50 Yakuza Films
StephenClark 50 films having to do with Japanese organized crime. Including films by legends of the genre Kinji F*kasaku, Seijun Suzuki and, Masahiro Makino. Please enjoy!!
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The Wolves
Hideo Gosha“ The Emperor has died! Long live the Emperor! To celebrate the coronation of a new Emperor, a series of pardons release hundreds of Yakuza from jail--men who, perhaps, would have been better off behind bars. The world they left, defined by a rigid code of honor, is giving way to a new world with a new set of rules--the ends justify the means. As one of these men comes to realize how corrupt his world has become, he must decide whether to bend like bamboo and survive, or uphold the old traditions--and die „ - 2Up 2Down 0
Tatooed Life
Seijun Suzuki“ From the Back Cover After his final job as a Yakuza hit man, Tetsu the Silver Fox is attached by his last victim's bodyguard. Coming to his rescue is Kenji, Tetsu's younger, peaceful brother. In the fray, Kenji kills a yakuza and the two flee to Manchuria. Hounded by the police and the yakuza, the two brothers find work with a construction firm until they can no longer hide their identities. A classic of the famed Nikkatsu action genre, "Tattooed Life" climaxes in an all-out orgy of revenge and style. „ - 3Up 2Down 0
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
Kinji Fukasaku“ As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic games, the cops start to crack down under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima. Akira Kobayashi's Takeda tries to keep a lid on things, but hotheaded underlings create chaos, with one boss whacked in neutral territory, and the craven boss, Uchimoto, informing on an a***********n attempt by his own minions. While the police round up hundreds of yakuza foot soldiers, Bunta Sugawara's Shozo Hirono plots to finally take out longtime nemesis, boss Yamamori „ - 4Up 2Down 0
Onimasa
Hideo Gosha“ Matsue is the adoptive daughter of the Kiryuin House, a small yakuza clan in Shikoku. Onimasa, their leader, is the last heir to a family of samurai. He is hard in business but respected by the poor because of his fairness. Matsue lives in the middle of this society, between gang wars and rivalries among the chief's mistresses. But when Onimasa takes a chivalrous attitude and finds himself on the side of train workers on strike, it annoys the Great Godfather of the island. The story starts in 1918, ends with the nearing of the Second World War. „ - 5Up 2Down 0
Battles Without Honor and Humanity
Kinji Fukasaku“ In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara) and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza. After joining boss Yamamori, Shozo is drawn into a feud with his sworn brother's family, the Dois. But that's where the chivalry of traditional yakuza film ends and the hypocrisy, betrayal, and assassinations begin. „ - 6Up 2Down 0
Street Mobster
Kinji Fukasaku“ In the tradition of Takeshi Kitano, Sergio Leone, and George Romero, Japanese action director Kinji F*kasaku (Battle Royale, The Yakuza Papers) brings to life Street Mobster, the story of a violent killer who will stop at nothing to satisfy his lust for blood. Released from prison, gangster Isamu Okita plans to start his own gang and begins a reign of terror using beatings, prostitution, stabbings, and murders to fight his way to the top of the gangland world. Street Mobster is a look into the dark realm of Japan's criminal underworld, where anything can be had for a price. „ - 7Up 2Down 1
Violent Streets
Hideo Gosha“ The intelligent yakuza, Noboru Ando; the gunrunner, Bunta Sugawara; the
greedy yakuza, Akira Kobayashi; and Tetsuro Tanba: Toei's BIG 4 together on
the VIOLENT STREETS, a spectacularly violent film with action that could
only be directed by the master Hideo Gosha!
