Red Peony Gambler 6: Oryu's Return (1970)

Director: Tai Kato

Notable Cast: Junko Fuji, Bunta Sugawara, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Kanjuro Arashi, Toru Abe, Bin Amatsu, Mikiko Asamatsu, Shogo Egami

One of the more effective tactics that have become part of the formula of the Red Peony Gambler franchise is how the writing is structured. Each entry slowly builds its story, adding in seemingly random characters or plots, and then ties them in for the third act. While the second film in the franchise, Gambler’s Obligation, did it with the most impact, it has become a tactic that I enjoy seeing unfold time and time again. The sixth entry of the series, under the subtitle Oryu’s Return, sees the franchise once again double down on this structure and writing. Unlike some of its predecessors, the results are a bit more mixed than expected, but Red Peony Gambler 6 is still a film that pays off wildly in its third act.

Red Peony Gambler 2: Gambler's Obligation (1968)

Director: Norifumi Suzuki

Notable Cast: Junko Fuji, Bin Amatsu, Koji Tsuruta, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Bunta Sugawara, Junpei Arishima, Daisuke Awaji, Shogo Egami, Tatsuo Endo, Michitaro Mizushima, Yuki Shirono

After the impressive debut of Oryu in Red Peony Gambler, the first film of this decently long classic yakuza franchise, there was a sense that it could be all downhill from there. The first film made such a massive impression, through performances and a sly script that added its own thematic weight to the usual ninkyo eiga, that a sequel was bound to disappoint in comparison. Well, maybe not. Red Peony Gamber 2: Gambler's Obligation is, on its own merits, an impressive follow up. The film starts off in a more traditional manner, often doubling down on the tropes of the yakuza film of the time period, but as it moves its way towards its conclusion the film continually picks up speed and delivers a third act that is both incredibly emotional and highly entertaining.

Street Mobster (1972)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Noboru Ando, Asao Koike, Hideo Murota, Kyosuke Machida, Mayumi Nagisa, Noburo Mitani, Asao Uchida, Takeo Chii, Mayumi Fujisato

Arrow Video has made a statement when it comes to bringing some of the best of old school Japanese action films to its fans. Most of these are attached to the more popular auteur cult directors and, as of recently, they have tripled down on the films of Kinji Fukasaku. If you’ve followed this site for any length, then you already know that Fukasaku is a regular staple here and we attempt to run coverage on new releases for the director as much as possible. The latest from Arrow Video – thus, the latest review for Blood Brothers – is for his groundbreaking film, Street Mobster. While the film is not quite the epic tale as his Battles Without Honor and Humanity and doesn’t hit the thematic and heavy levels of some of his later yakuza films like Graveyard of Honor, it does have this raw and energetic approach that allows it to flow. Featuring some fantastic performances and a devil may care attitude, Street Mobster is another classic to add to Fukasaku’s gangster classics that any fan of Japanese cinema will want to add to their collection.

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss (1976)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Jun Tatara, Sanae Nakahara, Sakae Umezu, Isao Bito, Takuya Fujioka, Koji Wada, Chieko Matsubara, Masayuki Sone, Eitaro Ozawa, Mikio Narita, Rinichi Yamamoto, Masataka Iwao, Michiro Minami, Kenichi Sakuragi, Takuzo Kawatani
Also Known As: New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 3: Last Days of the Boss, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Last Days

With Last Days of the Boss, Kinji Fukasaku seals off the second series of Battles Without Honor and Humanity films on a very entertaining sprint. Like its director predecessor, The Boss’s Head, this entry is less about recreating the density and complexity of the original series and it tries to be more in tune with the action packed exploitative efforts of 70s Japanese action films instead. This leaves New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Last Days of the Boss as a rip-roaring ride of morally gray characters, blissfully chaotic action set pieces, and a wake of bodies that starts stacking up immediately. It’s perhaps the furthest that the series has moved away from its roots as dramatic gangster realism, but it’s hard not to still see the gleaming entertainment and depth of character work that Fukasaku brings to the table with all of his films from this era. Perhaps one of the weaker films when it comes to tight writing and expertly crafted tension, but it’s also a film that replaces those things with a wild and chaotic ambition that doesn’t betray the tone of the series either.

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss's Head (1975)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Ninji Kobayashi, Kan Mikami, Ko Nishimura, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Tsunehiko Watase, Sanae Nakahara, Mikio Narita, Meiko Kaji, Junkichi Orimoto, Hideo Murota

The biggest flaw in the rebooted New Battles Without Honor and Humanity film is the fact that the first film of the trilogy is too much like its predecessors. It tried too hard to be like the original five and it came off as redundant and rushed, even with its strong direction and performances. The second of this trilogy, New Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Boss’s Head, attempts to rectify that major issue by bringing in an entirely new story with some of the stylistic choices of the series, but some new additions and approaches. The results are definitely a step up above the first as the new ground in the film makes for a much more interesting film that pulls a bit more away from the documentary-esque structures and dense character interactions for a more straight forward yakuza action affair. Fans may be a bit more mixed on it for its deviations from the core style, but it’s a refreshing spin that has its own effective merits.

