It is certainly no secret the 1960s and 1970s were a golden time for samurai movies. If you are a movie fan and often frequent Asian Movie Pulse, you will surely have no problem coming up with a list of at least some really impressive features of the time. At the same time, it was a great time for leading men such as Shintaro Katsu and Sonny Chiba, but Tomisaburo Wakayama has to be part of this particular list, for his performance as Itto Ogami, the former executioner to the shogun turned ronin, who walks the path of the dead, along with his son Daigoro. While each of the six entries into the “Lone Wolf and Cub”-series is must-see in its own right, there is one quality which makes them stand out: the execution of the fight scenes and duels.

After he and Daigoro survived the cowardly attack of the Yagyu clan,...