The Western Japan Alliance has control of most of Japan, and only Tokyo is
left for them to gain. Starting with the purchase of clubs in Ginza, a
yakuza war between Western and Eastern Japan begins! „ - 8Up 2Down 1
Ichi the Killer
Takashi Miike“ When a Yakuza boss named Anjo disappears with 300 million yen, his chief henchman, a sadomasochistic man named Kakihari, and the rest of his mob goons go looking for him. After capturing and torturing a rival Yakuza member looking for answers, they soon realize they have the wrong man and begin looking for the man named Jijii who tipped them off in the first place. Soon enough Kakihara and his men encounter Ichi, a psychotic, sexually-repressed young man with amazing martial arts abilities and blades that come out of his shoes. One by one Ichi takes out members of the Yakuza and all the while Kakihara intensifies his pursuit of Ichi and Ichi's controller Jijii. What will happen as the final showdown happens between the tortured and ultra-violent Ichi and the pain-craving Kakihara? „ - 9Up 1Down 0
Deadly Outlaw Rekka
Takashi Miike“ After Kunisada (Riki Takeuchi)'s Yakuza leader and father figure is brutally murdered, he and his best friend (Kenichi Endo) go on a two-man mission to avenge his death, killing other Yakuza leaders leading to a final confrontation by the old man's killers. „ - 10Up 1Down 0
Boiling Point
Takeshi Kitano“ Two members of a Japanese junior baseball team get mixed up with the local yakuza. After their coach is severely injured by the gangsters, the two boys set off to Okinawa to purchase a gun in order to get revenge. While in Okinawa they get befriended by a psychotic yakuza outcast who is planning a revenge of his own. „ - 11Up 1Down 0
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch
Kinji Fukasaku“ Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka (Kinya Kitaoji, who went on to star as Rhett Butler in the Tokyo stage version of GONE WITH THE WIND), finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hit man and falls in love with boss Muraoka¹s niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo (Sonny Chiba, KILL BILL) draws our series¹ hero, Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), into a new round of bloodshed, culminating with the tragic demise of the young Yamanka. „ - 12Up 1Down 0
Yakuza of Ina
Masahiro Makino“ Tossing his hat in the air to pick a direction, Yataro the wanderer sets out on a journey of adventure, not knowing what tomorrow may bring. The son of a Hatamoto, he has left the samurai life and become a yakuza, gambling on life’s fortune and ready to risk his life at a moment’s notice. Featuring an all-star cast that includes the debonair Azuma Chiyonosuke, this is a tale of excitement and action that brings the best of black and white to the silver screen. An adventure like no other, this is one of Kinnosuke’s lost gems. A series of mishaps leads Yataro to watching over the beloved daughter of his close friend. „ - 13Up 1Down 0
Yakuza Burial: Jasmine Flower
Kinji Fukasaku“ Following Cops Vs. Thugs by a year, Kinji F*kasaku’s Yakuza Graveyard is even more violent and colorful, featuring several scenes that Quentin Tarantino obviously borrowed from for Kill Bill. With a similar nearly-humorous soap opera-like plot, Tarantino also adopted filmic storytelling devices used in this film, namely the freeze-frames on characters during plot summaries, and the switch to black-and-white during scenes that occurred in the past. Opening with a scene in which Nishida gang members beat up casino guests, shoot a man in a baseball stadium, then get severely abused by cops, Yakuza Graveyard continues at a ferocious pace, as the Nishida and Yamashiro families fight to take over the city. Police are inept, minus Kido Kuroiwa (Tetsuya Watari), a Dirty Harry-like detective who falls in love with Nishida member, Mrs. Keiko (Meijo Kaji). Kuroiwa swears brotherhood with Nishida Boss Iwata (Seizo F*kumoto), allowing him to be with Keiko, but ruining his career as a cop. As Kuroiwa’s rough bravado blurs the line between the lawmakers and the lawbreakers, the cops and the yakuza start to look equally corrupt. With his trademark use of the handheld camera during battle scenes, F*kasaku’s shots in Yakuza Graveyard are woozier, often capturing sex and violence completely sideways on the screen. Every character seems to be carrying a bottle of whisky, giving the film itself a drunk and disorderly quality. Crime doesn’t pay though it certainly looks good on a screen. „ - 14Up 1Down 0
