Yakuza Weapon
Encyclopedia
is a 2011 Japanese film directed and written by Tak Sakaguchi
and Yūdai Yamaguchi
. Based on the manga
by Ken Ishikawa
, the film is about Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) who works as a mercenary in South America. Iwaki is informed of the death of his gang boss dad and discovers his former Yakuza henchman is involved in a double-cross. Yakuza Weapon was premiered at the 2011 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
and opened theatrically in Japan on July 23, 2011.
) is a strong fighter with a strong disregard for his own safety during fights by shrugging off all wounds and damage. He has a falling out with his father, the Boss Yakuza
Kenzo Iwaki (Akaji Maro
) and spends years in the South American jungle fighting mercenaries. After a battle against opposing soldiers, Shozo is found by Red Tiger and his team, a Japanese special agent who informs him that his father was assassinated.
Shozo returns home to find his old hideout is now a sleazy loan shark operation run by a former junior lieutenant in the Yakuza, and a rival Yakuza boss, Kurawaki (Shingo Tsurumi
) who is double crossing him and trying to unite the other clans under his control. Shozo is then ambushed by his old Yakuza flame, Sister Nayoko (Mei Kurokawa
) under the perception that he abandoned her when he left for South America. Upset with this turn of events, Shozo destroys various Kurawaki holdings until he finds that Sister Nayoko is kidnapped by Kurawaki himself. Shozo attacks the Kurawaki high-rise headquarters by blowing it up and rescues Nayoko. Kurawaki escapes in a military helicopter and blows off Shozo's right arm and left leg. Shozo manages to retaliate by shooting down the helicopter with a grenade launcher. Kurawaki survives Shozo's, but is severely scarred and dependent on a life-support robotic machine. Kurawaki and his assistant plan to raise an army of mind controlled thugs, which includes Shozo's former sparring partner and blood brother Tetsu (Jun Murakami
), who has been driven mad due to the rape and death of his sister at the hands of a rival crimelord.
Shozo is rebuilt by Red Tiger with a M61 Vulcan
gatling gun as a prosthetic right arm, and a knee mounted rocket launcher. Nayoko again thinks Shozo is a foolish and leaves him and is kidnapped by again by Kurawaki. When Red Tiger attempts to control Shozo's actions with a killswitch, Shozo blasts it out of his hand. Shozo goes on a raid of Kurawaki's soldiers including mind controlled thugs and machine-gun armed nurses. He faces off against the mind-controlled Tetsu, who attacks him with a gatling gun and rocket launcher weapon made form his sister's body. Finding their weapons to be a stalemate, they resort to a fist fight where Shozo ultimately is victorious and kills Tetsu. Shozo tracks down Kurowaki who has installed a nuclear device in Kenzo's body. Shozo claims that a true Yakuza isn't afraid of nuclear weapons and kills Kurowaki which detonates the nuculear weapon as well.
had only 12 days to shoot the entire film. To make the film on this scale, he decided to bring in his friend and fellow director Yūdai Yamaguchi
to also direct the film. Yakuza Weapon is an adaptation of the manga
Gokudō Heiki (1996) by Ken Ishikawa
. Yamaguchi felt that adapting a manga gave the story a wider appeal than his other film works such as Battlefield Baseball
and Deadball
. The film is dedicated to Ishikawa who died in 2006.
on February 27, 2011 The film was shown at the New York Asian Film Festival
on July 9, 2011. It received it's Canadian premiere at the Fantasia Festival
on July 16, 2011. The film received it's theatrical release in Japan on July 23, 2011. Well Go USA has acquired the DVD
, digital, Video-on-demand and television rights for Yakuza Weapon along with Mutant Girls Squad
, Helldriver
, Deadball
and Karate-Robo Zaborgar
.
gave Yakuza Weapon a positive review give the film a three out of four rating, while noting that "the tone does flag every so often, and the film could have used a bit of trimming to be made even leaner and meaner" Eye For Film
gave the film a three out of five rating, stating that the film is "difficult to maintain that Yakuza Weapon ever adds up to more than the sum of these parts" The Montreal Gazette gave the film a negative review stating it was "mostly just annoying, even, dare I say, boring". The review went on to state that "almost all the dialogue is shouted, with faces scrunched in anger. Yeah, I know it’s supposed to be part of the joke, part of the general the over-the-topness, but it gets old fast." Film Business Asia gave the film a six out of ten rating, finding that the film takes too long to decide whether it's a "spoof yakuza movie or a real action/splatter feast" and that the film only gets on track when Shozo gets his bionic surgery.
Tak Sakaguchi
is a Japanese actor, director, fight choreorapher, and stuntman. He is best known for his lead role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, Versus. Sakaguchi is a talented martial artist, and as such, stars in films featuring copious fight scenes and performs all of his own stunts. He is known to be...
and Yūdai Yamaguchi
Yūdai Yamaguchi
is a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness".-Life and career:...
