Outlaw: Kill! (1969)

Director: Keiichi Ozawa

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Eiji Go, Kenji Imai, Goro Mutsumi, Koji Wada

With this review of the sixth Outlaw feature Kill!, I will have finalized the series and it’s easy for me to say that I’m sad it’s done. Particularly because Kill! never has a finality to its tone as it covers another episodic chapter of Goro’s wandering tales of yakuza violence and loss. Like many of the sequels, this one is simply another episode of the series adhering to the formula and relying on the execution of its elements to carry the quality versus a fresh spin or unique story to tell. While the film is not nearly as artistic as the original nor is it as thematically strong in writing as the fourth entry, it is a durable entry that features some of the sturdier dramatic beats and better action set pieces of the series. While it may not have the punch that I would have hoped for the final film of this series, it is still an impressive film to end on and it comes with much appreciation.

Outlaw: Black Dagger (1968)

Director: Keiichi Ozawa

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara

Now that I’m five movies into the Outlaw franchise, sometimes it’s baffling to think this franchise took so long to get a release in the US (and UK). Even in this fifth entry, entitled Black Dagger, the franchise remains a solidly entertaining romp, utilizing some of the best elements of the yakuza genre of the time and making enjoyable films. Black Dagger, while remaining one of the weaker films of the series thus far, is full of great action, effective performances, and fun story bends. Of course, it sacrifices a lot of the great themes and overarching concepts to be a bit more consumable, but that never stopped me from enjoying a film before. Black Dagger might not be one of the weaker entries, but dammit it’s still fun and dynamic still riding on the anti-hero antics of our protagonist Goro.

Outlaw: Goro the Assassin (1968)

Director: Keiichi Ozawa

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara

With the speed that Nikkatsu was pumping out these Outlaw films, it’s not terribly out of realm of possibility that they would continue to adhere to the basic concepts and formulas that made the series so popular to begin with. I touched base on this idea with the third film Heartless and its more episodic approach to the foundation, but with the fourth film Goro the Assassin it’s pretty much a solidified truth in what structure and emotional beats the audience is going to see. However, it’s not a bad thing. In fact, it’s probably for the best for a film like Goro. The yakuza thriller further strips itself of a lot of the artistic moments and thematic material that the series used (both in successful and detrimental ways depending on the film) and instead throttles down on tight writing and more naturalistic character arcs. It might be predictable if you’ve seen the first few films, but that doesn’t mean it’s ineffective.

Outlaw: Heartless (1968)

Director: Mio Ezaki

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Koji Wada, Miroshi Nawa, Isao Tamagawa, Eiji Go, Ryoji Hayama, Fumio Watanabe, Kaku Takashina, Asao Uchida

The initial worries that plagued my expectations for the third Outlaw film, Heartless, is that it the franchise would have already found and adhered to a very specific formula established by the first one. The second film already suffered a bit from trying to recreate the formula which undermined a lot of its greater elements and it wasn’t a huge leap of imagination to see this six film series already hitting a rut of expressive style. Fortunately, Heartless does not necessary stick to the blue print pointers of the franchise like the previous entry did. You will certainly see some familiar themes and even structures, a smart move overall that comes with formulating a franchise. However, it’s also a film that can be weirdly confusing because it’s supposed to be a prequel (I think) to the original film with no reference to the previous two films. Without this knowledge prior to going into the film (information about the film seems relatively sparse on the internet even in 2016) Heartless is a bit rocky at first, but the film is ultimately an entertaining and effective little action thriller.

Outlaw Gangster VIP 2 (1968)

Director: Keiichi Ozawa

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Izumi Ashikawa, Eimei Esumi, Jukei Fujioka, Shoki Fukae, Joji Hidehara, Seishiro Iwate, Meiko Kaji, Hatsuko Kawahara, Ichiro Kijima

To say that I was impressed with Outlaw Gangster VIP is to be putting it mildly. In essence, it’s one of the best yakuza films from that era that I’ve seen and it rises above its own formulaic moments to a sense of artfulness that genre films often sacrifice for the sake of entertainment. Outlaw Gangster VIP 2 looks to really run with the success of the original film by following a lot of the same blueprints. However, the film does suffer a bit from ‘carbon copy syndrome’ and things aren’t quite as effectively slick as they were the first time around. It’s still an entertaining (and hauntingly heartfelt) romp of yakuza action and drama worthy of a look from fans, but it’s not quite the one-two punch that knocked the wind out of me like the first one did. It’s a good movie that just misses out on being great.

Outlaw Gangster VIP (1968)

Director: Toshio Masuda

Notable Cast: Tetsuya Watari, Chieko Matsubara, Mitsuo Hamada, Tamio Kawachi, Kyosuke Machida, Kayo Matsuo, Yasuko Sanjo, Sanae Kitabayashi, Michitaro Mizushima, Hiroshisa Toda

“You’re not really yakuza. You are yakuza, but in your heart you’re not yakuza.”

When Arrow Video announced the Outlaw: Gangster VIP series to be released in a box set, I was stoked. Firstly, the deal that Arrow Video has made with Nikkatsu films is a godsend for fans of cult Japanese film making. The films that they have released together for us in the US and UK have been pretty consistently awesome. Secondly, most of the writers here at Blood Brothers are franchise whores and we are always up for a new series to explore. Seeing as this series has six films, it only exponentially lifted the expectations for us. However, considering that this series seems to be far more underground than expected, there was also some hesitation about just how good it would be considering it remained a bit more obscure. If the rest of the series is nearly as good as the first entry though, every one of the films is going to be in for a fantastic cinematic treat. Outlaw: Gangster VIP, the first of the six films in this set, is a remarkably fun, heartfelt, and absorbing film that runs on charismatic performances and director Masuda’s knack for dynamic pacing. While the combination of Arrow Video and Nikkatsu have already shown us some overlooked gems, this one might be one of the best releases that they have dropped thus far and Japanese cinephiles are going to want this set if only for this film.