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Sunday, January 14, 2018

Hanzo the Razor series: Sword of Justice, The Snare & Who's Got the Gold? (1972, 73 & 74)

A Japanese samurai series directed by Kenji Misumi, Yasuzo Masumura and Yoshio Inoue, starring Shintaro Katsu.
Hanzo is a loose cannon petty officer with a big dick and a penchant for blackmail who has had enough of government corruption.
Sex and violence! Four and a half hours of Hanzo in one day is a little bit much. It started off great, but I was wishing it would end like 3/4 through the third film. The pacing was really moderate all the way through. There were a few sections where editing cuts picked up speed in fights and sex scenes though. The plot was basically the same through all of the films. There were different people involved in side-plots, but the main idea remained constant. The main characters were developed quite well. Hanzo himself identifies himself by his penis maintenance regimen in the beginning of each film and then goes on to have his lackeys lower a girl in a net onto him, who he spins while she hangs from a rope. The lackeys were criminals that Hanzo freed and act as comic relief. The constant villain is Magobei "snake" Onishi, Hanzo's superior officer, but Hanzo dispatches other bad guys in each film. The dialogue was all written well and crossed the language barrier decently. The actors all knew their roles and played their characters fine. Obviously, Hanzo was the best. The sets and costumes were evidently planned very well and fit the samurai genre to a T. The camera-work included lots of creative angles and shot composition. The first film even had an "inside the vagina" shot. Special effects included lots of blood, as would be expected and was definitely appreciated. The audio was mixed dynamically, with good dialogue levels and a funky psychedelic rock soundtrack. The overall style reminded me of Lone Wolf and Cub. On IMDB, Sword of Justice has 6.8/10, The Snare has 7.1/10 and Who's Got the Gold? has 6.7/10. I think these ratings are very low for such a good series. I rate this awesome for Hanzo's wang and excessive blood.

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