The Yakuza Movie Download

8 / 10

A surprisingly good view of the Yakuza and Japanese society
In this film, Brian Keith is an old friend of Robert Mitchum. He tells Mitchum that his daughter was kidnapped by Japanese mobsters and will be killed unless she can be rescued. As Mitchum had lived in Japan many years ago and is a tough character, he agrees to go to Japan to save the girl. However, rescuing the girl isn’t really a problem–the problem only just begins once this rescue mission appears to be completed.

When I saw that Robert Mitchum was in a movie called “YAKUZA” I was prepared to hate it. After all, I am a huge fan of Japanese movies and I was expecting the movie to be pure Hollywood in style. However, instead of Mitchum coming to Japan and kicking behinds (like John Wayne in BRANNIGAN), the film was more thoughtful and highly reminiscent of a Zatoichi film (I am not kidding). If you are not familiar with Zatoichi, he’s a character is about two dozen films since the early 1960s. Despite being blind, he’s a master swordsman and spends his films fighting evil Yakuza (kind of like the Japanese mob). Sure, there’s no way a blind guy can be any good with a sword, but the films are thrilling and very entertaining. Here, like Zatoichi, Mitchum is in Japan fighting evil Yakuza, though it’s set in modern times. And, like the Zatoichi films, there is a sword fight towards the end that is amazing to watch but pretty much impossible–no one is THAT good with a sword!

If you can suspend disbelief a bit, the film is highly entertaining. It’s a very nice introduction to the Yakuza and Japanese culture and traditions for a Western audience. Plus the plot and dialog are both excellent–making for a very entertaining film.Read More