Legendary swordplay filmmaker Hideo Gosha's Sword of the Beast chronicles the flight of the low-level swordsman Gennosuke, who kills one of his ministers as part of a reform plot. His former comrades then turn on him, and this betrayal so shakes his sense of honor that he decides to live in the wild, like an animal. There he joins up with a motley group who are illegally mining the shogun’s gold, and, with the aid of another swordsman, gets a chance not just at survival but to recover his name and honor.
深川で運送業を営む木場政組は、ライバルである沖山運送の妨害工作に悩まされていた。争いを好まぬ木場政が病死したことから、沖山運送はますます勢力を伸ばしていく。除隊し組に帰ってきた辰巳の長吉は、組が小さくなっていくことに心を痛める。木場政の子分である赤電車の鉄が、沖山兄弟の手により殺害される事件が発生するが、沖山はすでに警察署長や代議士を抱えていた。木場政に恩義のある客分の清治は、日に日にエスカレートする沖山運送の営業妨害を許すことができず、一人で沖山組に殴り込みをかけるが、逆に返り討ちに遭ってしまう。
Assassination begins with the events of 1853 when "four black ships" anchored at Edo Bay, sparking civil unrest and the major political manoeuvring that saw the end of the Tokugawa Shogunate. At a time when assassination had become a disturbing political tool, Shinoda's film follows Hachiro Kiyokawa, an ambitious, masterless samurai whose allegiances drift dangerously between the Shogunate and the Emperor.
Misawa Ihei (Nagato) is traveling with his wife Tae (Iwashita Shima) who abhors the practice of sword fighting for prize money. Tae is the daughter of the clan's chief counselor who married the low-ranking Ihei to avoid becoming the clan lord's mistress. Into the mix comes Oba Gunjuro (Tetsurō Tamba), a mysterious ronin who will do anything for money. This leads to a fitting climax as the forces of hate and love converge while the couple attempt to break through the border!
丹波哲郎、平幹二朗、長門勇。若き日の大御所３人が暴れまわり、当時大人気となったTVシリーズの映画化。五社英雄の記念すべき初監督作品でもある。時代劇全盛期の迫力ある殺陣は今でもまったく色褪せない。
