AnimEigo really deliverers with their release of the first Lone Wolf and Cub movie, Sword of Vengeance. The video quality in AnimEigo's release is superb; the colors found in this release are very vibrant without any signs of color wash. There are some scratches on the film, but thankfully, they are few and far between; the only noticeable occurrence being a line down the center of the movie, which occurs a little past the 45 minute mark, overall though it won't distract from the viewing experience. Artifacting here isn't noticeable in the least, as the film looks very sharp with no noticeable blurring. The audio presentation here, when compared to the video, seems lacking; however, this is more accounted to the way the actual film was made, as opposed to any fault of the DVD presentation here. For example, how scratchy some of the music found in the Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance is, most notably the main title of the film, and the fact that the film was done in mono, same as the DVD here. So given the limitations set forth by the film itself, its probably the best presentation one could hope to get. While the extras found on this disc don't really stand out, they are numerous. The DVD contains the trailers for three Lone Wolf and Cub movies (Sword of Vengeance, Baby Cart in Peril, and Baby Cart in the Land of Demons) along with the trailer to Zatoichi the Outlaw. The "Linear Notes" included show an impressive amount of research done on the background of the time period in which the Lone Wolf and Cub series takes place, and will provide a good read for all those who are interested; furthermore, the linear notes appear both in print format and on the DVD. Another extra, although not actually cited as one on the disc, is a list of credits for the film and DVD, in English. Normally, this would hardly be noteworthy, but on a Japanese film it provides a very quick resource as to the production team behind the movie in English. Bottom line, anyone interested in the Lone Wolf and Cub series should look into picking this DVD up, as its easily the best presentation of Sword of Vengeance on the market in any format.

This disc is also featured in the box set: Lone Wolf and Cub: DVD Collector's Edition Box.