Lone Wolf and Cub (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody, new heights. The shogun s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and an infinitely weaponized perambulator helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed and unbelievably violent action sequences as well as for its tender depiction of the bonds between parent and child. Lone Wolf and Cub (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]

SPECIAL EDITION THREE-BLU-RAY BOX SET FEATURES

– New 2K digital restorations of all six films, with uncompressed monaural soundtracks

– High-definition presentation of Shogun Assassin, the 1980 English-dubbed reedit of the first two Lone Wolf and Cub films

– New interview with Kazuo Koike, writer of the Lone Wolf and Cub manga series and screenwriter on five of the films

– Lame d un père, l âme d un sabre, a 2005 documentary about the making of the series

– New interview in which Sensei Yoshimitsu Katsuse discusses and demonstrates the real Suio-ryu sword techniques that inspired those in the manga and films

– New interview with biographer Kazuma Nozawa about filmmaker Kenji Misumi, director of four of the six Lone Wolf and Cub films

– Silent documentary from 1937 about the making of samurai swords, with an optional new ambient score by Ryan Francis

– Trailers

– New English subtitle translations

– PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay and film synopses by Japanese pop culture writer Patrick Macias.