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
Kinji Fukasaku“ The successor to Hiroshima¹s most powerful yakuza family, the Muraokas, is whacked in broad daylight on a busy city street. What unfolds is a yakuza succession crisis, as the weaseley Uchimoto (Takeshi Kato) dithers and the slimy, backstabbing boss Yamamori steps in as the Muraoka's new boss. Bunta Sugawara's would-be independent yakuza, Shozo Hirono, is caught in the middle, having to play powerbroker. But the opposing factions seek support from powerful families in Kobe, making all out war inevitable. „ - 15Up 0Down 0
Ambition Without Honor
Takashi Miike“ Seventeen year old Tetsuya kills the boss of a rival gang with the promise of being made. After seven years of prison, he discovers that he is all but forgotten by his Family. The two rival Families have reconciled and Tetsuya was been discarded to keep the peace. Wanted what he was promised, Tetsuya becomes a one-man path of destruction, only to be betrayed once again… „ - 16Up 0Down 0
Sympathy for the Underdog
Kinji Fukasaku“ From Kinji F*kasaku (Battles Without Honor & Humanity) the director celebrated for changing the face of Japanese action cinema, comes this pivotal crime drama. Stylish and hard-boiled, Sympathy for the Underdog stars Koji Tsuruta, one of Japan’s seminal figures in the Yakuza genre, as Gunji, an aging Yakuza who is released from prison after ten years. Gunji lives by a code of honor that has no place among Tokyo’s modern corporate gangs. He gets a new lease on life by reforming his former gang and taking over the whiskey trade on the island of Okinawa. But he is forced to make a final, fateful, bloody stand against the mainland gang that sent him to prison. „ - 17Up 0Down 0
Yakuza's Tale
Shigehiro Ozawa“ During the end of the Taisho Era, Masanosuke Mita of the Sanja Gamily was of Asakusa was a**********d by an unidentified man. The a******n was said to have an Orochi tattoo on his back. Senzo Kikuno, Mita's bonded brother, succeeded as the new leader of the Sanja with a push from Juzo Tokachi. Meanwhile, Chokichi Inagaki, a follower of the Sanja Family, is released from prison and helps persuade Senzo to be the new boss to take care of the family. Chokichi goes on a journey to find the a******n and discovers from his wife, Kyoka, that a resturant owner, Yoshie, has a husband with an Orochi tattoo on his back. „ - 18Up 0Down 0
Afraid to Die
Yasuzo Masamura“ Legendary/notorious Japanese novelist and cultural icon Yukio Mishima makes a rare screen appearance as Takeo, a young yakuza who reluctantly leaves prison to re-enter a dizzying world of kidnappings, attempted assassinations, attacks and retaliations. Torn by family duty, self-preservation, and his desire for his new-found love Yoshie (Ayako Wakao, "Manji"), Takeo blasts and bluffs his way through this treacherous maze until he finds he can no longer outrun destiny. Japanese New Wave master Yasuzo Masumura propels this delirious, fast paced yakuza satire with a jazzy score, eye-popping visuals, and a trademark sense of the absurd. „ - 19Up 0Down 0
Theater of Life- Hishakaku
Tadashi Sawashima“ Based on a book by Ozaki Koyo about a yakuza's honor, duty and loyalty. Hishakaku asks his woman, Otoyo, a former geisha, to move to Tokyo, where they are taken in by Boss Kokin. Due to his obligation to Kokin, he is involved with a gang war and is arrested. When he is released from jail, everything has changed and Otoyo unwittingly causes him the greatest heartache a man could know. „ - 20Up 0Down 0
Wandering Ginza Butterfly
Kazuhiko Yamaguchi“ Gang leader Nami (cult film legend Meiko Kaji) kills a member of a yakuza group and goes away to prison. Upon her release three years later, she s a shamed woman confined to living in the shadowy world of sex clubs and street gangs. She returns to the city to live with her uncle, a billiard-hall owner, and after befriending pimp and ne er-do-well Ryuji (Tsunehiko Watase), she gets a job working at a hostess club in the chic Ginza neighborhood, where the expensive shops and neon lights conceal a dark world of crime and sexual slavery. But when a rival gang attempts to muscle in on the club, Nami becomes enmeshed in a violent struggle. „ - 21Up 0Down 0
