Steven Dixon A generation apart from Goodfellas, The Godfather trilogy and similar films but expertly written, creatively cast and acted to perfection by all. Simply wonderful viewing with a message for the viewer. Doesn't matter how hard you hit, there's always somebody bigger and harder around the corner!

Takeshi-K This is the only film Japanese crime filmmaking legend, Kitano Takeshi, has ever made in America. He has flatly refused to make a film outside the confines of Japan ever since.Takeshi started his career as a TV variety show host and comedian before trading his mic for pistols. Having gone the gangster route, crime film fans around the world have rejoiced ever since. For those of us that grew up in Asia though that transition was something of a shock. Think Regis and Kathy Lee doing Godfather IV. Weird right?This film opens up in Japan, deep within Yakuza held territory. Takeshi plays a character called Aniki, the right hand man of his Yakuza master, whose every whim must be satisfied at all times. Underlings scurry about opening doors, lighting cigarettes, procuring young Women. After foiling an assassination plot, his boss is killed anyway and for his dishonor, Aniki is ordered to flee to America until the heat dissipates.Humiliated, he strides around the mean streets of Los Angeles' underworld something worse than a marked man - he is now a masterless Ronin, without honor. This may not be true, but I like to think that his character abounds in Samurai lore. His behavior is of a man that is already philosophically dead in much the same way that the noble Samurai's code of Bushido extols that a true warrior must always think of himself as already dead, thus there is no fear in the face of one's enemy. Kitano's dead eyed greeting toward an unfamiliar modern world is stunning in it's simplicity and underpins what I just wrote.There is the usual fish out of water language confusion. He over tips the cab driver and gets abused by some racist American slob - "The asshole doesn't even speak English!"He finds his younger "brother" (not his real brother - they were both adopted), but rather a young man he also calls "Aniki" which we soon realize is not his actual name, but a cool word meaning "brother" in Japanese. The two of them call each other that. Nice touch.Anyway Aniki gets angry when he finds out that his younger "brother" has quit school and his job, in order to sell drugs with some Black and Hispanic hoodlums. Aniki quickly asserts his authority by single handedly slaughtering the local drug dealers who have been bullying the young hoodlums he just met, thus impressing them no end into happily accepting his tutelage in the world of strong arm extortion and drugs.So begins Aniki's rise to power, eventually stepping on some very powerful toes - namely the Italian American Mafia. A war ensues, throttling this excellent crime film towards it's cataclysmic and bloody finale. Epic stuff indeed 9/10

Leofwine_draca One of my favourite 'Beat' Takeshi films and one of my favourite gangster films of all time: this is up there with the best of Scorsese and Coppola, a truly excellent little film which went under the radar for most people. Some people don't care for this film, feeling that it's too Western in approach, lacking in the Zen and tranquillity department, but I have to disagree. I feel like this was the pinnacle of Takeshi's career when it was made, as if his earlier movies (VIOLENT COP etc.) were all building up to this moment, a film in which everything is done just right.It's not a film to describe too much, as that would spoil the story. Really, it's a tale of the rise and fall of a criminal gang, a Scorsese movie done on a small-scale, if you will. I loved the American setting and the East meets West themes, which I found added to the story greatly. It's a very violent film, with many scenes punctuated by shocking death, but it never seems gratuitous, more expected. As both star and director, Takeshi is at the top of his game here. Never has he been more icy cold, more stony-faced – and yet Aniki has to be the most honourable and respectable gangster he's ever played. The supporting cast is great, too, especially Omar Epps, who's given a really interesting character to play. All in all, a fantastic little film and one I look forward to watching again.

MartinHafer Wow. According to IMDb, the body count in this film is a whopping 78! Had I known this ahead of time, I probably wouldn't have watched this film. I am usually turned off by overly violent films, as too often there isn't much of a story and it's just an excuse for gross-out special effects that appeal to our lowest instincts. So did the film win me over or was it just another blood-fest? Well, it did impress me--that's for sure.Takeshi Kitano (also known as Beat Takeshi) wrote, directed and starred in this film. It begins in Japan and two rival yakuza clans are at war with each other. Eventually, to end the conflict, the surviving members of one clan officially join the other--all but one hard guy (Kitano). Instead of killing him, however, they send him overseas--to an exile, of sorts.Kitano arrives in America to stay with his younger half-brother. However, the younger guy is a punk drug dealer hanging with low-lifes--not a yakuza big-wig like Kitano. One of the younger half-brother's friends (Omar Epps) meets Kitano--and the meeting is very memorable! In fact, EVERYTHING about his dealings with Kitano turn out to be memorable. Kitano soon decides to take out the half-brother's enemies and starts a gang war with the Mexican gangs thanks to his crazy macho ways--and Kitano seems not the least bit concerned during all this as his face is quite deadpan and cold throughout. After all, in his mind, if people hurt you, just kill them...as well as their friends. He is truly a scary guy here! And, a scary get bent on taking over everything. At least it's nice to see a man with ambition! Following Takeshi's example, his small band of punks quickly grows. And, so does their ambition and love of violence. Among all this is a weird suicide scene (in fact, there was another really weird one later). I guess it makes sense, in a way...but man is it weird. And so the body count rises...very quickly. And the younger half-brother soon sees himself as a really, really bad guy--and it's easy to see that he and his friends are setting themselves up to fall.After seeing this film, I noticed it bore some resemblance to an earlier Kitano film--"Sonatine". Both have very similar themes, a similar deadpan performance by Kitano and feature some oddly surreal scenes of mobsters at work and play. And, both have ENORMOUS body counts. While good films and I certainly could respect how they were crafted, they also were both pretty unpleasant viewing and I can't imagine watching more of these! Well made but yuck! By the way, it was nice to see James Shigeta in this film. He was once a very popular actor but hasn't been as active in recent years. Also, during the course of all the killing, did you notice that NEVER did any police respond to any of the gunfire?! Maybe it's just too common an occurrence in LA...or the film just forgot about this.