 00:32:12,680
Speaker 3: who are all women who sort of they do the

553
00:32:12,840 --> 00:32:16,880
Speaker 3: operate in disguise and sneak attack stuff. And her ninja

554
00:32:16,920 --> 00:32:19,480
Speaker 3: are said to be the best, and she is. I

555
00:32:19,480 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 3: would say of all the enemies that Lone Wolf faces

556
00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:25,640
Speaker 3: in the movie, she is the one who gets closest

557
00:32:25,680 --> 00:32:26,840
Speaker 3: to getting the better of him.

558
00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:29,760
Speaker 2: That's right, That's right. But also I think she gets

559
00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:30,800
Speaker 2: a little too close.

560
00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:34,400
Speaker 3: To his heart. Yeah, she gets in with a net.

561
00:32:34,560 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 3: It's hard to beat a net, you know. Yeah.

562
00:32:36,800 --> 00:32:38,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, she's effective in combat against and they have a

563
00:32:38,560 --> 00:32:41,400
Speaker 2: great fight scene. I mean, all the fight scenes are great.

564
00:32:41,400 --> 00:32:45,040
Speaker 2: But other thing worth mentioning is that in Shogun Assassin

565
00:32:45,160 --> 00:32:48,640
Speaker 2: she is I believe dubbed by comedian and actress Sandra

566
00:32:48,720 --> 00:32:54,160
Speaker 2: Bernhardt nineteen fifty five. I'm not saying it's a great dub,

567
00:32:54,720 --> 00:33:01,040
Speaker 2: but apparently this is Sandra Bernhard all right. There There

568
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,959
Speaker 2: are some other like heads of different ninja groups that

569
00:33:04,360 --> 00:33:06,560
Speaker 2: we could mention if we have more time, but I

570
00:33:06,600 --> 00:33:10,160
Speaker 2: do want to mention that we have not one, not two,

571
00:33:10,200 --> 00:33:13,560
Speaker 2: but three Masters of Death in this picture that show

572
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:18,800
Speaker 2: up late in the movie as essentially like the main bosses.

573
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:23,040
Speaker 3: Their outfits, in particular their hats might be quite familiar

574
00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:24,880
Speaker 3: to fans of Big Trouble in Little China.

575
00:33:25,360 --> 00:33:27,720
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Three Storms in Big Trouble and Little China

576
00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:30,800
Speaker 2: are clearly based in part in a large part on

577
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,600
Speaker 2: the look of the Masters of Death aka the Monks

578
00:33:33,640 --> 00:33:38,000
Speaker 2: of Death a ka the Hidari Brothers. They're not sorcerers

579
00:33:38,880 --> 00:33:42,680
Speaker 2: like the Three Storms. They are just masters of martial arts,

580
00:33:43,360 --> 00:33:46,840
Speaker 2: and they depend on particular weapons. Let's see, what is it,

581
00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:52,160
Speaker 2: the like the flying maces, the like the spike gloves.

582
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:56,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's like a like a gardening claws kind of thing. Yeah,

583
00:33:56,160 --> 00:33:58,640
Speaker 3: there's a there's like a glove with spikes on the fist,

584
00:33:58,760 --> 00:34:01,600
Speaker 3: and there's a club with in it. Yeah.

585
00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 2: So yeah, these are the Masters of Death. The lead

586
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:10,320
Speaker 2: Master of Death is Binma Hidari, played by Minoru Oki

587
00:34:10,719 --> 00:34:12,680
Speaker 2: who lived nineteen twenty three through two thousand and nine,

588
00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:15,439
Speaker 2: Japanese actor best known for his work in the Lone

589
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:18,239
Speaker 2: Wolf and Cub films, because not only does he play

590
00:34:18,239 --> 00:34:21,360
Speaker 2: the lead master or Monk of Death here, but he

591
00:34:21,440 --> 00:34:23,960
Speaker 2: returned to the Lone Wolf and Cub series in films

592
00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:27,040
Speaker 2: five and six to play his own version of the

593
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:29,959
Speaker 2: chief villain Yagyu ritsudo oh.

594
00:34:30,040 --> 00:34:33,080
Speaker 3: Okay, so he replaces the actor who in this movie

595
00:34:33,239 --> 00:34:36,440
Speaker 3: is is twisted into being the shogun.

596
00:34:36,920 --> 00:34:39,960
Speaker 2: Right. Yeah, so the character shows up much later, and

597
00:34:40,000 --> 00:34:42,600
Speaker 2: so I believe he is the actor playing the character

598
00:34:43,080 --> 00:34:46,680
Speaker 2: when vengeance and or assassination finally does occur.

599
00:34:47,000 --> 00:34:47,960
Speaker 3: Okay.

600
00:34:48,360 --> 00:34:51,319
Speaker 2: He was also in nineteen sixty nine Horrors of Malformed Men,

601
00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,839
Speaker 2: which we have mentioned on the show before. And I'll

602
00:34:53,880 --> 00:34:57,120
Speaker 2: also mention that one of the other Masters of Death

603
00:34:57,320 --> 00:35:01,120
Speaker 2: is This is the Karuma Hidari get which weapon he uses.

604
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:03,960
Speaker 2: Is played by Shin Kashida who lived nineteen thirty nine

605
00:35:04,000 --> 00:35:06,839
Speaker 2: through nineteen eighty two, a supporting actor best known for

606
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 2: this film as well as Godzilla versus Mecha Godzilla from

607
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:14,880
Speaker 2: seventy four Lady Snowblood two and then two different Dracula films.

608
00:35:14,960 --> 00:35:18,080
Speaker 2: Nineteen seventy one's Lake of Dracula in nineteen seventy four

609
00:35:18,160 --> 00:35:20,439
Speaker 2: is Evil of Dracula, which I think you could also

610
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:25,120
Speaker 2: maybe referred to as Principle of Dracula. That's one. It's

611
00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,439
Speaker 2: on my list now. I really want to see Evil

612
00:35:27,480 --> 00:35:32,520
Speaker 2: of Dracula. Okay, all right, but let's let's get back

613
00:35:32,560 --> 00:35:36,040
Speaker 2: to the music here again. This is what drew me

614
00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:40,480
Speaker 2: into watching Shogun Assassin in the first place. And we've

615
00:35:40,480 --> 00:35:42,880
Speaker 2: already talked a little about just how about how effective

616
00:35:42,920 --> 00:35:46,560
Speaker 2: the synth score is. Now. The original films were scored

617
00:35:46,640 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 2: by Aikens Sakura and Hideka Sakurai, and I think some

618
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:55,200
Speaker 2: of their original music remains in Shogun Assassin. I could

619
00:35:55,200 --> 00:35:57,680
Speaker 2: be wrong on that, but more to the point, we

620
00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:01,560
Speaker 2: have this just deliriously great since score added to the picture.

621
00:36:01,760 --> 00:36:04,120
Speaker 2: And this is the work of Mark Lindsay for nineteen

622
00:36:04,160 --> 00:36:06,879
Speaker 2: forty two and W Michael Lewis.

623
00:36:07,239 --> 00:36:07,319
Speaker 4: So.

624
00:36:07,400 --> 00:36:10,400
Speaker 3: I don't know if I've ever used this term applied

625
00:36:10,520 --> 00:36:13,880
Speaker 3: to music before, but sometimes we say of an actor

626
00:36:15,000 --> 00:36:17,960
Speaker 3: that we admire that they're really committed to the role,

627
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:22,200
Speaker 3: meaning that they're They're not holding back anything for fear

628
00:36:22,239 --> 00:36:25,960
Speaker 3: of embarrassment. They're not trying to be more subtle than

629
00:36:26,080 --> 00:36:29,640
Speaker 3: is required. They just go headfirst all the way in.

630
00:36:30,239 --> 00:36:32,080
Speaker 3: This is the first movie I've ever seen where I

631
00:36:32,080 --> 00:36:35,640
Speaker 3: would say that about the music. The music is just

632
00:36:35,800 --> 00:36:39,520
Speaker 3: committed to the feeling. They are not holding back anything.

633
00:36:39,640 --> 00:36:44,080
Speaker 3: This just unabashed, pure feeling made into vibrations.

634
00:36:44,719 --> 00:36:50,440
Speaker 2: Absolutely. Yeah, it's just a terrific score. And it's interesting

635
00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:53,279
Speaker 2: looking at these two individuals. So, Mark Lindsay was the

636
00:36:53,360 --> 00:36:56,560
Speaker 2: vocalist and sax player for the American rock band Paul

637
00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:59,480
Speaker 2: Revere and the Raiders from nineteen fifty eight through nineteen

638
00:36:59,480 --> 00:37:03,239
Speaker 2: seventy five. Joe, are you familiar at all with Paul

639
00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:04,040
Speaker 2: Revere and the Raiders.

640
00:37:04,160 --> 00:37:06,920
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah, I mean this was some of my parents' music.

641
00:37:07,160 --> 00:37:09,960
Speaker 3: I remember when I was younger, Like, I remember kicks,

642
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:12,200
Speaker 3: you know, kicks just keep getting harder to find.

643
00:37:12,080 --> 00:37:15,680
Speaker 2: Mm hmm. I this was also some of my parents' music.

644
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:19,520
Speaker 2: I specifically remember going through the records at my grandmother's house.

645
00:37:19,560 --> 00:37:21,880
Speaker 2: It would have been like the records of my mom's

646
00:37:21,920 --> 00:37:25,320
Speaker 2: and also her sisters, and finding a Paul Revere and

647
00:37:25,360 --> 00:37:28,839
Speaker 2: the Raiders album in there. And I remember just thinking, man,

648
00:37:28,960 --> 00:37:31,920
Speaker 2: the nineteen sixties just looks so lame, Like this is

649
00:37:31,960 --> 00:37:34,840
Speaker 2: the lamest thing I've ever seen, because if you're not familiar,

650
00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:41,200
Speaker 2: their whole shtick visually was dressing up as Revolutionary War soldiers.

651
00:37:41,239 --> 00:37:45,759
Speaker 2: You know, they had these Revolutionary War costumes, which I mean,

652
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:46,680
Speaker 2: I guess maybe the.

653
00:37:46,760 --> 00:37:49,640
Speaker 3: Best bit I've ever heard.

654
00:37:48,880 --> 00:37:50,520
Speaker 2: Like was it cool at the time. I guess it

655
00:37:50,640 --> 00:37:53,680
Speaker 2: was people dug it, But I remember just thinking this

656
00:37:53,800 --> 00:37:54,759
Speaker 2: just looks super lame.

657
00:37:55,160 --> 00:37:58,840
Speaker 3: Is there supposed to be Like, so if it's Paul Revere,

658
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:02,200
Speaker 3: is it like the British are coming? Like British invasion music?

659
00:38:02,360 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 3: Is that something?

660
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,279
Speaker 2: I guess it's like, yeah, it's like a counter to

661
00:38:05,320 --> 00:38:08,040
Speaker 2: the British invasion. And that would that would have been

662
00:38:08,080 --> 00:38:10,200
Speaker 2: lost on me as a as a child looking at this,

663
00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,040
Speaker 2: all I knew at the time was that what's the

664
00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:16,280
Speaker 2: most boring thing in school? It's a it's American history

665
00:38:17,920 --> 00:38:20,000
Speaker 2: at the time. I'm not saying that as an adult,

666
00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:23,680
Speaker 2: American history is fascinating, but at the time, the idea

667
00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,280
Speaker 2: of Revolutionary War themed music was not like a great

668
00:38:27,360 --> 00:38:31,760
Speaker 2: cell But to be clear, Paul Revere and the Raiders

669
00:38:31,800 --> 00:38:34,400
Speaker 2: not super lame. They had some real gems, some real jams,

670
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:35,160
Speaker 2: if you will.

671
00:38:36,080 --> 00:38:38,480
Speaker 3: I understand it from the school perspective. Yeah, it's like

672
00:38:38,960 --> 00:38:42,840
Speaker 3: the band is where their theme is. They're all math textbooks. Yeah,

673
00:38:42,960 --> 00:38:43,279
Speaker 3: it was.

674
00:38:43,360 --> 00:38:46,759
Speaker 2: It was like they were a textbook themed So anyway, Yeah,

675
00:38:46,760 --> 00:38:48,400
Speaker 2: they have some, they have some some. They have some

676
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,160
Speaker 2: great music. I went, I'd never really gotten into their stuff,

677
00:38:51,160 --> 00:38:52,600
Speaker 2: but I did make sure that I listened to some

678
00:38:52,800 --> 00:38:55,000
Speaker 2: of their tracks. They have a great nineteen seventy one

679
00:38:55,040 --> 00:38:59,880
Speaker 2: cover of Indian Reservation so solid group. Mark turned to

680
00:39:00,200 --> 00:39:03,880
Speaker 2: scoring in the nineteen seventies for a bet w Michael Lewis,

681
00:39:04,320 --> 00:39:06,520
Speaker 2: for his part, was a music producer who got into

682
00:39:06,520 --> 00:39:10,160
Speaker 2: scoring with nineteen seventy eight Secrets of the Bermuda Triangle,

683
00:39:10,719 --> 00:39:13,600
Speaker 2: and he'd go on to score nineteen eighties New Year's Evil,

684
00:39:14,040 --> 00:39:17,719
Speaker 2: nineteen eighty one's Enter the Ninja, and also the TV

685
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:21,000
Speaker 2: series In Search of starring Letter Game foy Oh.

686
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:22,640
Speaker 3: I saw that when I looked him up.

687
00:39:24,040 --> 00:39:26,920
Speaker 2: Plus a couple of nineteen eighty seven releases Maximum Potential

688
00:39:26,960 --> 00:39:28,240
Speaker 2: and Hot Child in the City.

