It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

The third in the excellent 'Lone Wolf & Cub' series is a lot different to its bloody predecessor as the gruesome action takes a back seat in favour of a stronger focus on plotting and characterisation. Therefore it's not quite as exciting as the first two films in the series, but it does contain some of the most powerful scenes yet, as well as featuring the most developed supporting roles. The film adopts the usual formula, with Ogami and his (now noticeably older) son travelling through a remote landscape and getting involved in local intrigues: this time, there are two main sub-plots, the first involving a similarly lawless ex-samurai and the second involving a young woman who's been sold into prostitution.I thought the plotting in this film to be particularly good, seeing as how the different sub-plots intermingle and finally join together very well at the climax. The musings between Ogami and the rival samurai on "the way of the warrior" are truly profound and among the most thought-provoking of the entire series. The acting is also focused upon here and seems particularly strong – not just from the peerless Wakayama and the increasingly interesting Tomikawa, but from Kato Go as well in particular. Mention also has to be made of Yuko Hamada, who's one of the loveliest Japanese actresses I've ever seen on film – she has a really captivating presence.Although the focus isn't on the action here, the film is still punctuated by moments of stylish carnage. Ogami is stalked by two trios of ninjas in this one, and at the climax has to tackle an entire army – which he does via some brand new technology built into that cart of his. It may not be as show-stopping as in the first two films, but the gory hijinks still identify this as a superior action-adventure flick.

This series has its ups and occasional downs, and the latter is the case, here. There's an agreeable amount of spatter, with an inventive implementation of the Baby Cart's weapons, but the editing film is a seriously disjointed, the film-making itself rougher than usual. At times, the action slows to a crawl as the camera follows the wordless wanderings of the "cub," who nearly gets lost early on. All in all, disappointment.That said, there's a spaghetti eastern quality to the music and action that may win the approval of dedicated viewers. This installment spends much of its time following the minor misadventures of the little boy, who begins to stare into the abyss of death his father opened for him.

This is an AnimEigo re-release of "Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades" which is the third movie in the Lone Wolf and Cub or "Baby Cart" series. As far as I could tell, these were the changes from the original movie.1) The English sub-titles were removed and instead the Japanese was dubbed over with English.2) The left and right edges were trimmed off to fit the image on a standard TV set. This is most obvious at the beginning where the title and related material gets cut off enough that you had to guess at what some words would be.3) The color is excellent and it's apparent AnimEigo worked hard to clean up the original media.The DVD runs for 89 minutes. Unlike "Shogun Assassin" #1 which combined elements from three of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies Shogun Assassin 2 is just one movie from the original series. As far as I can tell, nothing was cut.

This one and "Peril" are by far my favorites. In the opening scenes we see Ogami wipe out three ninja and it must be seen to be believed. I particularly liked the character development in this film. Itto meets Magomura Kanbei, a disgraced ronin much like himself. It appears Kanbei has a death wish and the reason is uncertain until the end of the movie. He is a very interesting character. Ogami is tortured by yakuza to save a prostitute who killed a pimp in self defense and this is how he is led to his next commission. Great story, and action that is second to none. His quick draw in one scene is so fast I swore the film was sped up. Well, it wasn't. The man is that good. Another plus, there's Hamada Yuko. She is one good-looking woman. This is a very enjoyable movie that can be viewed many times and it never gets old.