I love me some authentic Japanese swordplay movies. Some of the best of these star the legendary SHINTARO KATSU. This Japanese actor completely embodied a character in which he portrayed for 26 films and 98 one hour episodes. That character was none other than ZATOICHI ~ THE BLIND SWORDSMAN. Simply put, I love Zatoichi. I've tried to watch or acquire every bit of Zatoichi cinema I can get my hands on. Needless to say the Zatoichi films have made me a fan of actor Shintaro Katsu.
When I discovered a trilogy of films titled HANZO THE RAZOR starring Shintaro Katsu made during the early 1970's set during the Shogunate era naturally I was intrigued. And if anyone knows me they know I love ninja. Hattori Hanzo is the name of a legendary ninja in Japanese history. You can guess what I inferred from the title: Hanzo the Razor. I was expecting one thing and received something quite different. And no real ninjas either.
Hanzo the Razor is basically an action cop movie the likes of Dirty Harry or more aptly 48 Hours.
THE PLOT
Hanzo is a supercop living in Edo (Tokyo) who does things by his own rules, much to the ire of his superiors in the police force ("Hanzo!!!" screams his captain). He carries a big sword and packs another big sword "ahem" south of the border if you know what I mean. Hanzo arrests a woman found by the castle moat, the woman was pretending to be a ghost. Hanzo interrogates her by... raping her with his huge shlong? And the rape is so pleasurable for the woman that she actually starts giving up information until she is killed in mid coitus by assassins. The plot thickens when Hanzo goes back to the moat to see what the woman was protecting, bamboo shoots filled with shogunate gold! Hanzo has to figure, wait for it... "Who's got the gold?"
THE GOOD
Flashing Swords and Blood Spurts. One of the most appealing aspects of the Chanbara genre is the amazing swordplay. Shintaro Katsu is the master of swordplay. His Zatoichi films are loaded with magnificent swordplay. Here is thankfully no different. He uses a different style of swordsmanship here but with no less fury. It is always amazing to watch him mow the badguys down. And then there's the blood.
To be perfectly clear I don't need blood in movies to enjoy them. But if a character is slashing open people in droves with a sword the landscape of the film is going to be bloody, simply from a realistic point of view. Many Chanbara films contain no blood whatsoever or entire sequences where characters are cut down without a drop of blood on screen. Like the old westerns where someone is gunned down without a bullet hole or blood stain to show. It merely enhances the realism (sometimes) and adds another degree of intensity. This film delivers blood by the bucketful.
THE BAD
Rape. There is a lot of forced sex in this movie. Hanzo (apparently) has a massive shlong that every woman finds extremely pleasurable. Hanzo's primary means of interrogating female suspects is by raping them, in which the women are so overcome with pleasure that, they give up the information and aren't the slightest bit angry or traumatized for having been violated so. In fact they want more. I found these scenes very uncomfortable and completely ridiculous. It is precisely this aspect of the movie that will prevent me from ever watching it again and from seeking out the other two films in the trilogy.
Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a good exploitation flick, and this one certainly has its fine points (no pun intended) but its the rape that bothers me the most.
THE VERDICT
Who's Got The Gold is the third and final film in the series. This film feels like a template for those hard R rated action cop films of the 70's and 80's, like the movie 48 Hours except without Eddie Murphy. The dvd had trailers for the other two films and they appear just as crude and ridiculous as this one. They all appear to be stand alone adventures too so it doesn't matter too much which order you view them in.
Exploitative to the max featuring a title hero who regularly rapes women. Call me old fashion but that is not a quality I find endearing in my heroes. Yes, James Bond gets into the ladies pants all the time but that's different, less forceful and more consensual. Anyway, despite my personal preferences the film was still well done for what it is. And it was humorous to see all the trademarks of 80's American action films.
Overall Ranking: 6 out of 10
A well done film but not my style
Nude-O-Meter: 6 out of 10
For more chanbara check out these other films below!
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