689
00:39:28,800 --> 00:39:30,640
Speaker 3: Sorry, I had to stop and remember what the name

690
00:39:30,680 --> 00:39:32,960
Speaker 3: of this other Bermuda Triangle movie I was thinking of

691
00:39:33,160 --> 00:39:35,160
Speaker 3: was no. The one I was thinking of is a

692
00:39:35,239 --> 00:39:38,880
Speaker 3: made for TV movie from nineteen also from nineteen seventy

693
00:39:38,920 --> 00:39:42,920
Speaker 3: eight called The Bermuda Depths, which starred Carl Weathers in

694
00:39:43,080 --> 00:39:48,200
Speaker 3: the shortest shorts ever made, and also had burl Ives

695
00:39:48,280 --> 00:39:51,479
Speaker 3: as I think a marine biologist or something. But it's

696
00:39:51,960 --> 00:39:54,839
Speaker 3: ultimately it's about a giant turtle that attacks a boat.

697
00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:58,960
Speaker 2: I think you made me watch the climax from this picture.

698
00:40:00,120 --> 00:40:01,280
Speaker 3: It looked not the best.

699
00:40:01,920 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 2: It looked incredible. Maybe we'll come back.

700
00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:07,040
Speaker 3: To it maybe.

701
00:40:07,920 --> 00:40:11,440
Speaker 2: So anyway, Yeah, the music for Shogun Assassin, I think

702
00:40:11,480 --> 00:40:12,320
Speaker 2: it's just tremendous.

703
00:40:13,000 --> 00:40:13,280
Speaker 3: Again.

704
00:40:13,680 --> 00:40:16,560
Speaker 2: De Goro's theme is not only I think the best

705
00:40:16,560 --> 00:40:19,120
Speaker 2: track on the score, but it's just an amazing and

706
00:40:19,120 --> 00:40:21,960
Speaker 2: emotional number in its own right. Like it's one of

707
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,600
Speaker 2: these where I was listening to it earlier today and

708
00:40:24,640 --> 00:40:26,400
Speaker 2: I was like, is this one of my favorite songs?

709
00:40:26,400 --> 00:40:26,600
Speaker 5: Now?

710
00:40:26,640 --> 00:40:29,840
Speaker 2: I think this is currently one of the greatest musical

711
00:40:29,840 --> 00:40:33,319
Speaker 2: compositions of all time. My opinions will change, obviously, but

712
00:40:33,400 --> 00:40:35,040
Speaker 2: right now it's really doing it for me.

713
00:40:35,480 --> 00:40:38,040
Speaker 3: It's so good, Like I said, not holding anything back.

714
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,200
Speaker 3: You can imagine somebody being like, oh is this music?

715
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:44,040
Speaker 3: I don't know, should we make it a little more

716
00:40:44,080 --> 00:40:48,040
Speaker 3: subtle little but no, it's just it's just the raw

717
00:40:48,160 --> 00:40:54,000
Speaker 3: power of feeling unleashed. Something feels absolutely unabashed about it,

718
00:40:54,040 --> 00:40:55,120
Speaker 3: and I love it.

719
00:40:55,040 --> 00:40:57,760
Speaker 2: And it's perfect for a film that again, is a

720
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:02,600
Speaker 2: Samurai reduction. You know, did two films reduced into one?

721
00:41:03,280 --> 00:41:08,680
Speaker 2: You know, just the most dizzying moments of psychedelia or

722
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,839
Speaker 2: bloody violence condensed into a single picture that I mean,

723
00:41:13,160 --> 00:41:15,480
Speaker 2: it's really Again, it's a testament that they were to

724
00:41:15,560 --> 00:41:18,040
Speaker 2: the film, the American filmmakers here, that they were able

725
00:41:18,120 --> 00:41:21,480
Speaker 2: to take part one and part two in this series

726
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:23,480
Speaker 2: and make a single picture out of it that works

727
00:41:23,480 --> 00:41:26,520
Speaker 2: this well. Yeah, the score here, by the way to

728
00:41:26,640 --> 00:41:29,680
Speaker 2: Shogun Assassin is available wherever you stream your music, and

729
00:41:29,760 --> 00:41:32,640
Speaker 2: there are CD and vinyl versions as well. I do

730
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,440
Speaker 2: not know if there is like a blood red vinyl

731
00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:37,839
Speaker 2: edition of this soundtrack, but there needs to be.

732
00:41:38,200 --> 00:41:41,200
Speaker 3: If you listen to it, at least the version that

733
00:41:41,280 --> 00:41:44,000
Speaker 3: I heard on Spotify. It includes some of the narration

734
00:41:44,160 --> 00:41:45,240
Speaker 3: from the movie as well.

735
00:41:45,680 --> 00:41:48,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's so good. That also made me tear up,

736
00:41:48,600 --> 00:41:52,239
Speaker 2: like on an airplane listening to this. You know, people

737
00:41:52,280 --> 00:41:53,920
Speaker 2: are like, are you okay? And I'm like, I'm just

738
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:56,879
Speaker 2: listening to the Showgun Assassin soundtrack. Man, that's all. That's

739
00:41:56,920 --> 00:41:58,120
Speaker 2: all that's going on here. I'm good.

740
00:41:58,400 --> 00:42:01,439
Speaker 3: This is funny. How similar are experienceiances were? I also

741
00:42:01,520 --> 00:42:05,920
Speaker 3: had embarrassing emotional episodes Digo's theme specifically.

742
00:42:06,320 --> 00:42:18,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, let's get into that plot of Shogun Assassin.

743
00:42:18,719 --> 00:42:20,880
Speaker 3: All right, Well, we have already mentioned how strong the

744
00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:25,640
Speaker 3: movie kicks off. So the introductory segment has a child's

745
00:42:25,719 --> 00:42:30,040
Speaker 3: voice narrating as we see a montage of scenes play out.

746
00:42:30,160 --> 00:42:33,120
Speaker 3: And this is the voice of Digoro, the Cub of

747
00:42:33,200 --> 00:42:37,000
Speaker 3: Lone Wolf and Cub. So the introductory narration plays over

748
00:42:37,040 --> 00:42:42,040
Speaker 3: this dark melody on synthesizer bass, the sound of absolute doom,

749
00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:45,880
Speaker 3: and we hear the child's voice say, when I was little,

750
00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:49,600
Speaker 3: my father was famous. He was the greatest samurai in

751
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:54,120
Speaker 3: the empire, and he was the Shogun's decapitator. He cut

752
00:42:54,160 --> 00:42:56,719
Speaker 3: off the heads of one hundred and thirty one lords

753
00:42:56,760 --> 00:43:01,120
Speaker 3: for the Shogun. And as this narration is going on,

754
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:05,480
Speaker 3: we see our protagonist walk into the frame the silent

755
00:43:05,560 --> 00:43:09,280
Speaker 3: Ogami Eto. His eyes are down cast, he moves slowly.

756
00:43:09,800 --> 00:43:14,040
Speaker 3: He has a blank, lugubrious expression, and then we see

757
00:43:14,160 --> 00:43:18,319
Speaker 3: Itto's blade twisting and gleaming in the light, and then

758
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:22,760
Speaker 3: suddenly there's like a shadow playlet entirely in red and

759
00:43:23,160 --> 00:43:26,200
Speaker 3: just the silhouettes of the human figures in the foreground,

760
00:43:26,239 --> 00:43:28,399
Speaker 3: and we see a man kneeling to receive a death

761
00:43:28,440 --> 00:43:32,440
Speaker 3: sentence and another man, presumably our protagonist here, bringing a

762
00:43:32,480 --> 00:43:33,799
Speaker 3: sword down on his neck.

763
00:43:34,320 --> 00:43:37,160
Speaker 2: And to be clear, if you have to have your

764
00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,400
Speaker 2: head cut off, this is the guy you want to

765
00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:41,479
Speaker 2: do it. This guy is the ultimate pro.

766
00:43:42,080 --> 00:43:45,000
Speaker 3: It reminds me of our series on the Invention of

767
00:43:45,040 --> 00:43:48,520
Speaker 3: the guillotine, where we were talking about how bad a

768
00:43:48,560 --> 00:43:51,800
Speaker 3: lot of professional executioners were and like they just couldn't

769
00:43:52,080 --> 00:43:54,239
Speaker 3: like it took them way too many tries to get

770
00:43:54,239 --> 00:43:54,840
Speaker 3: it done.

771
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:58,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, a gami eto one swipe every time, guaranteed.

772
00:43:59,280 --> 00:44:03,000
Speaker 3: If you want some oof historical reading, look up Jack Ketch.

773
00:44:03,560 --> 00:44:08,080
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, I remember some of these details. And it

774
00:44:08,120 --> 00:44:11,840
Speaker 2: was also I recently visited the revisited the Tower of London,

775
00:44:12,080 --> 00:44:13,839
Speaker 2: so I guess I got to read more about some

776
00:44:13,880 --> 00:44:16,960
Speaker 2: of these these execution facts. Yeah, but they did not

777
00:44:17,120 --> 00:44:20,640
Speaker 2: have the Shogun's mastered decapitator on hand.

778
00:44:21,520 --> 00:44:24,880
Speaker 3: So Digoro's narration goes on he says it was a

779
00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:28,400
Speaker 3: bad time for the empire. The shogun just stayed inside

780
00:44:28,480 --> 00:44:31,440
Speaker 3: his castle and he never came out. People said his

781
00:44:31,480 --> 00:44:34,600
Speaker 3: brain was infected by devils and that he was rotting

782
00:44:34,680 --> 00:44:38,160
Speaker 3: with evil. The shogun said the people were not loyal.

783
00:44:38,560 --> 00:44:40,560
Speaker 3: He said he had a lot of enemies, but he

784
00:44:40,719 --> 00:44:43,960
Speaker 3: killed more people than that. Then we see a castle.

785
00:44:44,440 --> 00:44:46,920
Speaker 3: The gate swing open, revealing sort of a court to

786
00:44:47,000 --> 00:44:50,480
Speaker 3: a bunch of entourage of people and a ruler. And

787
00:44:50,600 --> 00:44:53,040
Speaker 3: here's where I was originally going to break and discuss.

788
00:44:53,080 --> 00:44:55,600
Speaker 3: Wait a minute, is the guy we're seeing here the shogun?

789
00:44:55,640 --> 00:44:59,719
Speaker 3: But we already had that conversation, not originally, but in

790
00:44:59,760 --> 00:45:02,840
Speaker 3: show Assassin, that is what is implied he is the shogun.

791
00:45:03,200 --> 00:45:06,040
Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, So we're just going to continue referring to

792
00:45:06,120 --> 00:45:08,879
Speaker 2: him as the shogun just for the simplicity's sake here.

793
00:45:09,320 --> 00:45:13,520
Speaker 2: And you know, oh, I do love this narration because

794
00:45:13,880 --> 00:45:16,480
Speaker 2: there is a simplicity to it that also works not

795
00:45:16,560 --> 00:45:19,720
Speaker 2: only for the project that is Shogun Assassin, but also

796
00:45:20,360 --> 00:45:23,120
Speaker 2: the idea that this is a child's recollection and the

797
00:45:23,360 --> 00:45:26,800
Speaker 2: child is working from, you know, a much simpler view

798
00:45:27,239 --> 00:45:31,080
Speaker 2: of right and wrong and good and evil in his

799
00:45:31,360 --> 00:45:32,160
Speaker 2: known universe.

800
00:45:33,320 --> 00:45:36,160
Speaker 3: Interesting yeah, And I guess implied by that, you're saying

801
00:45:36,160 --> 00:45:38,800
Speaker 3: this might be sort of a child's memory of the shogun,

802
00:45:38,840 --> 00:45:40,560
Speaker 3: in which he looks almost like a monster.

803
00:45:41,200 --> 00:45:43,239
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I think you could lean into that kind

804
00:45:43,239 --> 00:45:43,960
Speaker 2: of interpretation.

805
00:45:44,400 --> 00:45:48,280
Speaker 3: So he's got wild, uncombed white hair and beard that's

806
00:45:48,320 --> 00:45:51,680
Speaker 3: blowing around in the wind like a mass of cobwebs. Also,

807
00:45:51,719 --> 00:45:55,440
Speaker 3: he has flaring white eyebrows, his teeth are clenched, he's

808
00:45:55,440 --> 00:45:58,960
Speaker 3: got dark eyes. His eyes just keep jerking back and forth,

809
00:45:59,000 --> 00:46:03,640
Speaker 3: suspicions viciously. The shogun is not well. And then we

810
00:46:03,719 --> 00:46:07,560
Speaker 3: see the shogun soldiers leading bound men up a mountain

811
00:46:07,640 --> 00:46:10,319
Speaker 3: side with their hands tied behind their back, to a

812
00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:14,200
Speaker 3: chaotic mass execution in the gravel beside a small tarn.

813
00:46:15,040 --> 00:46:19,120
Speaker 3: The narration goes on. It was a bad time, everybody

814
00:46:19,160 --> 00:46:22,960
Speaker 3: living in fear, but still we were happy. My father

815
00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,799
Speaker 3: would come home to mother, and when he had seen her,

816
00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:29,000
Speaker 3: he would forget about the killings. He wasn't scared of

817
00:46:29,040 --> 00:46:32,680
Speaker 3: the shogun, but the shogun was scared of him. Maybe

818
00:46:32,680 --> 00:46:35,640
Speaker 3: that was the problem. And so here we see a

819
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:38,319
Speaker 3: brief glimpse of the family's life at home, the mother

820
00:46:38,480 --> 00:46:41,759
Speaker 3: nursing the baby son, at their house, rain pouring into

821
00:46:41,840 --> 00:46:44,879
Speaker 3: the small bamboo forest outside, and I think the sort

822
00:46:44,920 --> 00:46:48,200
Speaker 3: of weather is a metaphor. Here there's love and comfort inside,

823
00:46:48,280 --> 00:46:51,759
Speaker 3: but not outside where the weather is bad. And the

824
00:46:51,760 --> 00:46:54,520
Speaker 3: father comes home and undresses. He takes his baby in

825
00:46:54,560 --> 00:46:57,000
Speaker 3: his arms, and the mother says that she had a

826
00:46:57,040 --> 00:46:59,680
Speaker 3: bad dream, but the father calms her and says, to

827
00:46:59,719 --> 00:47:02,400
Speaker 3: the bay, maybe what a time you chose to be born?

