Action

  • Kimiyoshi Yasuda – Zatôichi Kenka-tabi AKA Zatoichi on the Road (1963)

    1961-1970ActionJapanKimiyoshi YasudaMartial Arts

    Synopsis:
    Blind swordsman/masseuer Ichi (or “Zatoichi”) is asked by a dying man to deliver the maiden Mitsu (or “Omitsu”) to her family in Edo, and Zatoichi feels honor-bound to do so. But rival gangs each have an interest in kidnapping the girl for ransom. Zatoichi joins with one of the gangs when the other gang captures Mitsu, but he then finds that to rescue her, he must fight both gangs.Read More »

  • Takashi Miike – Tengoku kara kita otoko-tachi AKA The Guys from Paradise (2000)

    Drama1991-2000ActionJapanTakashi Miike

    Quote:
    Allegedly based on a number of true cases, The Guys From Paradise is a prison story set in the Phillipines against a background of corruption, drug trafficking and paedophilia. This being a Takashi Miike film however, the results are far from conventional. It’s essentially a film of two parts: the first set in a prison named “Paradise” where a small community of Japanese prisoners led by veteran criminal Yoshida (Tsutomu Yamazaki) enjoy a life of relative freedom and privilege, the second the story of their exploits outside prison walls with police and a deranged yakuza on their trail.Read More »

  • Shinji Sômai – Sêrâ-fuku to kikanjû AKA Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)

    1981-1990ActionCultJapanShinji Sômai

    Synopsis:
    High school student Hoshi Izumi (Yakushimaru Hiroko) is just a normal teenaged schoolgirl, except for the fact that her father is a yakuza boss. When her father suddenly dies, Izumi inherits his position as the clan head. Pulled into the wheeling, dealing, and fighting of the mob world, Izumi slowly comes into her own as she leads the gang in search of her father’s murderer.Read More »

  • Noboru Iguchi – Kataude mashin gâru AKA The Machine Girl (2008)

    2001-2010ActionHorrorJapanNoboru Iguchi

    Synopsis:
    Ami is a typical college girl. She’s bright, friendly, popular and athletic, with nothing to set her apart from other girls her age other than the fact that she is an orphan, left to care for her younger brother after her father committed suicide after being falsely accused of murder. But while there is tragedy in their past, the siblings’ future looks good, except for one thing. Ami’s brother has racked up a considerable debt to another boy at school, and that boy just happens to be the heir to a clan of vicious ninja-yakuza. Ami’s brother can’t pay, violence breaks out and in the course of trying to avenge her brother, Ami is captured by the clan. They torture her and hack her arm right off. Ami escapes, barely alive, and is taken in by the owners of a machine shop who build her a customized, bullet-spewing arm. From that point, the quest for revenge is on in earnest.Read More »

  • Yoshiyuki Kuroda – Kozure Ôkami: Jigoku e ikuzo! Daigoro AKA Lone Wolf and Cub 6 – White Heaven in Hell (1974)

    1971-1980ActionJapanMartial ArtsYoshiyuki Kuroda

    Synopsis:
    Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.Read More »

  • Kenji Misumi – Kozure Ôkami: Meifumadô AKA Lone Wolf and Cub 5 – Baby in the Land of Demons (1973)

    1971-1980ActionJapanKenji MisumiMartial Arts

    Synopsis:
    Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.Read More »

  • Buichi Saitô – Kozure Ôkami: Oya no kokoro ko no kokoro AKA Lone Wolf and Cub IV: Baby Cart in Peril (1972)

    1971-1980ActionBuichi SaitôJapanMartial Arts

    Synopsis:
    Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.Read More »

  • Satsuo Yamamoto – Tengu-to aka Blood End (1969)

    1961-1970ActionAsianJapanSatsuo Yamamoto

    Quote:
    BLOOD END is one of the great unknown films from Japan’s golden era of the late 1960’s. Starring NAKADAI Tatsuya in one of his best roles, this is the story of the Mito Tengu Group who attempted to overthrow the Shogunate at the beginning of the Bakumatsu Period. Their political aspirations led to countless assassinations, as well as senseless killing of innocent people who got in their way. Sentaro (NAKADAI), a farmer who’s been severely beaten for his outspoken defiance of the government and the high taxes during a time of famine is befriended by one of the group’s leaders, KADA Gentaro (KATO Go) and joins up.Read More »

  • Kenji Misumi – Kozure Ôkami: Shinikazeni mukau ubaguruma AKA Lone Wolf and Cub III: Baby Cart to Hades (1972)

    1971-1980ActionJapanKenji MisumiMartial Arts

    Synopsis:
    Based on the best-selling manga series, the six intensely kinetic Lone Wolf and Cub films elevated chanbara to bloody new heights. The shogun’s executioner, Itto Ogami (Tomisaburo Wakayama), takes to wandering the countryside as an assassin—along with his infant son Daigoro (Akihiro Tomikawa) and a seemingly infinitely weaponized perambulator—helping those he encounters while seeking vengeance for his murdered wife. Delivering stylish thrills and a body count that defies belief, Lone Wolf and Cub is beloved for its brilliantly choreographed action sequences as well as its tender depiction of the bonds between a parent and a child.Read More »

Back to top button