The Bounty Hunter Trilogy


Italy wasn’t the only film industry that enjoyed blending genres.  Japan had a rich tradition of jidaigeki and chambara – or sword fighting films – set against the political chaos of the medieval and early modern era.  Kurosawa’s work might be the most well-known internationally, but as pop culture shifted in the late ‘60s, so did the studios’ approach.  Killer’s Mission, The Fort of Death and Eight Men to Kill, now recognized collectively as The Bounty Hunter Trilogy, cobbled together spy film and spaghetti western trends to create a samurai anti-hero, Shikoro Ichibei, whose moral compass often took priority over his compensation package.

Killer’s Mission (1969) has the most traditional plot of the bunch as Ichibei is hired by the shogunate to prevent an ambitious clan from buying a shipload of weapons from a Dutch trading vessel.  This straightforward narrative from director Shigehiro Ozawa (The Street Fighter) is embellished with a 007-inspired music score and inventive weaponry straight out of Q’s closet.  With flashes of spurting blood and some comic relief, it cuts a unique path through historical events exaggerated for entertainment value.

 

The Fort of Death (also 1969) takes a much more serious and anti-establishment approach with Ichibei hired to assist a peasant rebellion against their vicious domain lord.  The addition of ninjas and a gatling gun might hint at Italian levels of excess, but Eiichi Kudo’s film is grounded in a kind of trench warfare that never looks pretty…with a view of death that buries any ideas of honor beneath rivers of mud and blood.  It’s a tremendous piece of work that improves upon the first film on every level.

 

Eight Men to Kill (1972) retains the ugliness and brutality but wraps the story in a familiar western scenario of stolen gold and double-crosses.  On a mission to recover newly minted bullion from a government mine (for a percentage, of course), Ichibei gets mixed up in multiple conspiracies and personal revenge that swings his loyalties from one side to the other.  Featuring one of the most uncomfortable torture sequences in recent memory and an exceedingly nihilistic finale, Ozawa (back in the director’s chair) pull no punches here.

 

Each film stars Tomisaburo Wakayama (of the Lone Wolf and Cub series) as the undefeatable Ichibei, chopping his way through countless combatants without receiving so much as a scratch.  It’s a role that could have been tediously boring – the man simply can’t lose – made into something much more than a sword-wielding superhero.  Wakayama’s moments as a simple country doctor, treating everything from gunshot wounds to gonorrhea, are an amusing counterbalance to his skills in battle.  The Fort of Death in particular gives him a chance to actually emote in the midst of the carnage…and he manages to make it just as compelling.

 

The 3000-copy limited edition Blu-ray set from Radiance is one of those “buy it while you can” situations.  Available for the first time anywhere in the world, the films themselves look terrific and extras include an audio commentary, interviews, visual essay, poster and press images and a collector’s booklet.

 

 

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