828
00:47:02,560 --> 00:47:07,359
Speaker 3: I grow. The narration goes on at night. Mother would

829
00:47:07,400 --> 00:47:09,960
Speaker 3: sing for us while father would go into his temple

830
00:47:10,040 --> 00:47:13,280
Speaker 3: and pray for peace. He'd pray for things to get better.

831
00:47:13,840 --> 00:47:17,000
Speaker 3: Then one night the shogun sent his ninja spies to

832
00:47:17,080 --> 00:47:20,440
Speaker 3: our house. They were supposed to kill my father, but

833
00:47:20,560 --> 00:47:24,440
Speaker 3: they didn't. Here we see ninja scaling the wall and

834
00:47:24,520 --> 00:47:27,480
Speaker 3: sneaking into their home. And there some if you go

835
00:47:27,560 --> 00:47:29,840
Speaker 3: back to our ninja episodes from a while back, we

836
00:47:29,880 --> 00:47:32,719
Speaker 3: see some stuff we talked about there, some equipment like

837
00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:36,960
Speaker 3: the ninja are carrying swords between their teeth out and

838
00:47:37,040 --> 00:47:40,239
Speaker 3: they climb up on ropes on grappling hooks. And so

839
00:47:40,360 --> 00:47:43,400
Speaker 3: the father is praying in his temple while with the

840
00:47:43,440 --> 00:47:45,959
Speaker 3: baby in his arms, and then he hears his wife

841
00:47:46,080 --> 00:47:48,400
Speaker 3: scream from the other end of the house. By the

842
00:47:48,440 --> 00:47:51,280
Speaker 3: time he gets there, she's mortally wounded and the ninja

843
00:47:51,320 --> 00:47:54,080
Speaker 3: are gone, and the dying mother tells the father that

844
00:47:54,160 --> 00:47:57,799
Speaker 3: he must protect their son. The narration tells us that

845
00:47:58,040 --> 00:48:02,080
Speaker 3: was the night everything changed. That was when my father

846
00:48:02,280 --> 00:48:06,160
Speaker 3: left his samurai life and became a demon. He became

847
00:48:06,200 --> 00:48:09,400
Speaker 3: an assassin who walks the road of vengeance, and he

848
00:48:09,480 --> 00:48:12,520
Speaker 3: took me with him. And then at this moment we

849
00:48:12,600 --> 00:48:16,760
Speaker 3: see a scene of the dynamic that will be treated

850
00:48:16,800 --> 00:48:18,799
Speaker 3: as sort of the ground reality for the rest of

851
00:48:18,840 --> 00:48:23,400
Speaker 3: the movie. The father trudging along lonely, desolate roads pushing

852
00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:26,439
Speaker 3: a wooden cart and the baby son riding in the cart.

853
00:48:27,000 --> 00:48:30,920
Speaker 3: Daigo says, I don't remember most of this myself. I

854
00:48:30,960 --> 00:48:34,319
Speaker 3: only remember the shogun's ninja hunting us wherever we go,

855
00:48:34,840 --> 00:48:37,240
Speaker 3: and the body's falling and the blood.

856
00:48:38,680 --> 00:48:41,280
Speaker 2: Yeah, and this is the like, this is the key

857
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:46,160
Speaker 2: component of Lone Wolf and Cub that has been highly influential.

858
00:48:46,440 --> 00:48:48,880
Speaker 2: So if you out there are a fan of the

859
00:48:48,880 --> 00:48:53,560
Speaker 2: Mandalorian series, like the Mandalorian is quite clearly and you know,

860
00:48:53,600 --> 00:48:56,760
Speaker 2: the creators are very upfront about this, very much inspired

861
00:48:56,800 --> 00:49:00,320
Speaker 2: by Lone Wolf and Cub. You know, a warrior protecting

862
00:49:00,360 --> 00:49:06,080
Speaker 2: a child, you know, hunted by enemies, but you know,

863
00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:10,880
Speaker 2: standing by the child to protect them, and especially with

864
00:49:10,920 --> 00:49:14,040
Speaker 2: lone Wolf and Cub I couldn't help. But also compare

865
00:49:14,080 --> 00:49:17,160
Speaker 2: it to the two thousand and six novel by Cormick McCarthy,

866
00:49:17,520 --> 00:49:20,240
Speaker 2: The Road, in which a father and his son traverse

867
00:49:20,239 --> 00:49:23,880
Speaker 2: a doomed landscape where there's ever present danger and the

868
00:49:23,920 --> 00:49:27,000
Speaker 2: father's entire existence is to still down to the protection

869
00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:30,240
Speaker 2: of his son. Quote he knew only that his child

870
00:49:30,400 --> 00:49:32,880
Speaker 2: was his warrant, he said. If he is not the

871
00:49:32,920 --> 00:49:36,640
Speaker 2: word of God, God never spoke. You know that kind

872
00:49:36,640 --> 00:49:39,520
Speaker 2: of vibe. So, I mean, I don't know the court

873
00:49:39,560 --> 00:49:43,000
Speaker 2: McCarthy ever watched Shogun Assassin, but you know, I think

874
00:49:43,000 --> 00:49:46,319
Speaker 2: they're scratching the same itch here. But I think it's

875
00:49:46,360 --> 00:49:48,880
Speaker 2: something that you know, a lot of us can relate to.

876
00:49:49,040 --> 00:49:52,239
Speaker 2: You know, certainly, if if there is a child in

877
00:49:52,280 --> 00:49:54,279
Speaker 2: your life, where there has been a child in your

878
00:49:54,320 --> 00:49:58,319
Speaker 2: life where you had this role as a protector, like,

879
00:49:58,360 --> 00:50:00,840
Speaker 2: it's easy to sort of lean in into this. I

880
00:50:00,880 --> 00:50:04,400
Speaker 2: think ultimately you know very distilled idea of what your

881
00:50:04,680 --> 00:50:07,680
Speaker 2: responsibility is. You know, in the same way that zombie

882
00:50:07,680 --> 00:50:11,920
Speaker 2: films are enthralling because it simplifies good and evil into like,

883
00:50:12,000 --> 00:50:14,560
Speaker 2: you know, and in us versus them, it's like this kind

884
00:50:14,560 --> 00:50:18,080
Speaker 2: of the lone wolf and cub model reduces everything down

885
00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:20,719
Speaker 2: to I must protect my child from ninjas, you know,

886
00:50:21,440 --> 00:50:24,560
Speaker 2: and you know, we'll get to some degree that is accurate.

887
00:50:24,960 --> 00:50:28,440
Speaker 3: Yeah, and so, and we get that demonstrated here because

888
00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:30,640
Speaker 3: here we go to the very first action scene in

889
00:50:30,680 --> 00:50:35,000
Speaker 3: the film, the attack by ninja wearing baskets over their heads,

890
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:39,440
Speaker 3: which is amazingly creepy and memorable. So it begins with

891
00:50:39,560 --> 00:50:43,000
Speaker 3: one man running toward the father and son from a distance.

892
00:50:43,000 --> 00:50:45,680
Speaker 3: They're on the road. He's pushing the cart there just

893
00:50:45,800 --> 00:50:49,200
Speaker 3: in the middle of nowhere, and there's someone running toward them,

894
00:50:49,320 --> 00:50:53,160
Speaker 3: sword in hand, his head completely covered in a basket

895
00:50:53,239 --> 00:50:55,080
Speaker 3: like a helmet with a mask in the front. There's

896
00:50:55,120 --> 00:50:56,960
Speaker 3: kind of a grating in the basket, but you can't

897
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:59,759
Speaker 3: see his face. And there's a long build up as

898
00:50:59,800 --> 00:51:02,759
Speaker 3: the ninja draws closer, and then finally when he's in

899
00:51:02,960 --> 00:51:06,640
Speaker 3: within striking distance, the father just suddenly flicks his sword

900
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:10,200
Speaker 3: and cleaves the ninja's head through the basket, with the

901
00:51:10,280 --> 00:51:13,840
Speaker 3: ninja catching the blade between his hands as he dies,

902
00:51:14,400 --> 00:51:19,360
Speaker 3: and then a second ninja leaps out from behind the first,

903
00:51:19,840 --> 00:51:23,239
Speaker 3: springs from his dying partner's shoulders and tries to land

904
00:51:23,239 --> 00:51:26,920
Speaker 3: a killing stroke while his while the father's sword is stuck.

905
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:30,680
Speaker 3: But the father is too crafty. He pulls a hidden

906
00:51:30,880 --> 00:51:33,839
Speaker 3: second weapon from the cart, which is a bamboo pole

907
00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:36,920
Speaker 3: with a retractable blade in it, and he skewers the

908
00:51:36,960 --> 00:51:39,560
Speaker 3: attacker in mid air. And so then as the first

909
00:51:39,640 --> 00:51:42,520
Speaker 3: ninja collapses with his dying breath, he tells the father,

910
00:51:42,960 --> 00:51:46,240
Speaker 3: you are marked for death. Wherever you go, you cannot

911
00:51:46,400 --> 00:51:47,759
Speaker 3: escape the showgun.

912
00:51:48,640 --> 00:51:53,279
Speaker 2: Ah, it's such a strong start. This scene is not

913
00:51:53,360 --> 00:51:56,080
Speaker 2: only is it from the second film Lone Wolf and

914
00:51:56,120 --> 00:51:59,040
Speaker 2: Cub Baby cart at the River sticks. It is the

915
00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:02,200
Speaker 2: cold open to that picture, like you just go straight

916
00:52:02,280 --> 00:52:06,400
Speaker 2: to this encounter. And it's a little longer in the

917
00:52:06,440 --> 00:52:12,680
Speaker 2: original cut obviously, But I have several thoughts of this same.

918
00:52:12,719 --> 00:52:14,800
Speaker 2: First of all, in the Showgun Assassin cut, I believe

919
00:52:14,840 --> 00:52:17,960
Speaker 2: the secondary assassin that leaps over the shoulders of the

920
00:52:17,960 --> 00:52:23,680
Speaker 2: first I believe he says Ninja is he, which is

921
00:52:23,719 --> 00:52:27,880
Speaker 2: great within the context of Showgun Assassin, But of course

922
00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:30,160
Speaker 2: in reality, I don't know that as a ninja you

923
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:34,520
Speaker 2: would say ninja as you attack somebody, but still I

924
00:52:34,560 --> 00:52:39,919
Speaker 2: love it. Secondly, yeah, okay, back to the first assassin though, Yeah,

925
00:52:39,920 --> 00:52:43,920
Speaker 2: he apparently tries to pull off this maneuver that is

926
00:52:43,960 --> 00:52:49,400
Speaker 2: known in Japanese manga, anime, and cinema as a shinkin shiradori.

927
00:52:50,080 --> 00:52:52,640
Speaker 2: This is where you catch the blade with between your

928
00:52:52,680 --> 00:52:55,719
Speaker 2: palms before it can cut into you, and then if

929
00:52:55,719 --> 00:52:58,080
Speaker 2: you're really savvy, maybe you do a special twist to

930
00:52:58,080 --> 00:53:01,520
Speaker 2: sort of like throw the attacker to the side. This

931
00:53:01,880 --> 00:53:05,520
Speaker 2: has become like a standard not only in manga, in

932
00:53:05,600 --> 00:53:10,480
Speaker 2: Japanese cinema, but throughout like action picture the action picture world.

933
00:53:10,480 --> 00:53:13,280
Speaker 2: Like for instance, in Blade two, the day Walker pulls

934
00:53:13,320 --> 00:53:15,400
Speaker 2: this move off kind of laid in the picture to

935
00:53:15,480 --> 00:53:18,920
Speaker 2: great effect, but in reality, I'm to understand this is

936
00:53:18,960 --> 00:53:22,040
Speaker 2: impossible for a human swordsman to pull off. I think

937
00:53:22,040 --> 00:53:24,879
Speaker 2: there's a MythBusters episode where they look into it, and

938
00:53:25,000 --> 00:53:30,359
Speaker 2: I think the word the term shinkin shihradori. I think

939
00:53:30,400 --> 00:53:33,160
Speaker 2: it originally referred to some sort of maneuver that keeps

940
00:53:33,200 --> 00:53:36,680
Speaker 2: your opponent from even drawing their sword, So like that's

941
00:53:36,719 --> 00:53:39,759
Speaker 2: the time to stop it, not with coming through the

942
00:53:39,800 --> 00:53:43,400
Speaker 2: air at your head. Yeah, But what makes this sequence

943
00:53:43,400 --> 00:53:46,200
Speaker 2: so amazing is that you know, you're going up against

944
00:53:46,239 --> 00:53:49,040
Speaker 2: the greatest swordsman that's ever lived. You're trying to counter

945
00:53:49,239 --> 00:53:53,160
Speaker 2: his deathly sword strike, and he does not get all

946
00:53:53,200 --> 00:53:56,120
Speaker 2: of that counter move. Yeah, it's like maybe he stops

947
00:53:56,160 --> 00:53:58,279
Speaker 2: it from cleaving his head all the way through, but

948
00:53:58,400 --> 00:54:00,560
Speaker 2: it has already entered the brain point.

