Samurai Wolf I & II

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Review added by
Jitendar Canth

Masters of Cinema
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 145 mins
Retail Price: £32.99
Release Date: 2024
Content Type: Movie

Synopsis:
A duo of chanbara masterpieces from one of the genre’s greatest directors, Hideo Gosha! Out of a desire to make what he felt was a truly no-holds-barred sword-fighting film, Gosha took inspiration from the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa as well as the spaghetti Western sub-genre they had inspired. Working with a low-budget to free himself from the restrictive oversight of his producers, the result was Samurai Wolf and Samurai Wolf II, the story of a charismatic ronin named Kiba (played by Isao Natsuyagi).

In the first film, Kiba wanders into a small town and ends up ensnared in a local conflict that’s more than meets the eye, and in Samurai Wolf II Kiba gets mixed up in a complex web of intrigue, involving a crooked goldmine owner, a cynical swordsman, and an arrogant dojo master.

With stunning black and white cinematography and ultra-stylish action sequences, the Samurai Wolf films are a lean, mean triumph of samurai cinema and the Masters of Cinema series is proud to present both films for the first time ever in the UK, on Blu-ray.

Special Features:
Limited edition O-Card slipcase featuring new artwork by Tony Stella [2000 copies]
Brand new audio commentary on Samurai Wolf II by Jasper Sharp
Brand new interview with film critic Tony Rayns
Audio commentary on Samurai Wolf by film historian and writer Chris Poggiali
Outlaw Director - Hideo Gosha featurette with Tomoe Gosha
Reversible sleeve featuring original poster artwork
A collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the film by Japanese cinema expert Tom Mes