American private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.American private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.American private-eye Harry Kilmer returns to Japan to rescue a friend's kidnapped daughter from the clutches of the Yakuza.
Ken Takakura
- Ken Tanaka
- (as Takakura Ken)
Eiji Okada
- Toshiro Tono
- (as Okada Eiji)
Keiko Kishi
- Eiko Tanaka
- (as Kishi Keiko)
Kyôsuke Machida
- Jiro Kato
- (as Kyosuke Machida)
Eiji Gô
- Shiro 'Spider' Tanaka
- (as Go Eiji)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaMartin Scorsese wanted to direct after Mean Streets (1973) but the producers wanted Sydney Pollack. Scorsese has gone on record that he would very much have liked to direct the film and was disappointed that he was passed over. However, he got to direct Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974) instead after being sought out by Ellen Burstyn. Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore ended up making more than 20 times it's budget and won Burstyn an academy award while The Yakuza became a box office bomb.
- GoofsThe plane that Kilmer is boarding at the end of the film is a Boeing 707, the one shown taking off in the last scene is a 727.
- Alternate versionsFor the Spanish Castilian version all the dialogues were dubbed to Spanish, even the Japanese lines.
- ConnectionsFeatured in ...Promises to Keep (1974)
Featured review
The best East-meets-West movie you can see
Superb East-meets-West movie, I suspect largely due to Schrader's insight. Takakura Ken's performance really steals the show, though all actors are more than capable; Mitchum gives a great performance again. Not a martial arts movie, but contains a katana showdown that I can watch over and over again without finding fault [more believable than anything you'll see in 'Kill Bill'].
The story is gorgeously convoluted, keeping it's secrets to the very end, in a fitting Japanese manner. Action scenes are relatively restrained, and the story tells how Mitchum's character finally comes to understand Takakura Ken's character, and his apparently icy antagonism. When can we see a DVD copy?!
The story is gorgeously convoluted, keeping it's secrets to the very end, in a fitting Japanese manner. Action scenes are relatively restrained, and the story tells how Mitchum's character finally comes to understand Takakura Ken's character, and his apparently icy antagonism. When can we see a DVD copy?!
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- yakuza61
- Jul 10, 2004
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $5,000,000 (estimated)
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