949
00:54:00,920 --> 00:54:03,640
Speaker 3: But it almost seems like this was the plan, Like

950
00:54:03,680 --> 00:54:06,440
Speaker 3: the plan is that the father will get his sword

951
00:54:06,600 --> 00:54:09,640
Speaker 3: stuck in the first ninja and the second one will

952
00:54:09,719 --> 00:54:12,040
Speaker 3: use that moment to strike. Did you get it the

953
00:54:12,080 --> 00:54:12,480
Speaker 3: same way?

954
00:54:12,719 --> 00:54:15,320
Speaker 2: Absolutely? And that's a little more clear in the original

955
00:54:15,360 --> 00:54:17,839
Speaker 2: cut of this action sequence, but I think it still

956
00:54:17,880 --> 00:54:20,200
Speaker 2: comes through in Shogun Assassin as well. But yeah, it's

957
00:54:20,560 --> 00:54:23,120
Speaker 2: a great start to the combat because this is going

958
00:54:23,160 --> 00:54:24,000
Speaker 2: to set the tone.

959
00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:26,879
Speaker 3: So after the intro, we see the father and son

960
00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:29,560
Speaker 3: sitting together at a campfire in the middle of a

961
00:54:29,760 --> 00:54:33,000
Speaker 3: thick forest. They're eating something white. I think it's rice

962
00:54:33,040 --> 00:54:36,080
Speaker 3: balls or maybe buns or something, and they're just sitting

963
00:54:36,080 --> 00:54:39,680
Speaker 3: there staring blankly into the fire, and the child's voice

964
00:54:39,680 --> 00:54:43,800
Speaker 3: over continues. He says, my father hardly ever talks anymore.

965
00:54:44,200 --> 00:54:47,000
Speaker 3: We just go a little farther. Every day at night

966
00:54:47,080 --> 00:54:49,640
Speaker 3: we make a fire and have our tea, and we

967
00:54:49,800 --> 00:54:53,560
Speaker 3: listen for the ninja who never make a sound. I

968
00:54:53,680 --> 00:54:57,680
Speaker 3: like that part. Same Diego says, sometimes he tells me

969
00:54:57,719 --> 00:55:00,759
Speaker 3: about the past and about mother. Try not to think

970
00:55:00,800 --> 00:55:03,880
Speaker 3: about it. But my father can't help it. Sometimes he

971
00:55:03,920 --> 00:55:07,440
Speaker 3: gets lost in the past. And here we're about to

972
00:55:07,440 --> 00:55:10,840
Speaker 3: see a couple of flashback scenes from before Lone Wolf

973
00:55:10,880 --> 00:55:14,000
Speaker 3: and cub Win on the Run. The first is after

974
00:55:14,160 --> 00:55:17,800
Speaker 3: the death of Azami Diego's mother. This is the sword

975
00:55:17,920 --> 00:55:22,719
Speaker 3: and ball scene where the father he's grieving. He's not

976
00:55:22,840 --> 00:55:26,080
Speaker 3: in his right mind, and he has Digro with him

977
00:55:26,080 --> 00:55:28,719
Speaker 3: in his temple. They're both dressed in white, and the

978
00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:32,120
Speaker 3: father says, today I begin walking the road to hell,

979
00:55:32,400 --> 00:55:35,480
Speaker 3: but you will choose your own path. And he offers

980
00:55:35,520 --> 00:55:39,160
Speaker 3: a sword and a toy ball. And so the idea is,

981
00:55:39,200 --> 00:55:41,839
Speaker 3: he says, choose the sword and the child will join

982
00:55:41,920 --> 00:55:44,680
Speaker 3: his father on the road to hell. Choose the toy

983
00:55:45,040 --> 00:55:47,759
Speaker 3: and the child will join his mother in heaven. And

984
00:55:47,800 --> 00:55:50,640
Speaker 3: there's some suspense, but the cub he crawls and he

985
00:55:50,680 --> 00:55:53,560
Speaker 3: reaches for the sword, and the father is both troubled

986
00:55:53,600 --> 00:55:56,239
Speaker 3: and relieved, and he hugs his son and says that

987
00:55:56,320 --> 00:55:58,319
Speaker 3: his mother would be proud, and they will defy the

988
00:55:58,320 --> 00:56:00,880
Speaker 3: shogun together, assassin and with son.

989
00:56:01,640 --> 00:56:02,600
Speaker 2: It's a great sequence.

990
00:56:03,280 --> 00:56:06,279
Speaker 3: He says that, like it's like the name of their business. Yeah,

991
00:56:06,360 --> 00:56:07,239
Speaker 3: well it is.

992
00:56:07,600 --> 00:56:09,880
Speaker 2: It does pretty bod. I forget exactly what the wording is.

993
00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:12,560
Speaker 2: But they have that banner on their cart. That's like

994
00:56:12,640 --> 00:56:16,359
Speaker 2: sword for hire, son for hire. You need a hold

995
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:20,240
Speaker 2: of toddler, got you covered? You need a local enemy

996
00:56:20,640 --> 00:56:22,359
Speaker 2: cut in half. We can talk.

997
00:56:23,040 --> 00:56:27,600
Speaker 3: So the other flashback is what followed immediately followed that immediately,

998
00:56:27,600 --> 00:56:30,640
Speaker 3: which is the moment of defiance. So the shogun's emissary

999
00:56:31,160 --> 00:56:34,400
Speaker 3: comes to the father and reads a decree that he

1000
00:56:34,480 --> 00:56:38,120
Speaker 3: must either swear eternal loyalty to the shogun or commit

1001
00:56:38,160 --> 00:56:42,399
Speaker 3: harakiri with his son. And obviously he's gonna do neither one.

1002
00:56:42,520 --> 00:56:45,000
Speaker 3: He's got his head down and he starts to laugh

1003
00:56:45,080 --> 00:56:48,840
Speaker 3: and then slowly raises his face up, looking very stern

1004
00:56:48,960 --> 00:56:52,040
Speaker 3: and almost evil, and he says, you are wrong. I

1005
00:56:52,200 --> 00:56:55,160
Speaker 3: have a third choice. And then the other guys they

1006
00:56:55,160 --> 00:56:58,600
Speaker 3: immediately get like freaked out. Uh oh. And in one

1007
00:56:58,719 --> 00:57:01,080
Speaker 3: arm he picks up his infants, and in the other

1008
00:57:01,200 --> 00:57:04,080
Speaker 3: arm he draws his sword and the officials who read

1009
00:57:04,080 --> 00:57:06,759
Speaker 3: the decree they call for guards. They're like, ah, stop him,

1010
00:57:06,800 --> 00:57:09,279
Speaker 3: can't you see he's a devil. I'm not sure quite

1011
00:57:09,320 --> 00:57:12,439
Speaker 3: what was meant by that, but it's yeah, they're seeing

1012
00:57:12,520 --> 00:57:15,200
Speaker 3: him as some kind of demon. And this leads to

1013
00:57:15,239 --> 00:57:19,040
Speaker 3: a brutal sword fight one against many to escape the building,

1014
00:57:19,360 --> 00:57:21,560
Speaker 3: and the father has his son in the crook of

1015
00:57:21,600 --> 00:57:25,680
Speaker 3: one arm the whole time. It's very stylized violence. We

1016
00:57:25,760 --> 00:57:29,160
Speaker 3: see a sword blade break off inside a guard's neck.

1017
00:57:29,280 --> 00:57:31,960
Speaker 3: There are jets of bright red blood that erupt like

1018
00:57:32,040 --> 00:57:35,400
Speaker 3: geysers from the adversary's wounds. You can see why this

1019
00:57:35,560 --> 00:57:38,600
Speaker 3: was effective on the midnight movie circuit. Yeah.

1020
00:57:38,640 --> 00:57:41,320
Speaker 2: I don't know if arterial sprays like this are realistic

1021
00:57:41,520 --> 00:57:45,000
Speaker 2: or hyper realistic. I thankfully do not know, but it

1022
00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:48,040
Speaker 2: certainly sizzles on the screen, and you get this idea

1023
00:57:48,080 --> 00:57:51,120
Speaker 2: that a human's life blood is just this high pressure substance,

1024
00:57:51,400 --> 00:57:56,200
Speaker 2: absolutely straining for release by a skilled swordsman like ogami Eto.

1025
00:57:56,840 --> 00:57:59,720
Speaker 3: Yeah, a lot of blood jets in this movie. However,

1026
00:58:00,160 --> 00:58:02,840
Speaker 3: the father cuts his way out of the compound, he

1027
00:58:02,920 --> 00:58:07,640
Speaker 3: is suddenly faced with the shogun and his entourage. The shogun.

1028
00:58:08,160 --> 00:58:09,919
Speaker 3: So he like cuts through the gate and the gate

1029
00:58:09,920 --> 00:58:12,040
Speaker 3: opens and the Shogun is there with all of his men.

1030
00:58:12,480 --> 00:58:15,200
Speaker 3: The Shogun calls him mad one and says he can

1031
00:58:15,240 --> 00:58:17,920
Speaker 3: never escape his fate, but he offers him a deal.

1032
00:58:18,560 --> 00:58:22,120
Speaker 3: He says, you agree to a one on one duel

1033
00:58:22,240 --> 00:58:25,240
Speaker 3: with my son with the Shogun's son, and if Lone

1034
00:58:25,280 --> 00:58:28,080
Speaker 3: Wolf can win this duel, he will be awarded his freedom,

1035
00:58:28,480 --> 00:58:29,800
Speaker 3: and Lone Wolf accepts.

1036
00:58:30,680 --> 00:58:32,880
Speaker 2: Now, again, I'm not going to go into a lot

1037
00:58:32,880 --> 00:58:35,720
Speaker 2: of detail about the differences between the original pictures and

1038
00:58:35,720 --> 00:58:37,520
Speaker 2: Shogun Assassin, but I do feel like I need to

1039
00:58:37,600 --> 00:58:40,400
Speaker 2: jump in on this one and point out that in

1040
00:58:40,440 --> 00:58:44,160
Speaker 2: the original again, Ogami is cornered not by the Shogun

1041
00:58:44,200 --> 00:58:48,200
Speaker 2: but by Ratsuto and his men, and he's given a

1042
00:58:48,280 --> 00:58:50,920
Speaker 2: choice here. He's like, Okay, this is the way it

1043
00:58:50,960 --> 00:58:54,600
Speaker 2: can go down for you, Ogami. Either you go ahead

1044
00:58:54,600 --> 00:58:58,400
Speaker 2: and commit your honorable suicide right now, or my soldiers

1045
00:58:58,440 --> 00:59:00,240
Speaker 2: are going to cut you down with their quote wall

1046
00:59:00,280 --> 00:59:05,120
Speaker 2: of swords. And Ogami says, no, neither of those is

1047
00:59:05,120 --> 00:59:07,400
Speaker 2: going to happen, and he tears off these outer white

1048
00:59:07,480 --> 00:59:10,800
Speaker 2: robes and reveals that he wears black robes with the

1049
00:59:10,840 --> 00:59:15,400
Speaker 2: hollyhock crest of the Tokugawa schokunate. So he's like, look,

1050
00:59:15,440 --> 00:59:18,560
Speaker 2: I'm wearing the colors in the crest of the shogun.

1051
00:59:19,080 --> 00:59:21,960
Speaker 2: You can't kill me. You can't even point your swords

1052
00:59:22,000 --> 00:59:26,640
Speaker 2: at me without dishonoring yourself. And so they're at a standstill,

1053
00:59:26,680 --> 00:59:29,280
Speaker 2: and so a compromise is made. Okay, you remove those

1054
00:59:29,400 --> 00:59:34,400
Speaker 2: robes and we will settle this via a formal duel. Yeah,

1055
00:59:34,480 --> 00:59:36,360
Speaker 2: because otherwise you might say, well, why didn't they just

1056
00:59:36,400 --> 00:59:38,600
Speaker 2: cut him down? Well, in the original picture it made

1057
00:59:38,640 --> 00:59:39,080
Speaker 2: more sense.

1058
00:59:39,480 --> 00:59:42,840
Speaker 3: Yeah, So we go to the duel from here. The

1059
00:59:42,960 --> 00:59:46,040
Speaker 3: duel takes place in the afternoon in a meadow of

1060
00:59:46,080 --> 00:59:48,480
Speaker 3: tall grass blowing in the wind, and we see the

1061
00:59:48,720 --> 00:59:51,840
Speaker 3: to samurai square off at a distance. The shogun's sun

1062
00:59:51,960 --> 00:59:56,960
Speaker 3: is scowling, hateful, determined. The Lone Wolf wears the cub

1063
00:59:57,120 --> 01:00:00,720
Speaker 3: on a basket on his back, and they they draw

1064
01:00:00,800 --> 01:00:03,400
Speaker 3: their swords and charge at one another. But Lone Wolf

1065
01:00:03,440 --> 01:00:06,040
Speaker 3: has a trick up his sleeve. Here. Right when they

1066
01:00:06,040 --> 01:00:08,840
Speaker 3: are about to meet on the field, Lone Wolf bows

1067
01:00:08,880 --> 01:00:13,600
Speaker 3: his head and reveals a mirror mounted on Diigero's head,

1068
01:00:13,920 --> 01:00:17,760
Speaker 3: which reflects the low sun and blinds their enemy, and

1069
01:00:17,800 --> 01:00:22,240
Speaker 3: then lone wolf chops off the lord's son's head and

1070
01:00:22,280 --> 01:00:24,960
Speaker 3: his body is just standing there, headless with jets of

1071
01:00:25,000 --> 01:00:27,400
Speaker 3: blood blasting out of the next stump in slow motion

1072
01:00:27,840 --> 01:00:29,400
Speaker 3: in the Golden sunset.