. Based on the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
by Ken Ishikawa
Ken Ishikawa
was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator with Go Nagai, of the Getter Robo anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations...
, the film is about Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) who works as a mercenary in South America. Iwaki is informed of the death of his gang boss dad and discovers his former Yakuza henchman is involved in a double-cross. Yakuza Weapon was premiered at the 2011 Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival
The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival.-History:...
and opened theatrically in Japan on July 23, 2011.
Plot
Shozo Iwaki (Tak SakaguchiTak Sakaguchi
is a Japanese actor, director, fight choreorapher, and stuntman. He is best known for his lead role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, Versus. Sakaguchi is a talented martial artist, and as such, stars in films featuring copious fight scenes and performs all of his own stunts. He is known to be...
) is a strong fighter with a strong disregard for his own safety during fights by shrugging off all wounds and damage. He has a falling out with his father, the Boss Yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
Kenzo Iwaki (Akaji Maro
Akaji Maro
is a Japanese actor, Butoka, and theater director. He was born in Sakurai, Nara and is the founder of Dairakudakan. His son is Nao Ōmori.-Film:*Yakuza Weapon *Sakigake!! Otokojuku *Makai Tensho *Kill Bill Vol...
) and spends years in the South American jungle fighting mercenaries. After a battle against opposing soldiers, Shozo is found by Red Tiger and his team, a Japanese special agent who informs him that his father was assassinated.
Shozo returns home to find his old hideout is now a sleazy loan shark operation run by a former junior lieutenant in the Yakuza, and a rival Yakuza boss, Kurawaki (Shingo Tsurumi
Shingo Tsurumi
- TV :* Antoki no Inochi * Kamen Rider Fourze * Yakuza Weapon * Umechan Sensei * Ningen Konchuki * Brutus No Shinzo * LADY~Saigo no Hanzai Profile~...
) who is double crossing him and trying to unite the other clans under his control. Shozo is then ambushed by his old Yakuza flame, Sister Nayoko (Mei Kurokawa
Mei Kurokawa
is a Japanese actress and singer. Her given name Mei originates from her birth month in English. She has been frequently featured in many Japanese dramas and films.-Filmography: *Boys on the Run...
) under the perception that he abandoned her when he left for South America. Upset with this turn of events, Shozo destroys various Kurawaki holdings until he finds that Sister Nayoko is kidnapped by Kurawaki himself. Shozo attacks the Kurawaki high-rise headquarters by blowing it up and rescues Nayoko. Kurawaki escapes in a military helicopter and blows off Shozo's right arm and left leg. Shozo manages to retaliate by shooting down the helicopter with a grenade launcher. Kurawaki survives Shozo's, but is severely scarred and dependent on a life-support robotic machine. Kurawaki and his assistant plan to raise an army of mind controlled thugs, which includes Shozo's former sparring partner and blood brother Tetsu (Jun Murakami
Jun Murakami
is a Japanese actor. He was given a Best Supporting Actor award at the 2001 Yokohama Film Festival.-Selected filmography: is a Japanese actor. He was given a Best Supporting Actor award at the 2001 Yokohama Film Festival.-Selected filmography:...
), who has been driven mad due to the rape and death of his sister at the hands of a rival crimelord.
Shozo is rebuilt by Red Tiger with a M61 Vulcan
M61 Vulcan
The M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically or pneumatically driven, six-barreled, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm rounds at an extremely high rate. The M61 and its derivatives have been the principal cannon armament of United States military fixed-wing aircraft...
gatling gun as a prosthetic right arm, and a knee mounted rocket launcher. Nayoko again thinks Shozo is a foolish and leaves him and is kidnapped by again by Kurawaki. When Red Tiger attempts to control Shozo's actions with a killswitch, Shozo blasts it out of his hand. Shozo goes on a raid of Kurawaki's soldiers including mind controlled thugs and machine-gun armed nurses. He faces off against the mind-controlled Tetsu, who attacks him with a gatling gun and rocket launcher weapon made form his sister's body. Finding their weapons to be a stalemate, they resort to a fist fight where Shozo ultimately is victorious and kills Tetsu. Shozo tracks down Kurowaki who has installed a nuclear device in Kenzo's body. Shozo claims that a true Yakuza isn't afraid of nuclear weapons and kills Kurowaki which detonates the nuculear weapon as well.
