New Battles Without Honor and Humanity 3: Last Days of the Boss (1976)
The eighth sequel of the series by the successful “Fukasaku and Bunta” collaboration revolves around the men of a lesser organization that are constantly bullied by the upper organization and “bleed in vain” in gang wars.
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LAST DAYS OF THE BOSS is the final instalment of Kinji Fukasaku's long-running Yazuka series and the closing instalment of the NEW BATTLES WITHOUT HONOUR & HUMANITY trilogy, itself a sequel to the five-part BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR & HUMANITY. Once again Bunta Sugawara takes the lead role, playing an assassin promoted to boss when his real boss is killed by a rival. Sugawara swears revenge on the clan responsible, and the revenge story goes from there. This is a slick, exciting way to end the series, with plenty of action to keep things on a pulse-pumping high. The extended truck chase around the mid part of the film is the natural highlight here, but there are enough bloody shoot-outs, stealthy plotting, and general hard-assery to keep any Yakuza fan entertained.
Bunta Sugawara plays Nozaki, a laborer who swears allegiance to a sympathetic crime boss, only to find himself elected his successor after the boss is murdered. Restrained by a gang alliance that forbids retributions against high-level members, Nozaki forms a plot to exact revenge on his rivals, but a suspicious relationship with his own sister taints his relationship with his fellow gang members.This film is the end of a trilogy, which itself was a sequel to an earlier series. And it is a fine end, with one more yakuza story in the books.The Arrow Video collection is packed full of delicious gems. There are two interviews with writer Koji Takada about the second and third films. Biographer Sadao Yamane offers a very nice video appreciation. We even get a book with six new essays, including one by Tom Mes, who is quickly expanding his expert status from Takashi Miike to Japanese cinema at large.