Samurai Vendetta(1959) & The Betrayal (1966): Raizo Ichikawa's best!!

[CipherPol]

Raizo has never been one of my favorite chanbara actors. Shintaro Katsu, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Sonny Chiba and Kinya Kitaoji are my favorites. They dedicated themselves to kenjutsu/iaido and they are great actors as well. Raizo played a good Nemuri Kyoshiro because his acting was good but the sword skill was poor. He absolutely shined in Samurai Vendetta and The Betrayal. Both movies are similar as they are filled with betrayal and drama. I will admit that sometimes the choreographer can make a movie great but actors need skill to make it look legit. A great example of that is Hashizo Okawa who excelled in fencing in many films during the golden era. Raizo excelled in the Shinobi no mono series because of his acting. What other movies you think were his best?

Edited December 30, 2023 by CipherPol