1073
01:00:29,680 --> 01:00:30,680
Speaker 2: Oh it's beautiful.

1074
01:00:30,840 --> 01:00:33,560
Speaker 3: I mean in a grisly way. It is so beautiful.

1075
01:00:33,880 --> 01:00:36,600
Speaker 2: And one thing that's pointed out in the sor I'm

1076
01:00:36,600 --> 01:00:38,520
Speaker 2: going to do one more of these. Well, something that's

1077
01:00:38,520 --> 01:00:42,360
Speaker 2: pointed out in the original picture is that this is

1078
01:00:42,400 --> 01:00:46,960
Speaker 2: like a swordsman that is of comparable ability to a gami,

1079
01:00:47,800 --> 01:00:50,840
Speaker 2: but he has the sun to his back, and therefore

1080
01:00:50,960 --> 01:00:56,000
Speaker 2: he has an advantage and will probably prevail. But Ogami

1081
01:00:57,000 --> 01:01:01,439
Speaker 2: via the cub and his mirror turns his advantage into

1082
01:01:01,440 --> 01:01:04,880
Speaker 2: a disadvantage by reflecting the sunlight back into his eyes.

1083
01:01:05,480 --> 01:01:07,680
Speaker 3: That does make more sense of it, because this part

1084
01:01:07,680 --> 01:01:09,760
Speaker 3: I was thinking, well, he's just like cutting the slicing

1085
01:01:09,760 --> 01:01:13,360
Speaker 3: through everybody, like butter. Why is this guy such a challenge,

1086
01:01:13,880 --> 01:01:15,680
Speaker 3: But it would make sense if we know something about

1087
01:01:15,760 --> 01:01:17,760
Speaker 3: him and that he has an advantage on the Yeah,

1088
01:01:18,240 --> 01:01:21,280
Speaker 3: though they do show the sun, they don't talk about it,

1089
01:01:21,320 --> 01:01:23,960
Speaker 3: but they do show the sun being low and in

1090
01:01:24,000 --> 01:01:24,520
Speaker 3: his face.

1091
01:01:25,040 --> 01:01:27,760
Speaker 2: Yeah, either way, even if you don't know all those details,

1092
01:01:27,840 --> 01:01:31,680
Speaker 2: it is another super stylistically violent execution.

1093
01:01:32,120 --> 01:01:34,880
Speaker 3: Yeah. So this scene fades back into a scene of

1094
01:01:35,000 --> 01:01:38,240
Speaker 3: lone wolf and cub at a campfire in the wilderness,

1095
01:01:38,600 --> 01:01:41,880
Speaker 3: and the camera slowly pulls back from them as father

1096
01:01:42,000 --> 01:01:45,520
Speaker 3: turns his head. And then on the soundtrack they had

1097
01:01:45,560 --> 01:01:49,120
Speaker 3: to add this in. We get a guttural, animalistic growl.

1098
01:01:49,360 --> 01:01:55,880
Speaker 3: It's a wolf growling. Probably just a dog, right. Yeah, anyway,

1099
01:01:55,920 --> 01:01:58,680
Speaker 3: here the introductory I would say this is the part

1100
01:01:58,720 --> 01:02:01,520
Speaker 3: where the introductory part of the movie gives way to

1101
01:02:01,600 --> 01:02:04,880
Speaker 3: the main plot. Though, as we said earlier, the idea

1102
01:02:04,960 --> 01:02:08,400
Speaker 3: that this movie has a plot, it's very loose. Basically,

1103
01:02:08,440 --> 01:02:11,200
Speaker 3: the plot is the father wanders the country pushing his

1104
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:13,960
Speaker 3: son in a wooden cart. They stop at places where

1105
01:02:13,960 --> 01:02:16,800
Speaker 3: the father can take contracts. He works as an assassin,

1106
01:02:17,280 --> 01:02:20,200
Speaker 3: and he makes money. He makes money to live this way,

1107
01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:23,320
Speaker 3: but he doesn't seem to really want to become rich

1108
01:02:23,440 --> 01:02:25,680
Speaker 3: or like find a way out. He sort of seems

1109
01:02:25,720 --> 01:02:28,080
Speaker 3: to squander the money he makes. From what I can.

1110
01:02:27,960 --> 01:02:30,440
Speaker 2: Tell, Yeah, I mean I think part of it is

1111
01:02:30,480 --> 01:02:34,400
Speaker 2: like he's I mean, he has no future, like his

1112
01:02:34,480 --> 01:02:36,840
Speaker 2: son is the only future that matters, and he will

1113
01:02:36,840 --> 01:02:39,840
Speaker 2: do everything for him, but like he has lost all honor.

1114
01:02:39,880 --> 01:02:42,600
Speaker 2: He's a wandering ronan. What is he going to do

1115
01:02:42,640 --> 01:02:45,200
Speaker 2: with this money except, you know, pay for the next

1116
01:02:45,280 --> 01:02:48,800
Speaker 2: night's sleep, pay for the next bath, and so forth.

1117
01:02:49,040 --> 01:02:52,480
Speaker 3: Yeah. So, meanwhile, the Shogun keeps hiring new ninjas and

1118
01:02:52,520 --> 01:02:56,360
Speaker 3: assassins to send after him and his son. So we

1119
01:02:56,440 --> 01:02:59,800
Speaker 3: follow several episodes of that where assassins are sent after them.

1120
01:03:00,160 --> 01:03:04,240
Speaker 3: The main mission of this film, especially in the second half,

1121
01:03:04,320 --> 01:03:06,720
Speaker 3: is a job that the Lone Wolf takes from a

1122
01:03:06,720 --> 01:03:10,320
Speaker 3: group of locals asking him to kill a Lord Kirou,

1123
01:03:10,480 --> 01:03:14,120
Speaker 3: the Shogun's cruel brother, who is oppressing them. But Lord

1124
01:03:14,200 --> 01:03:17,360
Speaker 3: Kirou is guarded by three ninja brothers known as the

1125
01:03:17,400 --> 01:03:22,720
Speaker 3: Masters of Death, whom we mentioned earlier. The visual inspiration

1126
01:03:22,840 --> 01:03:25,480
Speaker 3: clearly or at least part of the DNA that inspired

1127
01:03:25,520 --> 01:03:29,320
Speaker 3: the Three Storms from Big Trouble in Little China, the

1128
01:03:29,440 --> 01:03:34,000
Speaker 3: large wide hats, the specialized weapons, and the deadly auras.

1129
01:03:34,520 --> 01:03:37,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they do just cut everyone to ribbons. They

1130
01:03:38,040 --> 01:03:41,000
Speaker 2: jump into action. The Masters of Death are awesome.

1131
01:03:41,480 --> 01:03:43,280
Speaker 3: Yeah, And so the final showdown at the end of

1132
01:03:43,320 --> 01:03:47,280
Speaker 3: the movie will be the Father versus the three Masters

1133
01:03:47,320 --> 01:03:50,000
Speaker 3: of Death and a scene in the desert. Strangely, I

1134
01:03:50,040 --> 01:03:52,080
Speaker 3: was kind of wondering where that's supposed to take place.

1135
01:03:52,440 --> 01:03:54,080
Speaker 2: Yeah, I've never been to any of these, but there

1136
01:03:54,120 --> 01:03:57,400
Speaker 2: are a few different sand dunes in Japan, and I'm

1137
01:03:57,400 --> 01:03:59,720
Speaker 2: not sure which one we're looking at here, but I

1138
01:03:59,720 --> 01:04:01,600
Speaker 2: think I've seen it pop up in a few different

1139
01:04:01,680 --> 01:04:03,600
Speaker 2: Japanese films and TV shows.

1140
01:04:03,320 --> 01:04:08,200
Speaker 6: Over the years.

1141
01:04:12,440 --> 01:04:14,880
Speaker 3: Okay, well, I guess we've sort of sketched the general

1142
01:04:14,920 --> 01:04:16,919
Speaker 3: outline of the plot, but maybe we can talk about

1143
01:04:16,920 --> 01:04:19,720
Speaker 3: a few scenes that we just wanted to explore in

1144
01:04:19,760 --> 01:04:22,080
Speaker 3: a little bit of detail. One that I wanted to

1145
01:04:22,120 --> 01:04:24,520
Speaker 3: mention is closer to the beginning, and it's the scene

1146
01:04:24,560 --> 01:04:27,360
Speaker 3: where a lone Wolf and cub visit a bath house

1147
01:04:27,400 --> 01:04:32,720
Speaker 3: in town because so Digoro is explaining in the narration

1148
01:04:32,880 --> 01:04:36,160
Speaker 3: that visiting a town is dangerous because they don't fit

1149
01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:39,560
Speaker 3: in and the shogun's ninja are everywhere. But then he says,

1150
01:04:39,840 --> 01:04:42,000
Speaker 3: but sometimes you have to take a chance if you

1151
01:04:42,040 --> 01:04:44,520
Speaker 3: want to take a bath. So they go to this

1152
01:04:44,640 --> 01:04:47,800
Speaker 3: bathhouse and the manager tries to turn them away, thinking

1153
01:04:47,880 --> 01:04:51,200
Speaker 3: that they are penniless beggars, but then lone Wolf flashes

1154
01:04:51,240 --> 01:04:53,920
Speaker 3: his wad of gold. He does have a lot. He

1155
01:04:54,000 --> 01:04:55,360
Speaker 3: like gets it out of the cart, and the guy

1156
01:04:55,480 --> 01:04:59,320
Speaker 3: changes his tune. He eagerly goes to wash Digoro's feet,

1157
01:04:59,680 --> 01:05:02,920
Speaker 3: and then Diego kicks water in the guy's face. And

1158
01:05:02,960 --> 01:05:06,360
Speaker 3: I like this scene because of the little moments of

1159
01:05:07,320 --> 01:05:11,040
Speaker 3: the child almost playing, Like the way he stomps around

1160
01:05:11,080 --> 01:05:13,520
Speaker 3: in the tub. It's clear that for the rest of

1161
01:05:13,560 --> 01:05:16,000
Speaker 3: his life there is very little room for play, but

1162
01:05:16,080 --> 01:05:17,320
Speaker 3: here you get to see him play.

1163
01:05:17,880 --> 01:05:20,920
Speaker 2: Yeah, these little moments of play, they're very effective here,

1164
01:05:21,080 --> 01:05:24,760
Speaker 2: and they've of course been very effective in the Mandalorian,

1165
01:05:25,360 --> 01:05:29,160
Speaker 2: very much copying this blueprint. You know, the cuteness of

1166
01:05:29,200 --> 01:05:33,320
Speaker 2: the child, the baby, Yoda, the Grogu, you know, very

1167
01:05:33,400 --> 01:05:34,200
Speaker 2: much patterned on this.

1168
01:05:34,640 --> 01:05:37,600
Speaker 3: Yeah. Also there's a moment here at the so they're

1169
01:05:37,640 --> 01:05:39,640
Speaker 3: like taking a bath. They're soaking in this big wash

1170
01:05:39,720 --> 01:05:42,640
Speaker 3: tub and it's supposed to be relaxing. You see the

1171
01:05:42,640 --> 01:05:46,040
Speaker 3: steam rising and they're kind of reclined. But there's an

1172
01:05:46,040 --> 01:05:49,080
Speaker 3: interesting moment where like the camera pulls back and reveals

1173
01:05:49,160 --> 01:05:52,560
Speaker 3: the father's arm is draped outside the tub and he's

1174
01:05:52,680 --> 01:05:56,160
Speaker 3: like gripping his sword. And there's never any attack in

1175
01:05:56,200 --> 01:05:58,360
Speaker 3: this scene. It's just that this is who he must

1176
01:05:58,400 --> 01:05:59,120
Speaker 3: be now.

1177
01:05:59,160 --> 01:06:03,080
Speaker 2: Yeah o Gomi and never truly rest. He always has

1178
01:06:03,120 --> 01:06:06,280
Speaker 2: his sword at his side in a moment that peace

1179
01:06:06,280 --> 01:06:06,960
Speaker 2: can disappear.

1180
01:06:07,760 --> 01:06:09,920
Speaker 3: And so there are more plots, like there is a

1181
01:06:09,920 --> 01:06:14,080
Speaker 3: theme established that Lone Wolf's enemies want to take his

1182
01:06:14,200 --> 01:06:16,439
Speaker 3: son away from him. They think this will take away

1183
01:06:16,520 --> 01:06:20,240
Speaker 3: his power, and so there's one plot to steal de

1184
01:06:20,360 --> 01:06:23,320
Speaker 3: Gooro and this leads to a fight scene in a

1185
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:25,640
Speaker 3: river where like these guys come and say, like, where

1186
01:06:25,720 --> 01:06:28,240
Speaker 3: is your son? We're going to take him, and then

1187
01:06:28,920 --> 01:06:31,320
Speaker 3: the father goes to fight them, and then it's discovered

1188
01:06:31,320 --> 01:06:34,360
Speaker 3: that they're like hiding armor underneath their clothing, but he

1189
01:06:34,400 --> 01:06:38,640
Speaker 3: fights them anyway, and it turns into like a final

1190
01:06:38,760 --> 01:06:41,640
Speaker 3: duel between him and one of the lords who opposes

1191
01:06:41,720 --> 01:06:44,200
Speaker 3: him standing in the middle of a river. At the

1192
01:06:44,200 --> 01:06:46,200
Speaker 3: base of this, I was going to say waterfall, but

1193
01:06:46,240 --> 01:06:48,480
Speaker 3: I think it might actually be a kind of a

1194
01:06:48,520 --> 01:06:52,600
Speaker 3: man made like spillway sort of thing, and Lone Wolf

1195
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,520
Speaker 3: wins this fight by hiding his blade beneath the water

1196
01:06:55,680 --> 01:06:57,280
Speaker 3: before he turns to move it.