Brutal Tales of Chivalry
Kiyoshi Saeki“ After World War II, their town was a pile of rubble. Gennosuke, the second generation boss of the Kamizu Group was upholding yakuza chivalry by keeping black-market and illegal items out of their open-air market. Taking advantage of the mess, Iwasa and his gang take hold of goods from the US military, black-market and controlled items in order to become the most powerful group in Enko area. Iwasa has Gennosuke assassinated but before he dies, he names Shinji Terajima as his successor and makes him swear to carry on the family business and not seek revenge or use violence. Shinji tries to tries to make his family’s marketplace a success, but with constant interruption and attacks from Iwasa’s gang, he can no longer keep his word to his former boss… „ - 22Up 0Down 0
Red Peony Gambler
Kasaku Yamashita“ Ryuko was raised by her father, a gambler named Senzo Yano in Kumamoto, Kyushu, after her mother d**d when she was little. When she turned 18 years old, her father was attacked and k****d by a stranger in alley. Ryuko then dissolves her yakuza family, and, carrying the wallet left by the k*****, , she sets out on a journey to avenge her father's death. Five years later, she wanders the nation, known only as! Red Peony Oryu who has a red peony tattooed on her shoulder and has the defiance and courage of a man. She meets Katagiri - a loner gambler, Kumatora - boss of a family in Shikoku, and Otaka - female boss of the Doman Family in Osaka. With their help, she finally catches up with the man who murdered her father „ - 23Up 0Down 0
Hiroshima Honor: Hostage Rescue Tactics
Yuuji Makaguchi“ After a devastating event, a yakuza family converts itself (on the surface only) into a "legitimate" business company dealing with real estate and construction. However, old habits die hard.. „ - 24Up 0Down 0
Chivalrous Story of Japan
Masahiro Makino“ A turf war is about to break out in a section of the city called "The Domain" as two rival families feud over who controls the area. When the Boss of the Kibamasa falls ill, the Okiyama see it as the time to make their move and will stop at nothing in their effort to push the Kibamasa out of the Domain. An exciting yakuza story with superb action starring the most famous and popular of modern day actors Takakura Ken in a role no one else could have portrayed as well. „ - 25Up 0Down 0
A Certain Killer
Kazuo Mori“ Kazuo Mori's stylish adaptation of a hard-boiled crime novel, The Night Before, by Shinji Fujiwara, stars Raizo Ichikawa, with the exquisite camerawork of Kazuo Miyagawa and a script by Yasuzo Masumura. A Certain Killer is a dark, nihilistic thriller in the Le Samouraï vein, with Ichikawa as a former kamikaze, now a taciturn restaurant chef, who is gradually revealed to be moonlighting as a hitman for two yakuza clans. As a picture of the generation whose values and ideals were corrupted during the war, this is an updating of the Ichikawa hero (he was often cast in historical roles) to modern antihero. With little dialogue, sparing use of color, and an interesting penchant for objective longshot, A Certain Killer is an important rediscovery by one of Japanese cinema's "kings of the Bs," Kazuo Mori (1911-1989) „ - 26Up 0Down 0
Branded to Kill
Seijun Suzuki“ From midnighteye.com: The story concerns Hanada, or Number 3 Killer, played by the hamster-faced Jo Shishido (who had collagen implants in his cheeks to enhance his box-office appeal), a terse yakuza assassin in shades who is turned on by the smell of boiling rice. Approached by the beautiful but deadly Misako (Mari Annu) to undertake a 'kill or be killed' contract, he soon finds himself entranced by this mysterious femme fatale with a bedroom full of entomological specimens and an impaled starling dangling from the rear view mirror of her car. When he botches up the job due to an untimely butterfly landing on his gun-sites, his own girlfriend is secretly hired by the mob boss to kill him. From then on it's bullet-riddled mayhem all the way until a head-to-head finale set in a deserted boxing gymnasium with the anonymous Number 1. „ - 27Up 0Down 0