Production
Director Tak SakaguchiTak Sakaguchi
is a Japanese actor, director, fight choreorapher, and stuntman. He is best known for his lead role in Ryuhei Kitamura's cult film, Versus. Sakaguchi is a talented martial artist, and as such, stars in films featuring copious fight scenes and performs all of his own stunts. He is known to be...
had only 12 days to shoot the entire film. To make the film on this scale, he decided to bring in his friend and fellow director Yūdai Yamaguchi
Yūdai Yamaguchi
is a Japanese film director who has worked mainly in the comedy and horror genres. He has "made a name for himself by mixing goofy gore with manga-esque escapades and plain utter weirdness".-Life and career:...
to also direct the film. Yakuza Weapon is an adaptation of the manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
Gokudō Heiki (1996) by Ken Ishikawa
Ken Ishikawa
was a Japanese manga artist. He is renowned as the co-creator with Go Nagai, of the Getter Robo anime series, as well as four of their subsequent manga continuations...
. Yamaguchi felt that adapting a manga gave the story a wider appeal than his other film works such as Battlefield Baseball
Battlefield Baseball
is a 2003 Japanese film directed by Yūdai Yamaguchi. The film is written by Gatarō Man, based on his manga series of the same name, and stars Tak Sakaguchi, Atsushi Itō, and Hideo Sakaki...
and Deadball
Deadball
is a 2011 Japanese splatter comedy film directed by Yudai Yamaguchi. The film stars Tak Sakaguchi as Jubeh Yakyu, a seventeen year old who accidentally kills his father with his extra powerful baseball arm. Years later, he is a juvenile delinquent and is sent to a reform school after killing over...
. The film is dedicated to Ishikawa who died in 2006.
Release
Yakuza Weapon had it's world premiere at the Yūbari International Fantastic Film FestivalYubari International Fantastic Film Festival
The , also sometimes called YIFFF, is held in a resort-like environment in the small town of Yūbari on the northernmost Japanese island of Hokkaidō. From 1990 to 1999, the festival was known as the Yubari International Fantastic Adventure Film Festival.-History:...
on February 27, 2011 The film was shown at the New York Asian Film Festival
New York Asian Film Festival
The New York Asian Film Festival was first held in 2002, growing out of the previous year's New York Korean Film Festival...
on July 9, 2011. It received it's Canadian premiere at the Fantasia Festival
Fantasia Festival
Fantasia International Film Festival is a genre film festival that has been based mainly in Montreal since its founding in 1996...
on July 16, 2011. The film received it's theatrical release in Japan on July 23, 2011. Well Go USA has acquired the DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
, digital, Video-on-demand and television rights for Yakuza Weapon along with Mutant Girls Squad
Mutant Girls Squad
is a Japanese film by Noboru Iguchi, Yoshihiro Nishimura and Tak Sakaguchi. The film is about Rin, a sixteen-year-old mutant girl who meets a gang of rebel mutants who aim to take revenge on humans for persecuting their race...
, Helldriver
Helldriver
is a 2010 Japanese splatter film directed by Yoshihiro Nishimura. It stars Yumiko Hara and Eihi Shiina, and was written by Nishimura and Daichi Nagisa.-Plot:...
, Deadball
Deadball
is a 2011 Japanese splatter comedy film directed by Yudai Yamaguchi. The film stars Tak Sakaguchi as Jubeh Yakyu, a seventeen year old who accidentally kills his father with his extra powerful baseball arm. Years later, he is a juvenile delinquent and is sent to a reform school after killing over...
and Karate-Robo Zaborgar
Karate-Robo Zaborgar
Karate-Robo Zaborgar, also called is a 2011 Japanese film directed by Noboru Iguchi. The film is based on an 1970's show Denjin Zaborger.-Plot:...
.
Review
FangoriaFangoria
Fangoria is an American magazine devoted to horror and exploitation films, which has a number of associated brands:* Fangoria Comics* Fangoria Films* Fangoria RadioFangoria may also refer to:* Fangoria , a Spanish electro pop band...
gave Yakuza Weapon a positive review give the film a three out of four rating, while noting that "the tone does flag every so often, and the film could have used a bit of trimming to be made even leaner and meaner" Eye For Film
Eye For Film
Eye For Film is an online film magazine based in the United Kingdom. It launched in August 2006 and has been growing ever since. It is updated with new content on a daily basis.-Features:...
gave the film a three out of five rating, stating that the film is "difficult to maintain that Yakuza Weapon ever adds up to more than the sum of these parts" The Montreal Gazette gave the film a negative review stating it was "mostly just annoying, even, dare I say, boring". The review went on to state that "almost all the dialogue is shouted, with faces scrunched in anger. Yeah, I know it’s supposed to be part of the joke, part of the general the over-the-topness, but it gets old fast." Film Business Asia gave the film a six out of ten rating, finding that the film takes too long to decide whether it's a "spoof yakuza movie or a real action/splatter feast" and that the film only gets on track when Shozo gets his bionic surgery.