1197
01:06:57,960 --> 01:07:00,919
Speaker 2: Yeah, so we get another like super style to kill here.

1198
01:07:01,360 --> 01:07:02,400
Speaker 6: Yeah.

1199
01:07:02,440 --> 01:07:04,960
Speaker 3: Also, after this duel is just the Shogun's just standing

1200
01:07:04,960 --> 01:07:07,120
Speaker 3: on a bridge over the water like I will get you.

1201
01:07:09,560 --> 01:07:12,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, they keep the dream of an encounter occurring with

1202
01:07:12,880 --> 01:07:16,320
Speaker 2: the showgun alive, though it's again it's not gonna happen,

1203
01:07:16,720 --> 01:07:17,560
Speaker 2: not in this film.

1204
01:07:17,880 --> 01:07:22,720
Speaker 3: Yeah. There's another great scene, which is the scene of

1205
01:07:22,760 --> 01:07:26,479
Speaker 3: recruiting the Ninja women. So one of the bad guys,

1206
01:07:26,480 --> 01:07:29,280
Speaker 3: I think this is Lord Kouragawa working for the Shogun.

1207
01:07:29,920 --> 01:07:33,800
Speaker 3: He meets with a woman who calls herself the Supreme Ninja,

1208
01:07:34,720 --> 01:07:37,640
Speaker 3: the Supreme Ninja. She commands an army of women who

1209
01:07:37,680 --> 01:07:42,120
Speaker 3: are all themselves Ninja warriors, and the Lord shows up

1210
01:07:42,160 --> 01:07:46,000
Speaker 3: to task them with destroying Lone Wolf and cub but

1211
01:07:46,160 --> 01:07:49,840
Speaker 3: she well, first of all, they tell her that he

1212
01:07:49,920 --> 01:07:52,680
Speaker 3: fought a duel with the Shogun's air, and she says

1213
01:07:52,720 --> 01:07:55,720
Speaker 3: what was the outcome of the duel? And he says terrible.

1214
01:07:57,840 --> 01:08:02,400
Speaker 3: But the Supreme Ninja offer the Shogun's emissary a demonstration

1215
01:08:03,080 --> 01:08:06,000
Speaker 3: of her of the prowess of her lady warriors. So

1216
01:08:06,040 --> 01:08:09,560
Speaker 3: she's like, show me your strongest man, and this silent

1217
01:08:09,600 --> 01:08:12,640
Speaker 3: fighter and a brown cloak and a conical hat comes forward.

1218
01:08:12,680 --> 01:08:16,439
Speaker 3: We learned this is Juni, the strongest fighter of I

1219
01:08:16,479 --> 01:08:20,599
Speaker 3: think it's Lord Kouragawa. Here and so the Supreme Ninja

1220
01:08:21,000 --> 01:08:23,960
Speaker 3: addresses Juni and says, Okay, you've got to try to

1221
01:08:23,960 --> 01:08:26,720
Speaker 3: find a way to escape from this room. But like

1222
01:08:26,880 --> 01:08:29,439
Speaker 3: as she says this, her women are gathering around him,

1223
01:08:29,800 --> 01:08:32,400
Speaker 3: and things are about to go very poorly for Junei.

1224
01:08:33,160 --> 01:08:36,600
Speaker 3: He tries to escape using a grappling hook in the rafters.

1225
01:08:36,680 --> 01:08:38,920
Speaker 3: He throws it up to the ceiling and swing out

1226
01:08:38,920 --> 01:08:41,400
Speaker 3: of the chamber. But the women cut the rope, they

1227
01:08:41,600 --> 01:08:44,960
Speaker 3: rip off his cloak, they pull swords out of their dresses,

1228
01:08:45,360 --> 01:08:48,439
Speaker 3: and then they just run around slicing pieces off of

1229
01:08:48,479 --> 01:08:50,439
Speaker 3: this dude, one at a time, so like we see

1230
01:08:50,479 --> 01:08:53,960
Speaker 3: his fingers hit the floor and then the skin from

1231
01:08:54,000 --> 01:08:57,240
Speaker 3: his face falls down to the floor like a rubber mask.

1232
01:08:57,439 --> 01:09:00,479
Speaker 3: Oh it's rough. They cut him into a lot of pieces.

1233
01:09:01,040 --> 01:09:03,360
Speaker 2: Yeah, this scene is so grizzly and wonderful. They just

1234
01:09:03,439 --> 01:09:07,480
Speaker 2: systematically take him apart, reducing him to a limbless, faceless

1235
01:09:07,560 --> 01:09:10,880
Speaker 2: husk that like rolls across the floor, and you know,

1236
01:09:10,920 --> 01:09:12,920
Speaker 2: then there's nothing left to do but dispatch him.

1237
01:09:13,240 --> 01:09:16,280
Speaker 3: And then the Supreme Ninja says, this is your best man.

1238
01:09:16,479 --> 01:09:19,679
Speaker 3: Lone Wolf would swallow him and then begin the most

1239
01:09:19,720 --> 01:09:23,599
Speaker 3: deranged Harley quinn laughter. It goes on for a long

1240
01:09:23,680 --> 01:09:26,640
Speaker 3: time and then stops quite suddenly, and she's calm, and

1241
01:09:26,680 --> 01:09:29,799
Speaker 3: she says, my women will execute him.

1242
01:09:30,560 --> 01:09:34,439
Speaker 2: So basically this lays the groundwork for the next trio

1243
01:09:34,520 --> 01:09:37,679
Speaker 2: of sequences, as the has three different groups of the

1244
01:09:37,720 --> 01:09:40,439
Speaker 2: female Ninja's attempt to take out lone Wolf and cut.

1245
01:09:40,840 --> 01:09:45,439
Speaker 3: Yeah. So so first, well, this is outside. They're on

1246
01:09:45,479 --> 01:09:49,919
Speaker 3: the road. Eventually they're pushing the cart between Dikon fields,

1247
01:09:49,920 --> 01:09:53,000
Speaker 3: and I like how at the Dikon fields the women

1248
01:09:53,080 --> 01:09:55,479
Speaker 3: are like down in the stream washing the dikon in

1249
01:09:55,520 --> 01:09:58,720
Speaker 3: the water, and there's this creepy scarecrow with this like

1250
01:09:58,840 --> 01:10:03,520
Speaker 3: wide eyed face on its headsack. It's interesting environmental details.

1251
01:10:03,960 --> 01:10:06,840
Speaker 3: But actually, before they get to the Dikon fields, there's

1252
01:10:06,880 --> 01:10:09,920
Speaker 3: an ambush by traveling entertainers on the roadside. And I

1253
01:10:09,960 --> 01:10:12,400
Speaker 3: thought this was funny because in our in our Ninja episode,

1254
01:10:12,400 --> 01:10:16,160
Speaker 3: we were talking about some classic story of Ninja running

1255
01:10:16,200 --> 01:10:19,920
Speaker 3: around and spying by pretending to be traveling entertainers.

1256
01:10:20,439 --> 01:10:21,519
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's a perfect cover.

1257
01:10:22,040 --> 01:10:24,040
Speaker 3: So in this case, the father and son go by

1258
01:10:24,160 --> 01:10:27,680
Speaker 3: and the entertainers are they're like dancers or acropats of

1259
01:10:27,720 --> 01:10:31,920
Speaker 3: some kind. They're jumping around cart wheeling and somersaulting and stuff.

1260
01:10:32,400 --> 01:10:36,840
Speaker 3: Whatever these people are they I think they somehow hypnotize

1261
01:10:36,960 --> 01:10:41,719
Speaker 3: Lone Wolf with the spinning patterns on their clothing as

1262
01:10:41,760 --> 01:10:44,840
Speaker 3: they spin around. So it gets very strawberry alarm clock

1263
01:10:44,920 --> 01:10:48,840
Speaker 3: for a minute here. But of course these are really

1264
01:10:48,880 --> 01:10:52,040
Speaker 3: the Supreme Ninja's assassins in disguise, and they try to

1265
01:10:52,120 --> 01:10:54,360
Speaker 3: launch a sneak attack, but Lone Wolf is too quick,

1266
01:10:54,479 --> 01:10:58,680
Speaker 3: even though he was briefly hypnotized by the clothing. His

1267
01:10:58,720 --> 01:11:01,600
Speaker 3: sword flashes and they are done. And this is the

1268
01:11:01,640 --> 01:11:04,799
Speaker 3: scene where Diego starts counting the dead Ninja.

1269
01:11:04,840 --> 01:11:05,040
Speaker 5: You know.

1270
01:11:05,080 --> 01:11:07,120
Speaker 3: He says, I try to count them so I can

1271
01:11:07,160 --> 01:11:10,519
Speaker 3: pray for their souls. Father tells me not to count them,

1272
01:11:10,560 --> 01:11:12,840
Speaker 3: but I have to to know how many to pray for.

1273
01:11:13,960 --> 01:11:16,040
Speaker 3: And then he I think he says, they're up to

1274
01:11:16,080 --> 01:11:17,679
Speaker 3: three hundred and forty five ninja.

1275
01:11:18,080 --> 01:11:19,000
Speaker 2: It's quite a count.

1276
01:11:19,240 --> 01:11:21,519
Speaker 3: Yeah. So then we get to the attack of the

1277
01:11:21,560 --> 01:11:24,720
Speaker 3: Dikon fields. So they're like going down the road in

1278
01:11:24,760 --> 01:11:28,680
Speaker 3: the cart and these women come up in different waves.

1279
01:11:28,720 --> 01:11:31,639
Speaker 3: Like the first wave of women throws these flying killer

1280
01:11:31,720 --> 01:11:35,360
Speaker 3: hats with blades on them, the blades on the brim

1281
01:11:36,280 --> 01:11:39,360
Speaker 3: and Lone Wolf fights them off, kills them, and then

1282
01:11:39,880 --> 01:11:45,559
Speaker 3: there are the next wave has knives hidden inside the dikon, which, okay,

1283
01:11:46,280 --> 01:11:46,680
Speaker 3: I love it.

1284
01:11:46,680 --> 01:11:49,000
Speaker 2: The dicons are like piercing the cart and all and

1285
01:11:49,240 --> 01:11:52,120
Speaker 2: oh and I have to mention in the original the

1286
01:11:52,160 --> 01:11:55,840
Speaker 2: second Lone Wolf picture, when they're preparing the dicons by

1287
01:11:55,880 --> 01:11:58,839
Speaker 2: the river, they're singing a little song and the lyrics

1288
01:11:58,840 --> 01:12:01,400
Speaker 2: are something like what the side dish for tonight? Oh

1289
01:12:01,439 --> 01:12:02,000
Speaker 2: it's dikon.

1290
01:12:04,960 --> 01:12:08,360
Speaker 3: Uh so yeah. There are these little a lot of

1291
01:12:08,360 --> 01:12:11,080
Speaker 3: little tricks and secrets and reveals in this fight scene,

1292
01:12:11,120 --> 01:12:14,000
Speaker 3: like secret knives popping out of the baby carriage, and

1293
01:12:14,040 --> 01:12:16,439
Speaker 3: our protagonists fight through it all until they get to

1294
01:12:16,680 --> 01:12:20,320
Speaker 3: the Supreme Ninja. She herself comes out to h to

1295
01:12:20,439 --> 01:12:24,120
Speaker 3: administer the final attack on Lone Wolf here, which she

1296
01:12:24,160 --> 01:12:25,040
Speaker 3: does with a net.

1297
01:12:25,680 --> 01:12:28,920
Speaker 2: That's right, she nets him. The net prevents him from

1298
01:12:28,960 --> 01:12:32,439
Speaker 2: immediately being able to draw his sword, and of course

1299
01:12:32,479 --> 01:12:34,760
Speaker 2: he does eventually draw his sword, but they engage in

1300
01:12:34,800 --> 01:12:38,559
Speaker 2: this short, intense close combat sword fight where it's clear

1301
01:12:38,640 --> 01:12:42,599
Speaker 2: that they're pretty evenly matched, and we get to see

1302
01:12:42,640 --> 01:12:48,960
Speaker 2: her effectively pull off that sword clap shinkin Shihradori maneuver

1303
01:12:49,160 --> 01:12:53,160
Speaker 2: against Ogami clapping his sword blade before it can hit her,

1304
01:12:53,479 --> 01:12:55,960
Speaker 2: and then she even does the twist and sends him

1305
01:12:56,000 --> 01:12:58,760
Speaker 2: a sprawling So it's a fun little like you know,

1306
01:12:58,880 --> 01:13:03,240
Speaker 2: evenly matched, you know, very close confines battle here.

1307
01:13:03,560 --> 01:13:05,680
Speaker 3: But then it gets kind of looney tunes right at

1308
01:13:05,680 --> 01:13:07,839
Speaker 3: the end, like they sort of fight to a draw.

1309
01:13:08,240 --> 01:13:11,200
Speaker 3: But when lone Wolf is finally ready to like land

1310
01:13:11,240 --> 01:13:14,160
Speaker 3: a sword blow on her, he like hits her, but

1311
01:13:14,280 --> 01:13:17,320
Speaker 3: it doesn't actually hit her. She avoids it by jumping

1312
01:13:17,479 --> 01:13:21,040
Speaker 3: out of her clothes. She's not naked, she's like still

1313
01:13:21,080 --> 01:13:24,479
Speaker 3: wearing some kind of full body stalking, but just leaves

1314
01:13:24,479 --> 01:13:27,160
Speaker 3: her original clothes standing there and leaps up in the

1315
01:13:27,200 --> 01:13:29,920
Speaker 3: air out of them, lands in a field nearby, and

1316
01:13:29,960 --> 01:13:33,800
Speaker 3: then starts fast motion running backwards as if the tape

1317
01:13:33,800 --> 01:13:35,320
Speaker 3: were in reverse up a hill.

