Monday, August 03, 2020

DUEL AT FORT EZO (1970)



An excellent, action-packed adventure from Toho, set in 1864 and centered around a mission to locate a cache of gold and rescue the daughter of the Russian royal family. Both are being held in Fort Ezo by the Takeda Clan, led by a direct descendant of Takeda Shingen and his army of Ainu native followers. To do the job, a government agent posing as a ronin assembles a six-man team consisting of a munitions expert, two thieves, a sleight of hand artist, a real ronin, and an ex-sumo wrestler. At times this feels like a serial that's been condensed to feature length, especially during an exciting chase sequence that leads to an actual cliffhanger. An aerial shot during the climactic battle reveals this to be a fairly large-scale production, despite the presence of the cheapest, worst-looking fake bear I've ever seen. Tatsuya Nakadai is featured prominently on the poster but only appears briefly in two scenes near the beginning.


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