Martial Arts Madness: Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice (1972)

By Paco McCullough

I was really excited when Hanzo the Razor: Sword of Justice started. After opening to an epic 70s soundtrack and well built sets of feudal Japan. Things just got better when I recognized the actor who plays Hanzo, Shintaro Katsu, the star of the Zatoichi films and tv show. In this, the first film of a trilogy, Hanzo is a law officer in a small town who stands against corruption. An antihero in the mold of Dirty Harry, he breaks all the rules. To properly investigate the case, he must work with criminals and even commit criminal acts himself. Overall, these elements of the film are incredibly effective and fun. These more conventional samurai elements of the film all make this film worth recommending to fans of the genre.

However, there is a troubling recurring theme- whenever Hanzo needs to interrogate a female prisoner, he ends up raping them. This alone is troubling, but what bothers me even more is the fact that after a couple minutes the women beg him to continue and tell him all they know. The moral of this appears to be that all women secretly want to be raped, something that is incredibly morally reprehensible. Over the course of the film there are several instances of this, most of which take several minutes. All of this pulled me so far out of the film that I had trouble continuing on time.

The entire film plays out as one case, though there were random side scenes that didn’t seem to serve any real purpose. There are similar scenes in the Lone Wolf and Cub and Zatoichi series as well, and I generally enjoy them. The last ten minutes of this film (SPOILER) have nothing to do with the plot up to that point, instead revolving around Hanzo’s interaction with two children and a dying father, leaving his attack for the next film. (SPOILER ENDS)

Overall, the film maintains several elements of samurai films that are fun. Whenever it deviates from convention, however, it severely detracts from enjoyment. If you are okay with the problems that I listed previously, you’ll probably enjoy it. Otherwise, maybe you should skip it.

3 out of 5 stars


© Tanner McCullough, 2011