christopher-underwood This is just so good I can't believe that not only had I not seen it but not even heard of it. Screenplay by Paul Schrader (and his brother) just before he did Taxi Driver should have drawn attention but then maybe the Scorsese film took all the attention. Sydney Pollack's direction is assured and he gets great performances from everyone, but I reckon it is the script thats the thing. Moreover it is the only US film I have ever seen that seems to have the vaguest notion of Japan and it culture. So much of this rings true that it tingles with the excitement. The 70s streets of Tokyo and Kyoto are something to behold and the believable interaction between the main characters quite fabulous. There is bloody action here but for a film with such a title nothing like as much as expected, and all the better for it. Love, memory, betrayal, loyalty and repayment of debts both financial and emotional are all here - oh and Robert Mitchum and ken Takakura are great.

billcr12 The Yakuza are members of the Japanese Mafia. They make our American version seem like school girls by comparison. Robert Mitchum is a sort of every man who drifts from job to job, just getting along. An old friend appears asking for a favor. He is a wheeler dealer named George (Brian Keith) whose daughter has been kidnapped by the Yakuza for reneging on an arms deal with them. Harry (Mitchum) travels to Japan to rescue George's kid. In the process, he set off a mob war. He also reunites with an old flame and her daughter. The violence is what one would expect from this kind of film, with guns, knives and swords used frequently. Mitchum is his usual cool self, taking over every scene. The supporting cast are all good and The Yakuza is a fun ride for two hours.

jeffclinthill I am writing this as a lifelong movie fan, a great admirer of Sydney Pollack's skill at directing everything from the genres of "Jeremiah Johnson" to "Tootsie" to "Out of Africa," someone with a graduate degree in Japanese psychological anthropology from Sophia University, Tokyo, and someone who lived in Japan for 30 years. A cheesy gaijin's (外人の）impression of Japan, "The Yakuza" is chock full of stereotypical things and scenes one will never see in Japan due to strict laws, heavy law enforcement, and the astronomical price of real estate in urban Japan. Immediately after World War II, the Japanese firearm and sword law effectively prohibited the private ownership of both guns and swords. Yet, in "The Yakuza," Herb Edelman's house in Kyoto is an arsenal of swords and firearms openly displayed on the walls. He owns even more guns hidden in drawers. Without any visible means of support, Herb Edelman owns a house in the Kyoto area that is financially impossibly spacious and full of items, such as a huge "Japanese lantern" that looks like he stole it from a shinto shrine. "Gaijin," written 外人 in kanji, is the term that Japanese people colloquially (and rather insultingly) use for "foreigner." It is composed of two characters that literally mean "outside person."

arminhage There are some serious problems with the movie from the screenplay to production. Let's start from the screenplay.It starts slow plain boring. There is a flat opening scene which a Yakuza member offers his service to the mob boss in Japan, follows with an exceptionally long opening credits and then again one flat scene leads to another. Nothing really happens till almost half of the movie and by that time I bet half of the audience decide not to waste more time. When the action begins again there is another surprising fact to the downside. It was not supposed to be a Kill Bill type of movie in which a good swordsman kills an army without getting a scratch and apparently that's what happening. I really didn't expect the movie to get as unrealistic as it got but what really bothered me was that the hero of the movie was aging Robert Mitchum (Kilmer), at 57 years old he was already in bad shape, seeing him I could easily dream of heart attack! How come this 57 years old, 75 looking heart attack dreamcatcher manages to shoot and kill everyone like John Wayne in his 30s? Also the Yakuza looks like an army of brainless zombies... Makes sense, they better be if the hero is that old fart otherwise the movie would look even worse than what it already was. Kilmer and Tanaka managed to kill the zombie Yakuza army easily, kilmer attacked with guns representing USA and Tanaka with samurai sword representing Japan and by the way, apparently Japan has no police. People are being killed by white Americans in public places and yet they walk free no one looking for them, isn't that awesome?Anf finally the post climax... Post climax should short and sweet, showing how the characters are doing after the end of action but apparently the post climax on this movie was a episode of it's own! almost 25 boring minutes!!!This movie could be descent if not awesome with a faster and shorter screenplay and of course better cast selection but for what it is, it belongs to the hall of fame of worse movies ever!