Cops vs. Thugs (1975)

One of the best Yakuza films and one of the best crime films in general it's a must watch for anyone who is a fan of the genre.

Acting boss Hirotani (Hiroki Matsukata) of the Ohara gang uses his friendship with corrupt cop Kuno (Bunta Sugawara) to usurp a staged land deal that rival yakuza gang Kawade had arranged through local politicians. Open warfare erupts between the two gangs.By 1975, Kinji Fukasaku had made more than 30 films, most if not all of this daunting number in the Toei studio system. Returning to the screen after completing their "Battles Without Honor and Humanity" series together, Fukasaku joined forces once again with screenwriter Kazuo Kasahara, composer Toshiaki Tsushima and star Bunta Sugawara.We have a story where the corruption is so deep, it almost seems normal. It has been suggested that the title, "Cops Versus Thugs", is meant to imply "Cops as Compared to Thugs" rather than "Cops Fighting Thugs". This would be a wise and apt distinction, as the cops are every bit as involved in the yakuza as the "thugs" in this story. Allegedly the story is loosely based on a true incident (though no one knows what incident this would be), and there is the question of whether this is pure fantasy or some sort of blunt social commentary.Besides the film's wild violence (sort of the precursor to Takashi Miike), what really stands out is the funky 1970s score from Toshiaki Tsushima, who worked with Fukasaku on the "Honor and Humanity" films as well as many others. One of their earlier collaborations is "The Green Slime" (1968), a personal favorite that was wrongly harangued in the debut episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.This is "Fukasaku at the peak of his powers," writes Tom Mes, who really ought to know better than anyone. For me, the peak will always be Fukasaku's final film, "Battle Royale", perhaps simply because it was my first exposure to his work. But of his nearly countless contributions to cinema, "Cops vs Thugs" (despite this terrible English title despite the subtlety mentioned above) is one of his best, and a true joy for anyone who likes crime, action, and maybe just a pinch of sleaze.Along with a high-definition transfer, Arrow Video brings us "Beyond the Film: Cops vs Thugs", a new 10-minute video appreciation by Fukasaku biographer Sadao Yamane and a new 12-minute visual essay on cops and criminals in Fukasaku's works by film scholar Tom Mes. Praised by many as one of the all-time greatest yakuza films, this is not to be missed.

Viewed on DVD. Director Kinji Fukasaku and his confederates have created a modern, mythical "Japanese Wild West." The film (with most exteriors shot along the South Western coast of Honshu) strings action scenes together like pearls on a strand. Unfortunately, most of these are made of paste and repetitious nonsense. This overly-long, action movie essentially goes pretty much nowhere (plot development is rather minimal) beyond purporting to be a slice of (multidimensional, criminal) life. Most character types wear two hats with one always being gang membership (thugs also wear two, since they may belong to multiple gangs and/or be of different generations): local cops; area Prefecture (State) cops; police detectives; councilmen; the mayor etc.; "good" criminals; "bad" criminals; hostesses; lawyers; etc. Cops and thugs share the same offices, restaurant gatherings, and prostitutes as well as drive the same (mostly police) cars. Intramural and in-group fighting is an ongoing process, of course, so there are many (often similar) scenes of shouting, fisticuffs, car ramming, and shootings (plus a few that are nude to break up the monotony). The Director also throws a land swindle or two into the mix (and tosses around some big-league corporate names that would seem to be grounds for libel suites!). Actors appear to strain to provide varied performances, but the repetitious nature of the script and direction yields a fair amount of ham. Line readings, though, are often delivered with great Kansai-Ben accents (performers can really "roll those R's"!). Cinematography (wide screen, color) is okay, but a bit hazy (over filtered?) which reduces image sharpness (however, this may be the result of using "good enough" original source material for disc release) . Subtitles are sometimes too long for such short flash rates. Translations also need to use different colors when the dialogue overlaps between characters. Music is good. Interior set decoration is rather spare. A light-weight time killer. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

The film is the Japanese answer to American mafia movies.The director Kinji Fukasaku also knowed for his recent successfull movie "Battle Royale", began his carrer with Yakuza's movies being the most representative director of the genre and considered like the master of this kind of films, inspiring well-known authors like Kitano and Miike. In "cops vs thugs" he breaks the thin border between cop and thugs and mix them in a violent and corrupted world, being difficult to know who is the good or bad guy. Perhaps because everyone have two faces.The actors play a good performance and the main character plays a superb role struggling between the law and common sense, he alone against the world like inspector Harry Callahan, but the humanity of the character consist in his doubts.The plot of the movie isn't very original, landscape speculation, but for the movie don't have any importance. Also the music inspired in American movies of seventies give more dinamism to action scenes.In conclusion a good movie highly recommended to genre fans, where no one is free of guilty, that can be summarize with a line from the script: "Gangsters and cops are the same. They both respect codes and laws."8/10