Doku-ganryu Masamune (1959) Online

This film gets off to a roaring start, with plenty of action, propelled by rich production values, beautiful mountain scenery, and Kinnosuke's likable, high-energy performance. Toshikazu Kôno's action is precise and muscular, with lots of moving-camera shots. Especially engaging is the scene, which concludes the first act, where Masamune is ambushed in the rain and must single-handedly slice his way to freedom. Having become the titular one-eyed dragon, he begins a drawn-out, introspective recuperation as he seeks to regain his mojo -- and the action comes to a screeching halt.

The super-slow second act is also where the love interests take center stage, and Masamune has to choose between a commoner's pretty daughter and an elegant princess. Act III brings back the action and snaps Masamune out of his deep funk when the scheming daimyo next door invades Masamune's father's lands. Portrayed as always wanting to limit battle to the extent necessary to stop the fighting, Masamune faces another tough choice as the third act speeds along ...

... to a conclusion that many may find unsatisfying: the film ends with Masamune, having become a full-fledged warrior-leader, setting out on a campaign that Japanese audiences in 1959 could be assumed to be completely familiar with. Still, it's as if the entire movie were itself the first act of a larger story, or part one of a larger epic. What happens to Masamune in that campaign? We're left able only to wonder. (It would be as if "Lawrence of Arabia" ended at the intermission.)

So, while the filmmakers' decision to focus only on Masamune's early years allows a leisurely look at his transformation into the warrior that history knows him as today, the uninitiated viewer may find that the story ends just as it was getting interesting.