Today one of the best Sushi Typhoon titles ever made, Yakuza Weapon, is finally hitting the Blu-ray/DVD stands thanks to the awesomeness of Well Go USA. I saw the film for the first time back in July and have been eagerly awaiting my second viewing of it. This time I grabbed a few friends, a few beers and watched the film the way it was meant to be.
Yakuza Weapon, co-directed and written by Tak Sakaguchi and Yudai Yamaguchi, is about the toughest Yakuza in the world, Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi), who, after a few years of battling people in the jungle and easily evading bullets, returns to his home of Tokyo after the news of his father’s death. Upon his return, Shozo and his two sidekicks visit a loan shop that used to be the family headquarters. It is there where they find out that Kurawaki, a Yakuza business leader and the man who killed Shoza’s father, is trying to unite the east and west families under his one name and change up the Yakuza game. He is extremely powerful and goes against the code of Jingi and everything Yakuza members stand for. After 20 minutes, Yakuza Weapon turns into an explosive vengeance flick with Shozo on the hunt for Kurawaki with the comical side plot of him also trying to evade his arranged wife-to-be, Nayoko (Mei Kurokawa).
This may well be one of the wildest films you ever see in your life and the best part is that it isn’t even a splatter film like most of the other sushi typhoon titles. There is a lot more control and even realism in this film than most of the other films which makes it much more tolerable for people who normally don’t even give them a second glance.
I have to tip my hat to the filmmakers for taking a different approach with this one and including a humanistic touch to it amongst all the yelling and decapitated bodies. Also, the inclusion of a four minute un-cut fight scene was ballsy and really paid off as it built up to the climactic battle between Shozo and Tetsu.
What makes the film so wild you ask? A robotic dick, a man running through bullets daring them to hit him, blood being transferred from one phone to another phone, a woman throwing a boat and a naked woman converted into a machine gun/rocket launcher. Let that soak because it’s only the tip of the iceberg and while that may get you going, it’s the non-sensical dialogue that tops it all off and makes the rest of the film that much better.
If you’re a fan of Machine Girl, Tak Sakaguchi or Sushi Typhoon then Yakuza Weapon will not disappoint, if you’re not then I don’t know what to tell you, it’s probably not your type of film.
The Disc
The blu-ray/DVD combo pack doesn’t come with a ton of special features but the ones on there definitely get the job done. The first item included is a behind the scenes feature that’s 45 minutes long and takes us through the entire shoot. There’s commentary from all the leads and directors offering up their thoughts on each other, the fights that happened on set and what challenges they faced. We get to see how they shot the naked sister gun scene and the four minute long one shot fight scene before it. It was an awesome look at how low budget action films are made and what happens when crazy Japanese people with a wild story are making them.
Up next are the deleted scenes. There are a handful of scenes with most of the time devoted to finding out who the floor bosses are in Kurawaki’s 30 story company tower. I’m glad this was taken out of the movie but it makes for a great special feature because the fighters on each floor are parodies of movie stars, sports stars or just something stupid the writers thought of. Some notable characters include Bruce Ryo (a gay looking Bruce Lee), Danny Yen (Donnie Yen wannabe), Michelly Yah (Michelle Yeoh wannabe) and the horny American played by Sushi Typhoon’s American correspondent Marc Walkow. The other deleted scenes include a scene where Shozo and Tetsu deepen their brotherly bonds, Tesu carrying his dead sister and living out his miserable life and a few others involving the story of why Shozo was chosen as the Yakuza Weapon and what happens when Tetsu fails his mission.
The best feature on the disc is easily the 15 minute spinoff short “Takuzo Weapon.” The spinoff is about Shozo’s henchmen who want to turn themselves into weapons. Takuzo decides to get retrofitted with various mechanical parts only for it to turn out horribly with him deciding to have his buddy rebuild him with something else. The process repeats itself at least seven times and with each successive rebuild you find yourself laughing even harder. It’s a really fun little spinoff and one that really puts the icing on the cake for this set of features and movie.
Movie Review: A loud, zany and ridiculously hilarious action packed ride (7.5/10)
Blu-ray/DVD rating: 7/10
For a review full of more details and only on the feature itself check out my review from the NYAFF here.
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