- Ryunosuke Tsukue (Tatsuya Nakadai) may very well be the best swordsman in Japan. He is unquestionably the most cruel. Entering the film by slaying the grandfather of a young woman named Omatsu (Yôko Naitô), Ryunosuke deals out death at every available opportunity, and the film provides plenty of opportunities. In a particularly telling sequence of events, he is approached by Ohama (Michiyo Aratama), who begs him not to defeat her husband, Bunnojo Utsuki (Ichirô Nakatani), in an upcoming fencing match. Ryunosuke sleeps with Ohama and then proceeds to kill Bunnojo anyway. Even Ryunosuke's dying father (Ryôsuke Kagawa) thinks that his son should be killed before he does something really awful. In other words, he's not exactly a guy you can root for.
- Of course, it's tough to have much sympathy for Ohama either, since she readily moves away with Ryunosuke after Bunnojo's death. At this point, Ryunosuke is making a living killing people (his specialty!) for a group of assassins who support the Shogun. His skills with a sword are such that he seems unbeatable, but an accidental encounter with the master swordsman Shimada (Toshirô Mifune) plants some doubt in Ryunosuke's mind. Increasingly frustrated with her emotionally disconnected husband, Ohama makes the mistake of daring him to kill her and, well, it wouldn't be like Ryunosuke to pass up a chance like that. One assumes that it will only be a matter of time before this villain is defeated, but which of his many enemies will be the one to beat him? Will it be Shimada or his prize pupil Hyoma (Yûzô Kayama)? Hyoma seems like a likely candidate since he is in love with Omatsu and also happens to be the brother of the slain Bunnojo. On the other hand, maybe it will be Omatsu's protective uncle Shichibei (Kô Nishimura) who carries a gun for just such an occasion.
- The huge surprise, of course, is that none of these noble warriors ever get the chance to kill Ryunosuke. In the film's amazing and phantasmagorical finale, Ryunosuke slowly grows more insane, seeing enemies in every shadow. He starts out by slashing the room's walls to ribbon and proceeds to slay armies of warriors in an endless labyrinth of rooms. Are these foes real? The movie never clarifies this point, but it is painfully clear that Ryunosuke is doomed to fight for the rest of his life. Referred to as the "chop-choppingest climax ever" by Howard Thompson of the New York Times, this seven minute battle is truly impressive even if the film's end arrives a bit abruptly. With such outstanding fight scenes and wonderful black and white cinematography, The Sword of Doom proves to be a surprisingly memorable contribution to samurai cinema.
- Apparently, this was intended to be a trilogy, which might explain why the film ended mid-stroke.