The Man With a Sinister Laugh
Hiroshi Noguchi“ Ryu "the Quick Shot" was a gunman killer a.k.a. "The Killer Who Does Not Kill" was working in a Yakuza family. 3 years ago he got an order to kill the boss of their enemy Yakuza family. Following his personal policy "I shoot, but don't kill", he did not kill the enemy boss, shooting boss's leg only. Time has passed and he returned to Kanazawa from the prison. In Kanazawa he found that his lover had been killed by unknown guy. Who killed his lover? His revenge started. „ - 28Up 0Down 0
Kingdom of Jirocho
Masahiro Makino“ The tale of real-life Yakuza boss Shimizu Jirocho is told from his earliest beginnings as a gambler on the road as he forms his gang and sets out on the path to fame and fortune. One of the smartest and strongest of all the gang bosses, he went on to survive the end of the samurai era and become a successful businessman. But first, he must survive against all odds in order to build his reputation and develop his strength. Powerful portrayals of the group are led by the great Tsuruta Koji with help from the likes of Matsukata Hiroki, etal. „ - 29Up 0Down 0
Youth of the Beast
Seijun Suzuki“ When a mysterious stranger muscles into two rival yakuza gangs, Tokyo's underworld explodes with violence. Youth of the Beast (Yaju no Seishun) was a breakthrough for director Seijun Suzuki, introducing the flamboyant colors, hallucinatory images, and striking compositions that would become his trademark. The Criterion Collection proudly presents the film that revitalized the yakuza genre and helped define the inimitable style of a legendary cinematic renegade „ - 30Up 0Down 0
Red Cherry Blossom Family of Kanto
Masahiro Makino“ The Ni Family is the most well know and respected group of firefighters in the Kanto region. When their leader dies and the successor disappears, Tsuruji, a beautiful yet tough geisha, becomes the boss. But will she be able to confront a yakuza gang trying to take over the area? „ - 31Up 0Down 0
Three Yakuza
Tadashi Sawashima“ Toei Films presents a film like no other. This is the tale of three Yakuza gamblers who traveled Japan during the samurai era living by their wits and sword skills. Told in 3 separate vignettes, each part tells the story of a different drifter’s life. This is a superb film, with great action complemented by gripping stories.
Part 1: Starring Nakadai Tatsuya is the story of a man on the run after killing 2 Hasshu Officials to avenge his Boss. He must make a life or death decision as he is asked to protect a gang from attack.
Part 2: Starring Matsukata Hiroki and Shimura Takashi as a pair of gamblers chased out of a crooked game who must fight not only their pursuers, but the ghosts of their pasts as well.
Part 3: Starring Nakamura Kinnosuke as a wanderer who wants to live according to the Yakuza Code, but is not sure that he can do so when asked to save a town from an evil official. „ - 32Up 0Down 0
Tokyo Drifter
Seijin Suzuki“ Tetsu has joined his yakuza boss in going straight, but when a rival gang threatens to bring them back into the gang wars, Tetsu must become a drifter to keep the pressure off his old boss. „ - 33Up 0Down 0
Yokohama Underworld: Machine Gun Dragon
Akihisa Okamoto“ Ryu, a low life thug, along with his mother, steals a shipment of drugs. Now with his machine gun and a gang of hoodlums, he must face the yakuza and the mafia. Not only does this great yakuza action flick star Sonny Chiba but also his brother, Jiro. „ - 34Up 0Down 0
Honor Amoung Brothers
Kosaku Yamashita“ Two local yakuza families, the Naruko and the Kito, could never solve their dispute over the popular hot springs of Kusama Inn. Meanwhile, Katsuji Kijima arrives from Hokkaido to find his estranged mother and accepts the hospitality from the Naruko Family. Soon, the boss of the Naruko swears in Katsuji as a brother and is brutally murdered by the Kito Family. With tan irresistible desire to avenge his slain brother in the name of justice, Katsuji made up his mind and draws his silver sword... „ - 35Up 0Down 0
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode
