Finding the fantastic 4th part (also reviewed) to have wrapped up everything,I had started to wonder about what was left for the saga to explore. Reading up before viewing about the behind the scenes issues this entry had, I entered the unexpected final battle.
View on the film:
Finishing a box set containing a 150 page book covering all the films, Arrow end the collection on a strong note, with the print having a clean clarity to the outdoor scenes,and the soundtrack being fired cleanly.
Surprisingly giving the unvarnished truth in a interview by saying that "We only had enough material for half a script.", and working from the leftover notes that former scriptwriter Kazuo Kasahara gave him,of the sliver of ideas left out of the first four films, the screenplay by Koji Takada at first appears to be finding a path towards building upon the themes Kasahara had made, with a striking opening marking the anniversary of Hiroshima, whilst Hirono begins to write his memoir in jail (a reference to Kozo Mino,whose memoir Battles is based on.)
Keeping Hirono in prison and off-screen for a majority of the movie, Takada increases the progression into a corporate status of the gangsters,with them increasingly becoming involved in politics.
Driving down the streets filled with new up and coming gangs, Takada takes a awkward shift which cuts the gravitas and pace of mass fallouts which had been increasing with each film away, as Takada aims for the theme of a cycle of violence, which is damaged by the new thugs being given little room for depth, that drains the impact of the delightfully bitter final scene.
Believing he had finished with the series,until 6 months (!) after the 4th had come out, the studio demanded he make a 5th, directing auteur Kinji Fukasaku returns with cinematographer Sadaji Yoshida, and takes the on the street violence to the most extreme, raw level.
Fukasaku's distinctive fluid hand-held camera moves gets slammed on the ground from each bullet shot, (which Fukasaku covers in a red mist, in tribute to Tokyo Drifter (1966-also reviewed) and smashes into each dying gangster spilling blood over a battle without humanity or honour.
View on the film:
Finishing a box set containing a 150 page book covering all the films, Arrow end the collection on a strong note, with the print having a clean clarity to the outdoor scenes,and the soundtrack being fired cleanly.
Surprisingly giving the unvarnished truth in a interview by saying that "We only had enough material for half a script.", and working from the leftover notes that former scriptwriter Kazuo Kasahara gave him,of the sliver of ideas left out of the first four films, the screenplay by Koji Takada at first appears to be finding a path towards building upon the themes Kasahara had made, with a striking opening marking the anniversary of Hiroshima, whilst Hirono begins to write his memoir in jail (a reference to Kozo Mino,whose memoir Battles is based on.)
Keeping Hirono in prison and off-screen for a majority of the movie, Takada increases the progression into a corporate status of the gangsters,with them increasingly becoming involved in politics.
Driving down the streets filled with new up and coming gangs, Takada takes a awkward shift which cuts the gravitas and pace of mass fallouts which had been increasing with each film away, as Takada aims for the theme of a cycle of violence, which is damaged by the new thugs being given little room for depth, that drains the impact of the delightfully bitter final scene.
Believing he had finished with the series,until 6 months (!) after the 4th had come out, the studio demanded he make a 5th, directing auteur Kinji Fukasaku returns with cinematographer Sadaji Yoshida, and takes the on the street violence to the most extreme, raw level.
Fukasaku's distinctive fluid hand-held camera moves gets slammed on the ground from each bullet shot, (which Fukasaku covers in a red mist, in tribute to Tokyo Drifter (1966-also reviewed) and smashes into each dying gangster spilling blood over a battle without humanity or honour.