A naively honorable samurai (played by Raizo) comes to the bitter realization that his devotion to moral samurai principles makes him an oddity among his peers, and a very vulnerable oddity in consequence. He takes the blame for the misdeeds of others, with the understanding that he will be exiled for one year and restored to the clan’s good graces after the political situation dies down. As betrayal begins to heap upon betrayal, he realizes he’ll have to live out his life as a master-less ronin, if not hunted down and killed.
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Action
Kobe Kokusai Gang / International Gangs of Kobe (1975) Noboru Tanaka, Ken Takakura, Bunta Sugawara, Isao Natsuyagi, Action
In International Gangs of Kobe the opposite occurs; it’s Sugawara’s presence that brings out Takakura’s ruthless side. Although the two start off as allied gang members, Kobe proves too small a town for the giants of yakuza cinema. The gang splits into rival factions and Takakura and Sugawara settle their differences with violence. Tons of action and a notable cast make the unexceptional International Gangs of Kobe a load of silly yakuza fun.
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The Fighting Vigilantes (1947) Ray Taylor, Lash La Rue, Al St. John, Jennifer Holt, Action, Western
Taylor’s men are robbing incoming supply wagons to enable Taylor to sell goods at inflated prices. The Vigilantes led by Frank Jackson are doing the same so the ranchers won’t starve. Marshals Lash and Fuzzy arrive to try and find the real culprits.
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Fear Is the Key (1972) Michael Tuchner, Barry Newman, Suzy Kendall, John Vernon, Action, Crime, Drama
Following the death of his family in an aeroplane crash, a man plots an elaborate revenge scheme on those responsible. By setting himself up as a criminal, he plans to get close to a certain tycoon who has been approached by the culprits to help them retrieve the cargo of the lost plane.
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Slaughter Night / Sl8n8 (2006) Frank van Geloven, Edwin Visser, Victoria Koblenko, Kurt Rogiers, Jop Joris, Action, Horror, Thriller
Eighteen-year-old Kristel survived a car accident in which her father dies. Tormented by nocturnal visions she begins to care for her father’s investigation of serial killers – especially Andries Martíns, a killer of children.
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Old Men in New Cars / Gamle mænd i nye biler (2002) Lasse Spang Olsen, Kim Bodnia, Torkel Petersson, Tomas Villum Jensen, Action, Comedy, Crime
The last wish of the dying “Monk” is for his foster child, Harald, to find his real son, Ludvig. But the latter is currently in a Swedish prison cell. Peter and Martin – the two chefs – want to get him out and soon father and son meet for the first time in their lives. They get on from the word go, but now dad needs a liver transplant and Ludvig and Harald set about raising the wherewithal. Everything goes wrong when they try to rob a bank, though they meet Mille, who puts them onto a new trail, and Peter and Martin also make a contribution. However, soon they have the cops and the anti-terror corps on their tails.
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The Organization (1971) Don Medford, Sidney Poitier, Barbara McNair, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Action, Crime, Drama
After a group of young revolutionaries break into a corporation’s headquarters and steal $5,000,000 worth of heroin to keep it off the street, they call on San Francisco Police Lieutenant Virgil Tibbs for assistance. Though sympathetic to their cause, the straight-arrow Tibbs refuses to consider it because they broke the law, but when the group is then accused of a murder it didn’t commit, Tibbs finally joins them in order to ferret out the identity of the real killer, while keeping his now rogue undercover investigation a secret from his SFPD superiors.
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The Net (1995) Irwin Winkler, Sandra Bullock, Jeremy Northam, Dennis Miller, Action, Crime, Drama
Computer programmer Angela Bennett (Sandra Bullock) starts a new freelance gig and, strangely, all her colleagues start dying. Does it have something to do with the mysterious disc she was given? Her suspicions are raised when, during a trip to Mexico, she’s seduced by a handsome stranger (Jeremy Northam) intent on locating the same disc. Soon Angela is tangled up in a far-reaching conspiracy that leads to her identity being erased. Can she stop the same thing from happening to her life?
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Fudatsuki bakuto / A Wad of Notes (1970) Shigehiro Ozawa, Masahiko Tanimura, Action
A lone gambler tries to keep a yakuza family from taking over a festival in Kitakyushu. After away from his hometown for 13 years, Ryuji comes back and saves the town that is becoming run-down from yakuza’s ill deeds.
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Dasso yugi / Jail Breakers (1976) Kôsaku Yamashita, Shin’ichi Chiba, Haruko Wanibuchi, Eitarô Ozawa, Action, Crime
The film is packed with nice stunts throughout, but the screenplay could be better. After escaping the prison Chiba teams up with a bunch of thugs, who design prison escapes for money. Unfortunately trust and loyalty are unknown concepts to these men who take turns deceiving each other. The endless “who’s-cheating-who” game has been done better in other films, and sometimes the writing is downright sloppy: when a carefully planned escape operation fails, Chiba simply steals a fire engine and drives away without anyone noticing! It also feels that director Kosaku Yamashita, who made his name with yakuza films, was a bit out of his element here. However, even with these weaknesses it’s an entertaining action comedy which compares favourably against some of the later, similar Yasaku Matsuda films like Execution Game (1978) and No Grave for Us (1979). The focus is on stunts and comedy.
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