Kinji Fukasaku“ In the wake of a big police crackdown, Akira Kobayashi's icily sun- glassed Takeda attempts to transform the Hiroshima yakuza families into a legitimate political organization: The Tensei Coalition. When the young Matsumura ascends to the chairmanship of the coalition, the older, hardened yakuza led by Jo Shishido (BRANDED TO KILL) seize one last opportunity to stir up chaos and bloodshed. Culminating with the arrests, deaths, or retirement of the first postwar yakuza generation, this milestone series draws to an ambivalent close. „ - 36Up 0Down 0
Kanto Street Peddlers
Norifumi Suzuki“ Still never released in the English language. Myself along with many fans here in the west would be thrilled if this film was given a custom job. Maybe some day „ - 37Up 0Down 0
In Search of Mother
Tai Kato“ Yakuza member Chûtarô, who together with Hanji, are responsible for the murder of a gambler boss. On the run they return to Hanji's home and a chastening welcome from his disappointed mother who tells him to keep away from Chûtarô's bad influence. Chûtarô is touched by this protective love toward Hanji. Even though his own mother is alive somewhere, he has been separated from her since he was five and is distressed to see the pain Hanji is causing his mother. The gangsters on their trail soon find Hanji's house and challenge him to a fight, but Chûtarô emerges from the shadows and kills them. Chûtarô then departs for Edo in search of his mother and finds himself attracted to every woman of approximately his mother's age. When at last he finds her she is resentful at his coming along and disturbing her life. She coldly tells him her son is dead, but even if he were to come back from the grave she wouldn't be overjoyed. Regretting that he has ever met her, Chûtarô takes his leave, his dream since childhood of being reunited with his loving mother has been crushed. Shaken by this encounter, she relents her cynical attitude and attempts to catch up with him. Searching high and low, shouting out his name, but she cannot find him. In fact, he knows she is there but hides himself. Why should he come out from hiding when all he has to do is close his eyes and remember the mother he has always imagined? He remains hidden until she gives up and leaves. (The pursuit of his mother's image, from his friend's mother, a blind woman beggar, an aged streetwoman, and eventually his own mother is rendered with great sensitivity by one of Japan's foremost actors Nakamura Kinnosuke) „ - 38Up 0Down 0
Tales of the Underworld: Big Boss
Kihachi Okamoto“ Brutality, corruption, and a touch of humor highlight one of the earliest efforts from master filmmaker Okamoto Kihachi. The Komatsu brothers Ryuta and Mineo are both yakuza (gangsters). Mineo, although complicit in crime, even murder, wants out of the gangster life, hoping to become a successful singer instead. Ryuta loves his brother, but Mineo's possible defection presents problems for the gang, and Ryuta realizes he must k**l his brother if he wants to survive. Tsuruta Koji gets top billing in this exciting tale, with a strong supporting performance by Mifune Toshiro as an unwilling accessory to murder. „ - 39Up 0Down 0
Fighting Tatsu, The RIckshaw Man
Tai Kato“ Richshaw man Tatsu has wandered to Osaka from Tokyo. He has quarrels with Kimiyakko, a geisha, and throws her into the river. But later, he falls in love with her. Yasaburo, the oyabun of the Nishikawa Gang, loves her very much too. However, as he likes Tatsu's dynamic personality, he volunteers to become a go-between for their marriage. Yasaburo gets tipped off by Yajima who wants to take over the territory of the Nishikawa Gang, and is arrested and imprisoned. After his release, Yajima tries to kill him. Ginjiro, a lover of Tamaryu respects Kimiyakko as an older sister and a follower of Tatsu, is murdered. After the third marriage ceremony just between Tatsu and Kimiyakko, Tatsu goes off to the place of fighting. „ - 40Up 0Down 0
Blood Stained Clan Honor
Kenji Fukasaku - 41Up 0Down 0
Wolves, Pigs and Men
