Sword Of Doom

There’s little in the way of extras to support Kihachi Okamoto’s superb samurai epic on this release, but it does benefit from an above average transfer. Generally the picture quality is very good and the all important lights, darks and blacks are still bold and moodily striking. That said there are some white drizzles or flecks apparent from time to time and a few flashes accompany scene edits.

The sparse extras are all stills of one kind or another. There are single page biogs for the director and his two male leads, Tatsuya Nakadai and Toshirô Mifune, but the small text and its unhelpful background means these are a bit of a strain on the eyes. There are then single screen shots of seven characters and a further 8 movie stills. Some of these do exemplify Okamoto’s exceptional skill, but there are many, many other shots that could have been chosen.

Lastly, there’s a selection of cover artwork from other Warrior releases, ranging from the Babycart and Zatoichi series to Lady Snowblood and other single titles.