New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1974)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Tomisaburo Wakayama, Reiko Ike, Nobuo Kaneko, Sanae Nakahara, Kunie Tanaka, Shingo Yamashiro, Jo Shishido

Kinji Fukasaku’s intense and impressively crafted original Battles Without Honor and Humanity series was perhaps the epic highlight of his career with dense character builds, massive gangster plotting, and gritty execution of striking effectiveness. It was also notably popular with theater goers in the mid-1970s that pulled in some serious box office revenue. So it’s perhaps not all that surprising that Toei would eventually want to keep it running. By eventually, I mean that the first entry of the New Battles Without Honor and Humanity trilogy would be released the same year as the fifth installment of the original series. Toei and Fukasaku didn’t waste any time, I suppose. This new chapter of the series, with no connection to the original five, would see the director and new writers Fumio Konami and Misao Arai start to take the franchise in a new direction with three unconnected stories using many of the same principal cast members from the original series as new characters with new stories to tell under the banner. The results, while intriguing, are mixed and don’t nearly hold a candle to the original run. The first film of the series has its merits and stands on its own decently well, but considering some of the phenomenal films that Fukasaku released in this period it does seem to be a step back in quality which should be noted even if fans are certain to find plenty of enjoyment out of them.

Cops Vs Thugs (1975)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Tatsuo Umemiya, Shingo Yamashiro, Asao Sano, Akira Shioji, Hideo Murota, Mikio Narita, Takuzo Kawatani, Harumi Sone, Tatsuo Endo, Nobuo Kaneko

“It’s war. Go and get them.”

The 70s were about as prime as it gets for Kinji Fukasaku films. The man essentially could do no wrong. Whether it was his two stints of the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series (the second series called New Battles Without Honor and Humanity is getting a Blu Ray release here in the US in July and everyone and their dog should be very excited) or his various other stand-alone features, pretty much anything he did from this era is gold. This includes Cops Vs Thugs, a film he did in-between entries on the previously noted New Battles series. It was hard not to get my hopes up for this film going into it knowing that not only was it a Fukasaku film from this period, but it starred some of his regulars and was written by Kazuo Kasahara who penned the first four Battles films, and even with those hopes Cops Vs Thugs strikes out as another massively impressive film that dives into the complex humanity of law and crime. It’s a film that is both highly entertaining in an action oriented cops and robbers manner, but it also strikes a very effective chord about the gray areas of morality that being human straddles in a world that’s not nearly as black and white as it is made out to be. The results are another classic from an iconic director that needs a lot more love and a lot more attention.

Final Episode (1974)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Akira Kobayashi, Kinya Kitaoji Jo Shishido, Junkichi Orimoto, Kunie Tanaka, Shingo Yamashiro, Hiroki Matsukata

As far as original writer Kazuo Kasahara was concerned, the Battles Without Honor and Humanity series was finished after the fourth film Police Tactics. Truthfully, that film did feel like a solid ending to the story that was being told. Many characters reached their logical conclusion and the arrival of an agreement between smaller warring yakuza factions to create a political coalition that essentially ended their yakuza focus worked. End of story, right? Wrong. Popularity with the series led to there being at least one last film in the original run (there is a spin off series that would come soon after too), but original writer Kasahara did not come back. However, almost everyone else did including director Kinji Fukasaku. The results are the aptly titled Final Episode, a solid and entertaining installment into the Battles series that too often gets written off as an inferior and ‘tacked on’ ending to the series. Final Episode however fits the style and tone even if it occasionally lacks the depth and subtlety of its predecessors to make it a worthy sequel.

Hiroshima Death Match (1973)

Director: Kinji Kukasaku

Notable Cast: Kinya Kitaoji, Sonny Chiba, Meiko Kaji, Bunta Sugawara 

Also known as: Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Death Match, Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

Director Kinji Fukasaku and writer Kazuo Kasahara really knocked it out of the park with their gritty and complex yakuza story in the first Battles Without Honor and Humanity, so when that one ended up being a commercial success it was only obvious that a second film would quickly follow. Hiroshima Death Match, also known as Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Death Match and Deadly Fight in Hiroshima, continues fairly faithfully in the style and tone that made the original film such a success. Any fans of the first one are definitely going to latch onto what this film has to offer. However, the writing this time around is a bit more focused and centered which is both a blessing and curse to differentiate the film from the previous one. And depending on your stance about the style, the film is either better or worse.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity (1973)

Director: Kinji Fukasaku

Notable Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Hiroki Matsukata, Nobuo Kaneko, Kunie Tanaka, Tamio Kawachi, Tatsuo Umemiya, Tsunehiko Watase, Goro Ibuki, Toshie Kimura, Eiko Nakamura

Also known as: The Yakuza Papers Vol. 1: Battles Without Honor and Humanity

Battles Without Honor and Humanity has to be one of the most requested movies for Blood Brothers to review. Not only was it repeatedly requested, but it was also a film highly suggested by fans and friends as one of the best cult films that Japan had to offer in their expansive catalog. With the release of the massive box set of all five Yakuza Papers films in one convenient place from Arrow Video, it was finally destined that we would not only be able to experience these captivating yakuza films, but they would be reviewed for our readers. The first of the series, the previously mentioned Battles Without Honor and Humanity, is just as unbelievably memorable and effective as it was hyped up to be. It’s a film that shies away from more traditional structures, but the magnetic performances, gritty visuals, and oddly satiric streaks make it one of the most visceral yakuza films I have ever seen. Worthy of the blessed treatment it has received in this latest Blu Ray edition.