1318
01:13:35,920 --> 01:13:38,840
Speaker 2: Yes, oh my god, this outcome is so wild. I

1319
01:13:38,880 --> 01:13:40,840
Speaker 2: can't stress enough how bonkers it is. I think looney

1320
01:13:40,840 --> 01:13:43,240
Speaker 2: tunes is the right word, because it's not like she

1321
01:13:44,040 --> 01:13:46,880
Speaker 2: peels out of her clothing in a realistic manner. It

1322
01:13:46,960 --> 01:13:50,880
Speaker 2: is like her outer garments are a jet fighter and

1323
01:13:50,920 --> 01:13:52,280
Speaker 2: she has ejected from them.

1324
01:13:52,400 --> 01:13:55,479
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, and then runs like a spring snake in

1325
01:13:55,520 --> 01:13:56,280
Speaker 3: the can.

1326
01:13:56,640 --> 01:13:59,000
Speaker 2: Like a spring snake and then the running backwards. I

1327
01:13:59,040 --> 01:14:01,920
Speaker 2: guess the idea is, like you, she can't lose sight

1328
01:14:01,960 --> 01:14:06,040
Speaker 2: of her opponent something. So yeah, she's just running backwards

1329
01:14:06,400 --> 01:14:10,840
Speaker 2: and doesn't take her eyes off of Lone Wolf for

1330
01:14:11,360 --> 01:14:13,120
Speaker 2: quite a while, like at least a half a mile

1331
01:14:14,160 --> 01:14:16,920
Speaker 2: running backs across the field. It's amazing.

1332
01:14:17,120 --> 01:14:19,320
Speaker 3: But she's going really fast, so we don't have to

1333
01:14:19,320 --> 01:14:22,160
Speaker 3: watch her go, you know, normal normal speed to a

1334
01:14:22,200 --> 01:14:23,000
Speaker 3: half mile.

1335
01:14:22,800 --> 01:14:24,360
Speaker 2: And he just sort of like looks at her, like

1336
01:14:24,640 --> 01:14:26,080
Speaker 2: just watches her.

1337
01:14:27,400 --> 01:14:28,679
Speaker 3: I've seen that trick before.

1338
01:14:30,880 --> 01:14:31,559
Speaker 2: Well matched.

1339
01:14:33,640 --> 01:14:35,640
Speaker 3: Then they also have to fight some more ninja in

1340
01:14:35,680 --> 01:14:38,599
Speaker 3: the woods. This is a more I don't know. There's

1341
01:14:38,640 --> 01:14:40,800
Speaker 3: a bunch of guys in the in the hats again,

1342
01:14:41,040 --> 01:14:44,280
Speaker 3: and in this fight they use the cart as a weapon,

1343
01:14:44,400 --> 01:14:46,559
Speaker 3: like it's got blades that come out the sides and

1344
01:14:46,640 --> 01:14:50,880
Speaker 3: chop all the ninja's legs off. But after all this

1345
01:14:51,680 --> 01:14:53,960
Speaker 3: we come to the part I mentioned this near the

1346
01:14:54,000 --> 01:14:55,599
Speaker 3: top of the episode. We come to the part where

1347
01:14:55,640 --> 01:14:59,559
Speaker 3: Lone Wolf is injured, and this leads to a sequence

1348
01:14:59,560 --> 01:15:01,759
Speaker 3: where the boy has to take care of his father,

1349
01:15:01,920 --> 01:15:06,040
Speaker 3: like his father is hiding in this little hut, and

1350
01:15:06,080 --> 01:15:08,160
Speaker 3: so I mentioned the scene earlier of the boy trying

1351
01:15:08,240 --> 01:15:10,880
Speaker 3: to bring him water from the river and he ends

1352
01:15:10,960 --> 01:15:13,240
Speaker 3: up having to carry it in his mouth. But there

1353
01:15:13,280 --> 01:15:15,559
Speaker 3: also he goes looking for food and he finds a

1354
01:15:15,600 --> 01:15:19,760
Speaker 3: food offering at a shrine, but then he and he

1355
01:15:19,800 --> 01:15:22,560
Speaker 3: wants to take it, but he doesn't want to be disrespectful,

1356
01:15:22,600 --> 01:15:24,760
Speaker 3: so he leaves an offering of his own in its place.

1357
01:15:24,800 --> 01:15:26,680
Speaker 3: He takes off some of his clothing and leaves it

1358
01:15:26,720 --> 01:15:27,480
Speaker 3: at the shrine.

1359
01:15:28,040 --> 01:15:31,800
Speaker 2: Yeah, this is a very sweet section, and of course

1360
01:15:31,800 --> 01:15:36,200
Speaker 2: we have that great Digoro's theme playing, and yeah, we

1361
01:15:36,280 --> 01:15:39,439
Speaker 2: see him, you know, bring water and then food back

1362
01:15:40,040 --> 01:15:44,040
Speaker 2: to Ogami as Ogami lays, perhaps dying we don't know

1363
01:15:44,200 --> 01:15:46,880
Speaker 2: at this point, but helping him to recuperate.

1364
01:15:47,280 --> 01:15:54,719
Speaker 3: Yeah.

1365
01:15:55,880 --> 01:15:56,080
Speaker 4: Oh.

1366
01:15:56,160 --> 01:15:58,720
Speaker 3: This leads to the part where Daikoro gets kidnapped to

1367
01:15:58,800 --> 01:16:04,120
Speaker 3: the Supreme Ninja and the Shogun's Lord. They decide, okay,

1368
01:16:04,120 --> 01:16:07,240
Speaker 3: we've got to steal him to steal the Lone Wolf's power.

1369
01:16:07,680 --> 01:16:11,559
Speaker 3: So they take Digor away and they lure the Lone

1370
01:16:11,560 --> 01:16:14,040
Speaker 3: Wolf out to find them in the middle of the night,

1371
01:16:14,520 --> 01:16:18,320
Speaker 3: and he finds them standing around a well where Digoro

1372
01:16:18,439 --> 01:16:21,120
Speaker 3: is suspended by a rope over the opening to the well.

1373
01:16:21,760 --> 01:16:24,519
Speaker 3: How's lone Wolf going to get out of this one. Well,

1374
01:16:24,680 --> 01:16:27,920
Speaker 3: he so, I think there's a clever little thing that

1375
01:16:28,000 --> 01:16:31,000
Speaker 3: I missed the first time around, but I was rewatching

1376
01:16:31,040 --> 01:16:34,200
Speaker 3: the scene and I realized what it was. So he

1377
01:16:34,320 --> 01:16:38,000
Speaker 3: says something to Digoro, and then Digoro kicks his sandal

1378
01:16:38,040 --> 01:16:41,160
Speaker 3: off and it falls down the well. And I think

1379
01:16:41,680 --> 01:16:45,080
Speaker 3: that is letting the father know how long the drop is,

1380
01:16:45,120 --> 01:16:47,680
Speaker 3: like the timing of the drop, because what happens is

1381
01:16:47,720 --> 01:16:50,760
Speaker 3: he draws his sword and he quickly slashes a bunch

1382
01:16:50,800 --> 01:16:52,920
Speaker 3: of the bad guys and then stomps on the rope

1383
01:16:53,000 --> 01:16:56,160
Speaker 3: as Digoro is falling to stop him from falling, to

1384
01:16:56,160 --> 01:16:58,200
Speaker 3: stop him before he hits the water at the bottom.

1385
01:16:58,640 --> 01:16:58,840
Speaker 6: Yeah.

1386
01:16:58,960 --> 01:17:00,840
Speaker 2: Yeah, And this is another thing where it's I mean,

1387
01:17:01,400 --> 01:17:04,760
Speaker 2: the editing here is tight and effective. In the original film,

1388
01:17:04,800 --> 01:17:08,880
Speaker 2: I think maybe more instantly make sense what's happening, but yeah,

1389
01:17:09,080 --> 01:17:10,320
Speaker 2: you still get the sense of it here.

1390
01:17:10,640 --> 01:17:14,160
Speaker 3: Yeah. So he slashes all of his enemies here except

1391
01:17:14,479 --> 01:17:17,720
Speaker 3: for the Supreme Ninja who's just standing there watching, but

1392
01:17:17,920 --> 01:17:21,120
Speaker 3: she does not attack, and neither does Lone Wolf, and

1393
01:17:21,160 --> 01:17:24,599
Speaker 3: they kind of regard each other, and then Lone Wolf

1394
01:17:24,600 --> 01:17:28,280
Speaker 3: frees his son and they walk away and Daigo says

1395
01:17:28,280 --> 01:17:30,439
Speaker 3: in the narration that was the first time I ever

1396
01:17:30,479 --> 01:17:34,599
Speaker 3: saw my father spare an enemy, So I think there's

1397
01:17:34,640 --> 01:17:36,120
Speaker 3: some mutual respect.

1398
01:17:36,280 --> 01:17:39,720
Speaker 2: Absolutely, Yeah, and we'll come back to this character again too.

1399
01:17:40,600 --> 01:17:44,160
Speaker 2: But from here we kind of proceed into mostly dealing

1400
01:17:44,360 --> 01:17:45,840
Speaker 2: with the Masters of Death.

1401
01:17:47,160 --> 01:17:49,599
Speaker 3: There's a long sequence on a boat. I don't think

1402
01:17:49,640 --> 01:17:51,400
Speaker 3: we need to go into all the details of the

1403
01:17:51,400 --> 01:17:53,479
Speaker 3: boat journey and the fight on the boat, but there's

1404
01:17:53,560 --> 01:17:57,519
Speaker 3: like rebels who are fighting against someone and the Masters

1405
01:17:57,560 --> 01:17:59,599
Speaker 3: of Death mess them up on a boat. There's eventually

1406
01:17:59,640 --> 01:18:02,240
Speaker 3: a fire and everybody has to jump off the boat.

1407
01:18:02,520 --> 01:18:05,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, and after the everyone has to jump off the boat.

1408
01:18:05,439 --> 01:18:07,640
Speaker 2: This is I think where we eventually get this sequence

1409
01:18:07,680 --> 01:18:12,200
Speaker 2: where the Supreme Ninja, Lone Wolf, and Cub meet up

1410
01:18:12,240 --> 01:18:18,200
Speaker 2: again and they're all wet and cold and they huddle

1411
01:18:18,240 --> 01:18:21,320
Speaker 2: together for warmth, which is a scene where you don't

1412
01:18:21,320 --> 01:18:23,040
Speaker 2: really know where this scene is going at first. Is

1413
01:18:23,040 --> 01:18:25,000
Speaker 2: this going to be like some sort of you know,

1414
01:18:25,080 --> 01:18:29,120
Speaker 2: just pure exploitation moment, But it ends up being quite

1415
01:18:29,120 --> 01:18:32,639
Speaker 2: sweet in its own way, Like there's these three lost

1416
01:18:32,640 --> 01:18:36,040
Speaker 2: individuals huddling for warmth against in a dark world.

1417
01:18:36,400 --> 01:18:39,320
Speaker 3: Well, yeah, it's complex there, because so he doesn't harm

1418
01:18:39,360 --> 01:18:42,480
Speaker 3: the Supreme Ninja, and she doesn't want to harm him anymore,

1419
01:18:43,400 --> 01:18:46,080
Speaker 3: but she has to go away, and he knows that

1420
01:18:46,080 --> 01:18:48,439
Speaker 3: that means her death when she goes back to the

1421
01:18:48,439 --> 01:18:50,519
Speaker 3: Shogun to like report what has happened.

1422
01:18:50,920 --> 01:18:53,559
Speaker 2: Yeah, so it's bittersweet. And this is of course another

1423
01:18:53,600 --> 01:18:55,919
Speaker 2: thing where this is a little more complex and nuanced

1424
01:18:55,920 --> 01:18:58,760
Speaker 2: in the second film, but we get a nice, you know,

1425
01:18:59,680 --> 01:19:02,479
Speaker 2: edited down version of it here. But I think they

1426
01:19:02,560 --> 01:19:07,040
Speaker 2: ultimately spare us nothing of the violence inflicted by and

1427
01:19:07,120 --> 01:19:09,360
Speaker 2: upon the Masters of Death. All of that makes it

1428
01:19:09,400 --> 01:19:10,320
Speaker 2: to the finished picture.

1429
01:19:10,640 --> 01:19:13,800
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, yeah. So the final conflict in the film

1430
01:19:13,920 --> 01:19:18,040
Speaker 3: is we get the Masters of Death leading their person

1431
01:19:18,080 --> 01:19:20,720
Speaker 3: they're serving as a bodyguard for in this sort of

1432
01:19:20,800 --> 01:19:23,439
Speaker 3: caravan through the desert. They're going up and down these

1433
01:19:23,479 --> 01:19:28,080
Speaker 3: sand dunes, and then suddenly there is an attack first

1434
01:19:28,120 --> 01:19:31,439
Speaker 3: I think by some rebels against this group, and the

1435
01:19:31,439 --> 01:19:35,200
Speaker 3: Masters of Death just chop them up. They don't do well.

1436
01:19:35,360 --> 01:19:38,760
Speaker 2: Are these the ones that they're initially hiding under the

1437
01:19:38,840 --> 01:19:40,880
Speaker 2: sand to pop up and get the Masters of Death?

