Shogun Assassin Chapter Two: Flaming Swords of Carnage

Updated
Shogun Assassin Chapter Two: Flaming Swords of Carnage
Genre:
Fanedit Type:
Original Release Date:
1972
Original Running Time:
170
Fanedit Release Date:
Fanedit Running Time:
117
Time Cut:
53
Brief Synopsis:
I have removed 95% of the dialogue and hired voice actors to re-dub the lines. I cut the running time down as much as I had the heart to. I have replaced almost all music with the original Shogun Assassin score plus new music that felt appropriate to make it feel more like Shogun Assassin. I have added sound effects, and a voice-over narration was created for the young boy, Daigoro, to emulate the original film. The film's introduction emulates the iconic original as well.

Intention:
The goal with this project has been to piece together, for the lack of a better word, a "true" sequel to the amazing Shogun Assassin, utilizing the same techniques and choices which made it, in my opinion, something special and greater than the sum of its parts. The film is a brutal mashup of the third and fourth Lone Wolf and Cub films, edited down to the bare essentials, with Mark Lindsay’s iconic score claiming its rightful place front and center once again (plus a few other additions when the moment called), and and the vocals re-worked and re-dubbed by some talented voice artists including the return of Daigoro’s iconic narration. Shogun Assassin Chapter 2: Flaming Swords of Carnage is many things: it’s a movie that I’ve wanted to personally see for years, it’s an homage to a lot of great artists of film and music that have inspired me throughout my life, it’s been a project to keep me alive after disease and misfortune took up residence in my life for a good portion of 2017-2018, but mainly I hope it’s a welcome gift to fans of the original Shogun Assassin (I know you’re all out there SOMEWHERE) and a tribute to the cast and crew of the amazing, original Japanese films and to the American team that transformed those amazing films into the greatest samurai film ever made: Shogun Assassin. This film is not being sold. I have not made this for profit. I just wanted to see this movie, and I've had a lot of time on my hands.
Other Sources:
Music:
Danger Mouse and Daniele Luppi:
Theme of Rome
Morning Fog (Interlude)
Her Hollow Ways (Interlude)
Roman Blue
The Gambling Priest
The Matador Has Fallen
Morning Fog
Her Hollow Ways

Nine Inch Nails:
Ghosts II

Juda Priest:
Prelude
Solitude

The Twilight Singers:
Toward The Waves

B-52’s:
Dance This Mess Around

David Bowie:
Lazarus
All Saints

Angelo Badalamenti:
Harold’s Theme

Ennio Morricone:
L’Attentato

CUTS:
Bunsen Burner

Magic Sword:
In The Face of Evil

I Am the Program:
Mega Drive


Survive:
Hourglass

Mike Simonetti:
The Magician

Cliff Martinez:
Wrong Floor

Mark Lindsay and The Wonderland Philharmonic (Shogun Assassin Original Motion Picture Soundtrack):
The Legend Of Lone Wolf
Daigoro's Theme
Assassin With Son
The Ninja
Voyagers
Crimson Sky
Eyes Of A Demon
Dune
Lone Wolf's Theme

Additional Footage-
Various clips from "Shogun Assassin" used as well.
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Release Information:
Blu-Ray
Special Features
- Lone Wolf and Daigoro Character Trailer
- Oyuki Character Trailer
- Torizo Character Trailer
- Shogun Assassin Chapter Two Trailer
- Shogun Development (Shogun Assassin/Arrested Development Parody)
Editing Details:
The mission was to make a film that felt as much like a sequel to Shogun Assassin as possible. I did my best to cut the film down to the bone. Mostly killer/minimal filler.

