Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov October 12, 2016

The Lone Wolf and Cub (1972-1974) collection arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the three discs in the collection include original trailers; "Shogun Assassin' (1980); the French documentary film "L'ame d'un Pere, L'ame d'un Sabre" (2005); new video interview with manga novelist and screenwriter Kazuo Koike; new video interview with biographer Kazuma Nozawa; and more. Also included with the box set is an illustrated booklet featuring an an essay and film synopses by Japanese pop culture writer Patrick Macias. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the original films. Region-A "locked".

The silent warrior

Criterion's upcoming Lone Wolf and Cub box set contains the original six films, as well as Shogun Assassin, the English-dubbed reconstruction of the first two films. The original six films are sourced from brand new 2K digital restorations and spread over two discs. Shogun Assassin is presented as a bonus feature.

For complete analyses of these films, please see Jeff Kauffman's review of the Animego release here, and Casey Broadwater's review here.

Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The seven films in Criterion's Lone Wolf and Cub (six original films plus Shogun Assassin) collection are presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted 1080p transfers.

Please note that the screencaptures included in our review appear in the following order:

1. Screencaptures #1-5 Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance
2. Screencaptures #6-9 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx
3. Screencaptures #10-13 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades
4. Screencaptures #14-18 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril
5. Screencaptures #19-22 Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons
6. Screencaptures #23-27 Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell
7. Screencaptures #28-33 Shogun Assassin

Original six films

The original six films have been recently restored in 2K and look rather impressive in high-definition. The most obvious improvements are in terms of depth and fluidity. Indeed, unlike the transfers that were used for the Animego set, the new transfers have not been degrained and as a result all six films now have very strong organic qualities. It must also be said, however, that there are many limitations of the original cinematography that are now a lot more pronounced. For example, there are quick zooms that introduce some light out of focus jumps; elsewhere where light is restricted and captured by the camera in unique ways some sporadic 'soft' spots emerge as well (see an example in screencapture #18). So minor drops in density can be spotted, but there are not a byproduct of questionable digital adjustments. Grain is well exposed and resolved. Well-lit close-ups, in particular, can look very strong (see screencaptures #14 and 23). Color saturation and stability are excellent. More importantly, color balance is very convincing. The primaries are stable and there is a very good range of natural nuances. Image stability is excellent. Finally, it is very easy to tell that manual work has been done to carefully remove various age-related imperfections. My score is 4.75/5.00.

Shogun Assassin

The transfer has a strong organic appearance. Depth, clarity and fluidity are good. The color scheme also retains the general qualities observed in the original films. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. However, here some minor white specks and a few tiny scratches remain. Please note that Shogun Assassin is presented as a bonus feature on the third disc in the box set. My score is 4.25/5.00.

(Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Each of the six original films comes with a Japanese LPCM 1.0 and optional English subtitles. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame. Shogun Assassin is presented with English Dolby Digital 1.0 and there are no optional English SDH subtitles for it.

There are minor variations in terms of depth on each of the lossless tracks, but they are part of the original sound designs. On the other hand, I can tell that efforts were made to attenuate hiss and hum; some stabilizations were likely performed as well. Some thinness occasionally emerges in the mid/upper ranges and light buzz has been attenuated. Ultimately, clarity and stability are very good, but there are segments where time has left its mark.

Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Disc One

• Trailers - original Japanese trailers with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance. (3 min, 1080i).
  2. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx. (3 min, 1080i).
  3. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (3 min, 1080i).

Disc Two

• Trailers - original Japanese trailers with optional English subtitles.
  
  1. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril. (3 min, 1080i).
  2. Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons. (3 min, 1080i).
  3. Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell (3 min, 1080i).

Disc Three

• Shogun Assassin (1980) - the film is presented in 1080p with English Dolby Digital 1.0 track. For additional information on the technical presentation, please see the video/audio sections of our review.

• Trailer - newly remastered original trailer for Shogun Assassin. In English, not subtitled. (3 min, 1080p).

• L'ame d'un Pere, L'ame d'un Sabre - this documentary film takes a closer look at the production history and success of the Lone Wolf and Cub film series, as well their visual style and atmosphere, the evolution of the relationship between the principal characters, and the role of sound/music. Included in it are clips from interviews with producer Masanori Sanada, manga novelist and screenwriter Kazuo Koike, dierctor Buichi Saito (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril), novelist/Kenji Misumi biographer Kazuma Nozawa, and cinematographer Fujio Morita (Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons), amongst others. The documentary film was produced by French label Wild Side Films in 2005. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (53 min, 1080i).

• Kazuo Koike - in this exclusive new video interview, manga novelist and screenwriter Kazuo Koike discusses his relationship with manga artist Goseki Kojima and explains how together they came up with the original idea for Lone Wolf and Cub, and discusses the historical setting of the manga/film, the similarities between Siegfried and the father samurai, the manga's popularity, his admiration for Wakayama's fighting scenes, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2015. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (12 min, 1080p).

• Kenji Misumi - in this new featurette, Kenji Misumi biographer Kazuma Nozawa discusses the director's rather unusual career (including the time he spent in a prison in Siberia as a POW), his filmmaking style (and specifically the importance of bird's-eye view scenes in his work), and his involvement with four of the six films in the Lone Wolf and Cub series (with some very interesting comments about their graphic nature). The featurette was produced exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (13 min, 1080p).

• On Suio-ryu - in this new video interview, Sensei Yoshimitsu Katsue, fifteenth headmaster of the Suio-ryu martial arts system, discusses the culture of swordsmanship and Japanese martial arts traditions, Suio-ryu techniques, the choreography of the sword fights in the Lone Wolf and Cub films, etc. The interview was conducted exclusively for Criterion in 2016. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles. (14 min, 1080p).

• Sword of the Samurai - this two-part archival documentary was produced by the Kokusaibunka Shinokai (The Society for International Cultural Relations) in Tokyo in 1939. It chronicles the making of a traditional samurai sword by the River Nagara in the Sekimachi, which is known as one of the towns producing the finest swords of Japan. The film can be viewed with an optional ambient score by Ryan Francis of the Metropolis Ensemble, which was commissioned specifically for Criterion's release of the Lone Wolf and Cub films. With original English intertitles. (31 min, 1080p).

• Booklet - an illustrated booklet featuring an essay and film synopses by Japanese pop culture writer Patrick Macias (Japan Edge: The Insider's Guide to Japanese Pop Subculture, TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion).

Lone Wolf and Cub Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The six classic Lone Wolf and Cub films are sourced from new 2K restorations that are the best presentations of the films that I have seen to date. I think that folks who have been hoping that these films will get a proper treatment on Blu-ray will be very happy with the end result. Also included in the box set as a bonus is Shogun Assassin, as well as various new interviews and a very interesting archival documentary produced for French label Wild Side Films. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.