1438
01:19:40,920 --> 01:19:42,720
Speaker 2: The Masters of Death are just like stabbing them in

1439
01:19:42,760 --> 01:19:43,200
Speaker 2: the sand.

1440
01:19:43,360 --> 01:19:46,799
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's kind of dune. Yeah yeah, But this finally

1441
01:19:46,920 --> 01:19:49,599
Speaker 3: leads to the Masters of Death must face off against

1442
01:19:49,600 --> 01:19:53,479
Speaker 3: Blown Wolf, and I mentioned this earlier, but in this

1443
01:19:53,640 --> 01:19:57,880
Speaker 3: part the music infuses it with such vigor. There is

1444
01:19:57,960 --> 01:20:02,080
Speaker 3: this relentless synthe size or vamp and a high lead

1445
01:20:02,320 --> 01:20:06,920
Speaker 3: over this galloping drum beat. It's really good. Like the

1446
01:20:07,000 --> 01:20:10,479
Speaker 3: movie itself, I think pre dates this convention in video games,

1447
01:20:10,479 --> 01:20:13,439
Speaker 3: but it feels like boss music. It's like in Mega Man.

1448
01:20:13,520 --> 01:20:16,719
Speaker 3: It's the kind of music that kicks in in Mega

1449
01:20:16,760 --> 01:20:20,200
Speaker 3: Man when you like enter the chamber to fight Spark Mandroll,

1450
01:20:22,439 --> 01:20:23,800
Speaker 3: don't you know what I mean. Like, it's like it

1451
01:20:23,880 --> 01:20:26,160
Speaker 3: picks up the tempo and it's like really trying to

1452
01:20:26,200 --> 01:20:27,479
Speaker 3: get your blood pumping now.

1453
01:20:27,960 --> 01:20:32,040
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it is pretty relentless. At the end of

1454
01:20:32,080 --> 01:20:34,280
Speaker 2: the day, we know this can only go down one way.

1455
01:20:35,120 --> 01:20:38,519
Speaker 2: They may be Masters of Death, but they are not

1456
01:20:38,720 --> 01:20:42,960
Speaker 2: going to come out on top against okami Eto. His

1457
01:20:42,960 --> 01:20:45,680
Speaker 2: his skill and his heart is just too powerful for

1458
01:20:45,720 --> 01:20:50,360
Speaker 2: them to overcome. So he stylishly defeats one of the

1459
01:20:50,400 --> 01:20:52,880
Speaker 2: three brothers, then the other of the three brothers, and

1460
01:20:52,960 --> 01:20:56,760
Speaker 2: finally it's a He's squaring off with the final of

1461
01:20:56,880 --> 01:20:58,560
Speaker 2: the Masters of Death. This is the guy with the

1462
01:20:58,600 --> 01:21:01,880
Speaker 2: claws claws. Yeah, yeah, and you know they have a

1463
01:21:02,000 --> 01:21:07,439
Speaker 2: nice back and forth and then ultimately Lone Wolf cuts

1464
01:21:07,479 --> 01:21:11,920
Speaker 2: him on the neck with this like perfect cut. That

1465
01:21:12,200 --> 01:21:14,960
Speaker 2: and the spray, the arterial spray out of this cut

1466
01:21:15,080 --> 01:21:19,160
Speaker 2: is like a fine mist. This part of the of

1467
01:21:19,200 --> 01:21:21,240
Speaker 2: the film that this is another like just super weird,

1468
01:21:21,320 --> 01:21:24,920
Speaker 2: great moment. And it's like this serene eroticism of death.

1469
01:21:25,360 --> 01:21:28,519
Speaker 2: A cut so perfect that one's life blood leaves the

1470
01:21:28,560 --> 01:21:31,559
Speaker 2: body in a kind of like high pressure howling mist

1471
01:21:32,240 --> 01:21:35,720
Speaker 2: like a dream. Such a cuts like the ultimate aspiration

1472
01:21:35,840 --> 01:21:39,000
Speaker 2: of any killer. And oh the irony. The master of

1473
01:21:39,040 --> 01:21:41,880
Speaker 2: death himself dies by this cut without ever getting to

1474
01:21:41,920 --> 01:21:43,919
Speaker 2: inflict its perfection himself.

1475
01:21:44,280 --> 01:21:47,080
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a line in the film where they're talking

1476
01:21:47,120 --> 01:21:50,679
Speaker 3: about about like the sound of a winter wind blowing

1477
01:21:50,840 --> 01:21:51,439
Speaker 3: or something.

1478
01:21:51,760 --> 01:21:54,320
Speaker 2: Yeah, he says, I have the quote here when cut

1479
01:21:54,360 --> 01:21:57,400
Speaker 2: across the neck, a sound like wailing winter winds is heard.

1480
01:21:57,439 --> 01:22:00,080
Speaker 2: They say, I'd always hope to cut someone like that

1481
01:22:00,200 --> 01:22:03,200
Speaker 2: someday to hear that sound, but to have it happen

1482
01:22:03,280 --> 01:22:09,040
Speaker 2: to my own neck is ridiculous.

1483
01:22:07,200 --> 01:22:10,720
Speaker 3: Ridiculous, It's wonderful. But doesn't he also say something like

1484
01:22:10,840 --> 01:22:12,920
Speaker 3: he's like it was an honor to have been killed

1485
01:22:12,960 --> 01:22:13,960
Speaker 3: by you. Yeah.

1486
01:22:14,040 --> 01:22:17,200
Speaker 2: Yeah, because again, if you want to have your next sliced,

1487
01:22:18,080 --> 01:22:20,120
Speaker 2: this is the guy you want doing it. You want

1488
01:22:20,120 --> 01:22:21,040
Speaker 2: it in the hands.

1489
01:22:20,760 --> 01:22:23,400
Speaker 3: Of a master. Oh but then we also do in

1490
01:22:23,439 --> 01:22:26,000
Speaker 3: a kind of anti climactic way, we get to see

1491
01:22:26,640 --> 01:22:30,800
Speaker 3: a lone wolf doing a grizzly finish to his contract,

1492
01:22:31,120 --> 01:22:32,479
Speaker 3: and then the movie's just kind of over.

1493
01:22:32,960 --> 01:22:37,200
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, we get like one final line from the boy.

1494
01:22:37,680 --> 01:22:39,799
Speaker 2: He says, what I guess, I wish it was different,

1495
01:22:39,920 --> 01:22:41,840
Speaker 2: But a wish is only a wish.

1496
01:22:42,120 --> 01:22:43,600
Speaker 3: No justice for the Showgun.

1497
01:22:43,880 --> 01:22:46,880
Speaker 2: No again, if you if you were attracted to this

1498
01:22:46,880 --> 01:22:49,960
Speaker 2: film because you thought a showgun was going to be assassinated, No,

1499
01:22:50,200 --> 01:22:54,280
Speaker 2: doesn't happen. And the character that is labeled the showgun,

1500
01:22:54,600 --> 01:22:56,920
Speaker 2: he also does not get his come uppance in this film.

1501
01:22:57,240 --> 01:23:00,879
Speaker 2: I think it ultimately happens later on in the series,

1502
01:23:00,960 --> 01:23:05,519
Speaker 2: but played by a different actor. Yeah, but now I

1503
01:23:05,600 --> 01:23:07,080
Speaker 2: kind of want to finish that journey. I'm going to

1504
01:23:07,160 --> 01:23:09,599
Speaker 2: have to, you know, on my own time, go through

1505
01:23:09,800 --> 01:23:12,040
Speaker 2: the next four of these pictures. I enjoy the first

1506
01:23:12,040 --> 01:23:13,960
Speaker 2: two and of course Showgun Assassin so much.

1507
01:23:14,479 --> 01:23:16,200
Speaker 3: Well that sounds great. I might have to check them

1508
01:23:16,200 --> 01:23:16,599
Speaker 3: out too.

1509
01:23:17,080 --> 01:23:19,639
Speaker 2: It's a fun ride, a demon ride to hell.

1510
01:23:21,479 --> 01:23:23,320
Speaker 3: Oh hey, but one last thought. I think I said

1511
01:23:23,320 --> 01:23:26,080
Speaker 3: this earlier, but even if you don't watch this movie,

1512
01:23:26,080 --> 01:23:28,599
Speaker 3: which you know it's a hyper violent kind of thing,

1513
01:23:28,640 --> 01:23:31,080
Speaker 3: it might not be your style, and that's fine. I

1514
01:23:31,120 --> 01:23:33,600
Speaker 3: would recommend checking out the soundtrack if you can. The

1515
01:23:33,720 --> 01:23:37,360
Speaker 3: music is great, especially if you love synthesizer stuff.

1516
01:23:37,680 --> 01:23:40,559
Speaker 2: Absolutely to terrific score. But I have to warn you

1517
01:23:40,640 --> 01:23:42,519
Speaker 2: the score, it may suck you in. The Next thing,

1518
01:23:42,520 --> 01:23:45,479
Speaker 2: you know, you're watching Showgun Assassin, then you're watching the

1519
01:23:45,479 --> 01:23:47,880
Speaker 2: Lone Wolf and Cup series. That's how it gets started.

1520
01:23:49,680 --> 01:23:51,479
Speaker 2: All right, Well, this was a lot of fun. I'd

1521
01:23:51,479 --> 01:23:53,240
Speaker 2: love to hear from everyone out there. I know we

1522
01:23:53,320 --> 01:23:56,639
Speaker 2: have listeners who are very well acquainted with the Lone

1523
01:23:56,680 --> 01:24:00,839
Speaker 2: Wolf and Cup series and are more familiar with the

1524
01:24:00,880 --> 01:24:04,040
Speaker 2: Samurai and Ninja pictures than we are. So hey, write in,

1525
01:24:04,080 --> 01:24:05,800
Speaker 2: We would love to hear from you. We'd love your

1526
01:24:05,840 --> 01:24:08,960
Speaker 2: thoughts on Shogun Assassin, Lone Wolf and Cub the series. Oh,

1527
01:24:09,000 --> 01:24:11,559
Speaker 2: if you've read the manga, write in about that as well.

1528
01:24:11,800 --> 01:24:14,040
Speaker 2: I have not, so I don't have any familiarity with it,

1529
01:24:14,080 --> 01:24:17,280
Speaker 2: but of course it is considered legendary in its own right.

1530
01:24:18,240 --> 01:24:20,400
Speaker 2: Just a reminder that Stuff to Blow Your Mind is

1531
01:24:20,439 --> 01:24:23,240
Speaker 2: primarily a science and culture podcast with core episodes on

1532
01:24:23,280 --> 01:24:25,760
Speaker 2: Tuesdays and Thursdays, but on Fridays we set aside most

1533
01:24:25,760 --> 01:24:28,320
Speaker 2: serious concerns to just talk about a weird film on

1534
01:24:28,400 --> 01:24:31,439
Speaker 2: Weird House Cinema. And if you want to keep up

1535
01:24:31,479 --> 01:24:33,400
Speaker 2: with what we're doing on Weird House Cinema, you can

1536
01:24:33,400 --> 01:24:36,839
Speaker 2: always follow us on a letterbox dot com. Our username

1537
01:24:36,880 --> 01:24:39,120
Speaker 2: there is weird House. You'll find a list of all

1538
01:24:39,160 --> 01:24:41,040
Speaker 2: the films we've done so far, and sometimes a peek

1539
01:24:41,080 --> 01:24:43,559
Speaker 2: ahead at what's coming out next. And hey, we are

1540
01:24:43,560 --> 01:24:46,160
Speaker 2: in December, so you know what that means. We're gonna

1541
01:24:46,160 --> 01:24:48,559
Speaker 2: get at least one Christmas movie in there? Is it

1542
01:24:48,600 --> 01:24:51,280
Speaker 2: gonna have Santa in it? Can make no promises. Will

1543
01:24:51,280 --> 01:24:53,560
Speaker 2: there be a Christmas tree somewhere in the background of

1544
01:24:53,600 --> 01:24:57,280
Speaker 2: a scene? Probably that's probably probably how it's going.

1545
01:24:57,200 --> 01:24:57,679
Speaker 4: To go down.

1546
01:24:58,520 --> 01:24:59,920
Speaker 3: Has it been a year since I come in?

1547
01:25:00,120 --> 01:25:04,719
Speaker 2: Piece it has? Yeah? That was our Christmas action film

1548
01:25:04,800 --> 01:25:07,400
Speaker 2: from last year. Wasn't it that one had Christmas music

1549
01:25:07,439 --> 01:25:07,680
Speaker 2: in it?

1550
01:25:08,000 --> 01:25:08,600
Speaker 3: I think it was.

1551
01:25:09,960 --> 01:25:12,559
Speaker 2: Christmas was more a part of the texture of the

1552
01:25:12,600 --> 01:25:14,240
Speaker 2: picture than some people give it credit.

1553
01:25:15,080 --> 01:25:18,880
Speaker 3: Huge thanks as always to our excellent audio producer, JJ Posway.

1554
01:25:19,280 --> 01:25:20,840
Speaker 3: If you would like to get in touch with us

1555
01:25:20,880 --> 01:25:23,439
Speaker 3: with feedback on this episode or any other, to suggest

1556
01:25:23,479 --> 01:25:25,599
Speaker 3: a topic for the future, or just to say hello,

1557
01:25:26,080 --> 01:25:28,800
Speaker 3: you can email us at contact at stuff to Blow

1558
01:25:28,840 --> 01:25:36,360
Speaker 3: your Mind dot com.

1559
01:25:36,479 --> 01:25:39,439
Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind is production of iHeartRadio. For

1560
01:25:39,520 --> 01:25:42,320
Speaker 1: more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app,

1561
01:25:42,479 --> 01:25:45,760
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.