Overview: Before he made his name in Lone Wolf and Cub Tomisaburo Wakayama starred in this triptych of violent samurai spectacles that draw on James Bond and Spaghetti Westerns for inspiration yet feature the familiar style and blood-spattering action of the period.

Wakayama stars as Doctor and spy-for-hire Shikoro Ichibei who in Shigehiro (The Streetfighter) Ozawa’s Killer’s Mission is hired to prevent the sale of firearms to a hostile Shogun. In Eiichi (13 Assassins) Kudo’s follow-up, The Fort of Death, Ichibei is hired on a Seven Samurai-style mission to protect a village of farmers from a ruthless Lord. The final film sees Ozawa return for Eight Men to Kill, in which Ichibei is hired to recover a cache of stolen gold from the government’s mine.

Featuring an array of weapons and gadgets that would make Q proud with Ichibei supported by a band of helpers including fellow spies, ronin and female ninjas, the Bounty Hunter films deliver action thrills galore and deserve to sit alongside the celebrated action epics that followed.

Blu-ray Verdict: The trilogy opens on The Killer’s Mission (1969) and tells the story of a shogunate secret agent who is sent to investigate a secret deal with a Dutch warship involving repeating rifles to be used in an uprising against the Shogun, but finds there’s more going on than previously suspected.

In truth, this story of two notorious forces in Japanese exploitation cinema arrived before either hit their nadir. A few years later, director Ozawa was responsible for two Streetfighter films and Tomisaburo Wakayama went on to star in the Lone Wolf series. While this film doesn’t rise to the questionable levels of either series, it certainly has it’s moments.

Ichibei is sent by the Shogun to stop the Dutch from selling rifles to the Satsuma clan in the south. Ichibei stocks up on all his gadgets and bombs and sets out. Along the way he meets up with a cowardly ronin and a female spy who is nearly his match. We also find out he is impervious to viper venom and can turn his sword scabbard into a telescope. Intrigue and action occur as he makes his journey towards the Dutch ship carrying the armaments.

The film is tongue in cheek with obvious nods to the spy thriller and it’s rather bloody. We can see glimpses of the future Lone Wolf series as the overweight Tomisaburo Wakayama ably jumps, flips and slices his way thru the action scenes. There’s also some pinku style woman torture for those who need this stuff. The direction is planted firmly in Japanese TV action style which sometimes is very good and other times just quickly filmed and sort of sloppy.

Also, the music is pure TV action themes and gets quite annoying unless you have an appreciation of it. The main problem with this film is that it moves at a snappy pace for the first 50 minutes and then stalls out in a number of talking samurai in discussion scenes. The last ten minutes pick up as Ichibei finally gets to the Dutch, but the fun is diminished.

Indeed, about fifteen minutes of the film has Ichibei pose as a blind masseuse which is sort of fun since Wakayama’s brother, Shintaro Katsu was playing Zatoichi at the time. And, for the record, this is the second film Wakayama poked fun at his more successful brother, but I digress.

Next up is The Fort of Death (1969) where a government siege on Enoki Village spurs an uprising among peasants who build a fort to defend themselves. A young villager enlists bounty hunter Shikoro Ichibei to help prevent the government from wiping them out.

The time is 1751 during the Tokugawa Shogunate. Believing the Satsuma Clan is secretly planning to overthrow the government with the help of foreign aid, Shogun Ieshige sends a cunning secret agent sword master named Shikoro Ichibei to investigate. Meanwhile, the advisers to the Shogun, the Roju Council, send their own spy to find out what the Satsuma are up to.

Like many samurai pictures, there’s a touch of historical significance in the script within its Tokugawa Era setting. Aside from some appealing ideas, it’s basically a standard Jidaigeki tale, but told with a sense of wit as sharp as Shikoro’s many blades.

Takada Koji and Igami Masaru’s droll screenplay is rife with memorable moments. Among these is an extended section of self-referential humor that’s arguably one of the most welcome, and hilarious instances of parody ever filmed (more on that later). Thankfully, they wrote a charisma saturated main character with which to carry this movie.

Wakayama is incredible as the wily, brazen, and burly sword slinging samurai spy. He’s absolutely magnetic onscreen. His spy swordsman character is just as slippery and resourceful as James Bond, but replaces the British agents swagger with brutish mannerisms. Both men share the same level of confidence -- imbuing both with an air of invincibility.

Shikoro is a learned character, too. It’s not expanded on here (the sequels go further with it), but he’s also a doctor of medicine who has trained himself to have immunities against certain poisons. This comes in handy early in the previous Killer’s Mission.

In short, the actions scenes here are exactly what you’d expect from Wakayama. They’re fast and exciting, and have a bit of empty handed punches, kicks and throws mixed in. A good watch from start to finish.

Lastly in the trilogy comes Eight Men to Kill (1972), and which is the third and final chapter of the Shokin Kasegi (Bounty Hunter) series, stars the great Wakayama Tomisaburo as a doctor who doubles as a bounty hunter with a vast array of weapons and the greatest sword skill in the land.

Shigehiro Ozawa returns to the directors chair for the final part of the trilogy (though perfectly watchable standalone) and while the film certainly doesn’t live up to the standard set by its predecessors, it’s still an enjoyable slice of Jidaigeki with a lot of Western influence (though that’s a door that swings both ways), elevated by its larger than life star Tomisaburo Wakayama and a strong first and last third, particularly it’s stunning action packed finale.

Sadly, in all truth, it’s let down by its slightly dry middle section that gets bogged down in its twists and a cast of characters that comes across as one too many cooks in the kitchen. It’s not convoluted by any means, it’s a nice simple narrative overall with an interesting air of anti authoritarianism, but there’s definitely a lack of focus.

Ozawa’s direction too is rather workmanlike, there’s very little to make it stand out from the pack and ends up feeling much like any other routine studio fare of the era, which is a shame, though there is some wonderful framing of Wakayama that shows off some of his remarkable facial features and the range he could pull off with just a single look. [C.M.]

Special Features:
High-Definition digital transfer of each film presented on two discs, made available on Blu-ray (1080p) for the first time in the world
Uncompressed mono PCM audio
Audio commentary on Killer’s Mission by Tom Mes
Interview with film historian and Shigehiro Ozawa expert Akihito Ito about the filmmaker
Visual essay on Eiichi Kudo by Japanese cinema expert Robin Gatto
Series poster and press image gallery
Trailers
Optional English subtitles
Six postcards of artwork from the films
Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original posters
Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by samurai film expert Alain Silver, an obituary of Eiichi Kudo by Kinji Fukasaku and an interview piece on Shigehiro Ozawa after his retirement from filmmaking
Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

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