Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
1963. Shozo Hirono (Bunta Sugawara), expelled from the Yamamori gang, has allied himself with the cowardly Uchimoto (Takeshi Kato) and the Akashi family, who are engaged in a power struggle with the Shinwa Group, allied with the Yamamori. But mainstream society, enjoying unprecedented economic prosperity, will no longer tolerate their violent criminal activities. The police begin a major crackdown, putting the gangs on the defensive. But rogue soldiers on both sides still refuse to keep the peace, earning the wrath of both their bosses and the forces of law and order.
Conflicts between Hirono's family and Yamamori's family (and their allies) are made more tense by the ambitious underlings and the police's efforts to impose a crackdown on the gangs.
Cast: Bunta Sugawara, Akira Kobayashi, Tatsuo Umemiya
Member Reviews
Loving the films so far, and maybe it's a cultural thing, but I keep waiting for so many characters to get taken out. I feel for Hirono every time he tries to hold onto the code of honor and trust a superior, only to be stabbed in the back and screwed over. Can't wait to watch the next one. Good thing I don't have to!
More of the same plotting and violence as the other films in the series. Shozo continues to be the only one that seems like someone people would follow.
How do most Asian directors keep the quality of their movies so consistent? This is the fourth movie in the series and it's more or less as brilliant as the other three...you could give this same project to (most) american directors and they'll probably screw it up by the second half of the first movie. You have to excuse me, all the talking about honour in this might have gotten to my head!
Most action of the films so far. Bloody and tense.
4 done and 1 more to go now- shades of what Fukusaku would achieve with the violence and death bulletin styles in Battle Royale.