Don't know if this is old news or not but I remember watching this movie about 20 years ago. Play are doing an uncut version for £3.99 delivered. It's got to be worth buying for that... http://www.play.com/play247.asp?pa=stts5&page=title&r=R2&title=5068
Its footage from the Lone Wolf and Cub series of films which has been made into one film and renamed Shogun Assassin, the original films ( Lone Wolf and Cub ) are available to buy elsewhere.
Bugger, so does that mean it's not the same as the original 'Shogun Assassin' I saw on video about 20 years ago? That's what the movie was called when I watched it; Lone Wolf and Cub don't mean anything to me.
It'll be the same version you saw 20 years ago i just thought i would mention its actually footage from a series of films called Lone Wolf and Cub.
OK, thanks for that. It's surprising how well I remember the movie considering I watched it just once over 20 years ago...
The original eighties version was censored but this release is uncut. BBFC website says this is its original name and its available online at other retailers probably with a better picture quality. LONE WOLF AND CUB, BABY CART AT THE RIVER STYX ( original title )
I'm surprised you say that as the version I saw was very graphic and certainly didn't hold back on the gore and dismemberment I seem to recall there being a phase of gory movies being the 'in thing' when I was at school and shortly afterwards, they were all banned. Things like Shogun Assassin, I Spit On Your Grave, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Evil Dead, etc. Or have I mis-remembered?
Its possible Vipco released it uncut before it got pulled and banned and then perhaps re-released as a censored version but anyways this version is now totally uncut which is good news.
Shogun Assassin was never technically banned by the BBFC. Vipco withdrew it when the VRA came about in the 80's and chose not to submit it for classification as they didn't think it'd pass. Soon as the BBFC guidelines changed and censorship decreased (about 5 years ago), up it popped again and got a cert straight away I loved it when I saw it back in the very early 80's (pre-cert, as a kid), it's a nice "highlights" montage from the first 2 Lone Wolf and Cub films Sword of Vengeance and Baby Cart at the River Styx (previously mentioned). Shogun Assassin is the dumbed down US version, in that it took just about every frame of violence from the first 2 Baby Cart films and spliced them together with the briefest of plots to carry it along. Vipco released it on DVD originally about 4 or 5 years ago, but it's all over the place now because they've re-released it at a lower price (rrp£5.99 instead of £19.99) to capitalise on the Kill Bill 2 connection. In fact, in HMV if you buy KB2 you can get Shogun Assassin for just £1.99.