Greatest samurai film EVER

I'm surprised Criterion dropped the ball on this one -- I would have expected a dvd issue of this movie from them, but Tokyo Shock came out with it, and a glorious transfer it is of a classic Hideo Gosha film from 1969. I have heard bad things about the subtitle translation, but comparing it to a version I bought off of ebay, I didn't see much difference. This is an epic, what Once Upon a Time in the West was to westerns, this is to samurai films. Here's the plot from the liners - "A samurai, Magobei, returns to face the clan he abandoned when he learns that they intend to instigate another massacre. Protecting the last survivor of that massacre, a woman called “Taken by the Gods” Oriha, Magobei absorbs a truly phenomenal amount of punishment before taking down his brother-in-law, the clan leader." Highest recommendation.