Kinji Fukasaku“ "A lonely gangster tries recruiting men to plunder a respected and powerful gang." What an understatement! This is master filmmaker Kinji F*kasaku's first true work of genius, and it stars three titans of Japanese genre cinema as three brothers who come into conflict over a bag of yakuza loot stolen during a daylight, very public robbery. Rentaro Mikuni is the elder brother, in hock to the mob and under their thumb as a wishy-washy club owner. The great Ken Takakura is the middle brother, a hoodlum who reunites with his brothers after their slum-living mother dies, anxious to make a fast buck. And Kinya Kitaoji is the youngest brother, leader of a youth gang who just wants some kicks but gets roped into his elder brother's scheme without realizing the consequences. Let's just say that things don't turn out well for the siblings in the end, leading to one of the most shattering conclusions ever put on film „ - 42Up 0Down 0
Outlaw Killers: Three Mad Dog Brothers
Kinji Fukasaku“ The great Bunta stars as a gangster who is sent to jail for the sake of his gang, but when he’s released he finds everything completely changed and his gang has swept him aside for being too violent. He tries to start a new life with his two "brothers" but can’t seem to escape old affiliations. „ - 43Up 0Down 0
A Scarred Life
Shigehiro Ozawa“ Set in Osaka, during the devastated time of post-war Japan, this is a tale of the yakuza who set about rebuilding after the death of their Oyabun (big boss). Battles erupt as tempers explode as someone seeks to fill the seat of power. One of the best movies of this type, it brings raw emotion to the screen as it builds toward its bloody climax! Tsuruta Koji and Wakayama Tomisaburo pair up to make this a film that is not to be missed! „ - 44Up 0Down 0
Gang vs. Gang
Teruo Ishii - 45Up 0Down 0
Okinawa: The Ten Year War
Akinori Matsuo“ After WWII, when Okinawa was under control of the US, the local yakuza prospered. But when the island was returned to Japan, the mainland yakuza tries to take over; the local yakuza tries to compete. Now sides are drawn and brother fights brother, resulting in the biggest yakuza war in Okinawa… „ - 46Up 0Down 0
Flame of Blood
Tai Kato“ An all-star Jidai-geki Masterpiece. The story is set in Bakumatsu and revolves around the Bunta Sugawara character, a yakuza (of course :) but instead of a modern yakuza/gangster, he's a gambler/bakuto). After he k***s someone and gets wound, is saved by a blind woman (Mitsuko Baishô), who took care of him. They has a happy time under the protection of the Tomisaburo Wakayama character, an oybun. But of course, happy time doesn't last long. The story is also related to Okada Izo and the Shinsengumi (w/ Kondo Isami played by Makoto Sato) „ - 47Up 0Down 0
Flower and Dragon
Tai Kato“ This is the follow-up of Kato Tai's Jinsei gekijô - Seishun aiyoku zankyohen (aka Theater of LIfe: Youth, Lust and Spirit,1972), with pretty much the same cast and crew. It's a yakuza film epic about a man & a woman establishing a family of longshoreman, centering on their love and struggle. „ - 48Up 0Down 0
Blackmail is My Life
Kinji Fukasaku“ Tautly paced and fueled by a trendy soundtrack synthesis of whistled themes and electric rock, Blackmail Is My Life centers on a quartet of young daredevil hipsters who discover blackmail as a means to enjoy the booming economy from which they've been excluded. These rebellious youths tread a deadly line by blackmailing both sides of society, namely the Yakuza kingpins and top government officials. Blackmail Is My Life is a bloody wake-up call to Japanese culture and budding criminals and a perfect example of the director working in his prime. „ - 49Up 0Down 0
Yasha (Demon)
Yasuo Furuhata“ Yakuza member Shuji (Takakura Ken) turns his back on his gangster lifestyle
and moves to a remote fishing village. His past is kept hidden, as is the
yakuza-style demon tattoo on his back. However, when another gangster comes
to town, ensnaring the fishermen with all night drinking, gambling and drugs,
Shuji's secret is revealed. „ - 50Up 0Down 0
North Sea Chivalry
Tatsuichi Takamori“ Set in the northern regions of Japan, this is the tale of hard struggling fishermen, as they try to survive against the extremes of nature. Starring a young Chiba Shinichi, along with a supporting cast which includes international superstar Wakayama Tomisaburo and the beautiful Ohara Reiko, this story of former yakuza attempting to turn a new leaf has spectacular swordfights to go with a gripping screenplay and outstanding performances all around. The soul of Japan is evident in this exciting tale „
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50 Yakuza Films at 7/29/2012 10:30 AM