Both films combined involve three attempted rapes and two actual rapes (one of which is off-screen). That's just a lot of rape! I honestly did my best to make it as un-exploitative as possible, sometimes just leaving the inference and sometimes just cutting back on the pervy, leering nature of the originals. I cut out two entire attempted rape/successful murder scenes by utilizing Daigoro's narration as a helpful crutch. Also this movie has TWO boring, old men who talk forever, and I minimized their screen time.
Cover art by WalrusSAS (DOWNLOAD HERE)
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Final Trailer


Arrested Development Parody

User reviews

2 reviews
Overall rating
 
9.3
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0(2)
Audio Editing
 
9.5(2)
Visual Editing
 
9.5(2)
Narrative
 
9.5(2)
Enjoyment
 
9.0(2)
(Updated: August 17, 2020)
Overall rating
 
8.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
9.0
Visual Editing
 
9.0
Narrative
 
9.0
Enjoyment
 
8.0
A personal definition: "corny" is something cheesy-bad, done without much style. "Campy" is something cheesy-good, done with excess style. The secret to an enjoyably cheesy movie is that the movie itself knows what it is and leans into the camp.

The original Shogun Assassin, like many imported dubs of older Asian films, was enjoyably campy. Not as good as the grindhouse originals, which are some of the best chambara films ever, but still enjoyable. This film mostly succeeds as a sequel to Shogun Assassin.

You can tell this fanedit is made with love and reverence for SA, and it emulates it fairly well. Generally the A/V quality is very good, though a couple of shots are blurred (I assume in the render) that are clear in the original films. There are also a couple of hard edits which seem abrupt or cause a bit of confusion in what are already sometimes chaotically-edited films. Some insert shots and establishing shots would help the film flow more smoothly. The audio quality is quite good, though the levels could sometimes use adjusting...the music veers towards 'too loud'.

Where this edit shines is in the music, which is extensively reworked. The choice of style for the tracks and the placement of them fits very well with the aesthetic of "early 80's chopsocky dub", and is both compelling and cheesy. There are some occasions where the plodding synth beats end up making fights feel plodding too, however. Just letting the track play through these scenes doesn't work as well as some artful cuts would've. The scenes that work best in this film are actually the ones where action remained untouched from the original Japanese movies.

I appreciate all the new voiceover to replicate the feel of SA. The voices do sometimes get a great nostalgic tone, reminding me of cheesy '80s anime dubs. At other times, they're just flat, and the lack of style moves the scene into the corny-bad category. I wanted a few (Daigoro's especially) to be either much better or much worse. I know what they're going for (emulating SA) but a film with ridiculous fights, more lost limbs than a Star Wars movie, and gushing blood everywhere should never feel flat and dry. All style elements should get turned up to 11.

If you loved the first SA, you'll likely love this film. However, I hope that stimulates you to go watch the originals, which are really fantastic. They're stunningly dynamic, action-packed films at 90 minutes or less each. I'd recommend watching any given one in the series over an SA film, honestly. One last point of feedback: while I do appreciate all the work that went into this, having the name Scott Sandrock get a credit on every single title card at the front of the film seems like over-stating the case. I think 1 title card with a "fanedited by" credit like most other edits on this site comes off more appreciative of all the other people who, you know, actually made the film. Maybe that's just me, though. Thanks for stimulating my interest in the Sword of Vengeance series again! Great work.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0
Overall rating
 
9.8
Audio/Video Quality
 
9.0
Audio Editing
 
10.0
Visual Editing
 
10.0
Narrative
 
10.0
Enjoyment
 
10.0
I knew about Lone Wolf and Cub but not about Shogun Assassin and I gotta say, I enjoyed the first movie even though I am purist when it comes to compiling, editing and mixing movies especially foreign movies for western audiences. But this movie won me over not just as a fan edit but a true and worthy follow-up to the original that should be released officially on DVD or Demand. This movie looks and sounds too professional for it to be a fan edit with actual voice-actors and all while retaining the elements and style of the original Shogun Assassin which feels like it came out in the 80s. My final impressions is that...I want Shogun Assasin 3 NOW! Thank you Scott Sandrock.

User Review

Do you recommend this edit?
Yes
Format Watched?
Digital
Report this review Comments (0) | Was this review helpful? 0 0