Outrage: Way of the Yakuza

If go into thinking this is an action movie, you may be disappointed. The cover and title make it seem like it's a crime-action film when really it's more of a violent drama. If you've seen Violent Cop, Sonatine, or Fireworks, then you'll understand the tone of Takeshi Kitano's work. It's a slow burn with intrigue, double crosses, brutal, but quick violence, and an underlying sadness. No one can be trusted. Everyone has something to gain from other's misfortune.Outrage tells the story of Otomo, a long time enforcer that doesn't get much recognition or respect from those above him. His bosses lie and use him, and in some ways, he even knows this happens. But he's just doing his job. He isn't bothered by getting his hands dirty and he may be the best at it, so what of it? This changes, however, when his boss is asked to break a pact with another family head by the chairman (if you're unfamiliar with Yakuza ranks, think Don). Otomo's boss then has him start a small war that quickly escalates until Otomo can't even trust those he believed were friends. He may not even be able to trust those he respects most.This is not a film for the faint of heart. It's not a film for those who are looking for big set pieces. It's a slow burn, but the acting, Cinematography and writing are so pitch perfect that it's worth a look. It's violent, understated, and artful like the Godfather. There is so much going on in every scene that with every rewatch you get more out of it. Kitano is at his best when tackling hard subjects like loyalty, self-worth, and honor. It's rare to see someone that can do it all in this age, and I'm glad he keeps putting out fantastic films to this day. Check out the sequel, Beyond Outrage as well. It's definitely worth the price.

AWESOME 5 STAR YAKUZA SHOOT 'EM UP SOAP OPERA. Intricate shakespearean complexity. Darwinian struggle for power, money, and turf yakuza style. Beat Takeshi kills it. A natural man like Brando does alpha yakuza.It aint hollywood pablum. You will need to engage concentration, attention, and intellect. Being american some nuances between korean, japanese and chinese are hard to sort out-- but it's a challenge I hope to master slowly. Awesome gritty video experience. 5 stars.

There are many things that set this movie apart from other Yakuza films, or for that matter, gangster films in general. This movie, and its companion, Beyond Outrage, more than any other Yakuza film, forces you to look at the utter brutality of the gangster lifestyle. This movie is graced with good acting, believable characters, smart script, and spacious, beautiful camera shots.There is a gritty, unvarnished atmosphere to this film which gives its depiction of the “Way of the Yakuza,” its subtitle, an air of authenticity.The characters in this and its companion movie are depicted as a pack of wild dogs who make their counterparts in Reservoir Dogs look like kindergarten students.This film follows the rivalries of two rival Yakuza gangs. Much of the movie is spent seeing the various gangsters position against themselves . The soundtrack, what little there is, is at an absolute minimum. This alone forces you to see the Yakuza members bicker, argue, yell, bargain, betray, and kill among themselves. In this regard the dialogue must be followed closely to see how the members try to double-cross and triple-cross each other.The violence is unadorned, done in a matter-of-fact manner. If there is an execution, you will not hear a “Tah-Dah!” in the background; the only thing you will hear is a “Bang!” It is truly the banality of evil. Tony Soprano could learn a thing or two from these fellas.The stand-out performance, in a cast of strong performances, was that of the corrupt police detective, a real weasel. I do not believe the screen has portrayed such a slimy, vile, despicable, venal, conniving, cunning, or duplicitous cop on the take in modern movie history.

If you're a Beat Takeshi Kitano fan, and especially if you liked Outrage and Beyond Outrage, then you'll want to see this third part finishing up the story. If you haven't seen those two films, most of this last one will not make sense to you. Also as his character points out in all three films, he's really getting too old for this, as are a few of the other cast members. Enjoyable enough, and the subtitles were fine.

This is a yakuza movie, hardly the first of its kind. Also, I think this could be great for some people while it could look like random and often extreme violence to others. There isn't much storytelling to it- of course, the betrayal and downfall of outlaw families but not a dedicated plot like many other 'good' movies.However, I think that adds up to this movie's reality. I think Kitano wanted to portray the lives of outlaws true to its reality rather than make a beautified version of it. There's no romance, there's no salvation for anyone, just endless strife for money, killing, vendetta, and getting thrown off the game.Also, in Japan, there's a nostalgia for a thing called 'Ninkyo'... something like honor and trust even between outlaws, but in this movie, the person who stands for it, Otomo, is ultimately killed(or seems like it). It isn't that well portrayed in this movie(although it is shown much better in the sequel, Outrage Beyond), but I could say the likes of Kato and Ishihara stand for the rather 'dishonorable' kind.So, if you have/or want some understanding of such background, this movie could be interesting to you.If not... and you like stories with an intricate plot, this may be just random brutal violence, and may be disappointing to you. You may still want to hang on for Outrage Beyond, because as Kitano himself had said, the sequel to this movie is more oriented for entertainment, and has a relatively... well, 'poetic justice' should I say, type of story.

I watched all 3 movies in a weekend and now I want to travel to japan, get a Japanese mistress and eat sushi! TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! after reading subtitles you forget and you feel like you understand Japanese. GREAT MOVIE

Takeshi Kitano's straight-faced black comedy Outrage lives up to its title with the odd moment of extreme violence involving chopsticks, tongues and a bit of improvised dentistry that makes Marathon Man look like a walk in the park, but it's very much Kitano playing it safe on familiar turf, as relentlessly ordinary as it is sporadically violent. Worse, it doesn't have the ability to surprise or subvert expectations that made his reputation with gems like  Sonatine [DVD ]. Instead its stone-faced star, probably the only man to make Buster Keaton look over emotive, goes through the motions of this rise and fall saga that sees his Yakuza lieutenant involved in an escalating series of incidents that turns an attempt by his boss to make a show of contrition by apparently punishing a rival family he's made an unauthorised alliance with turn into a full scale gang war while the city's Yakuza chairman plays everybody off against each other to do a bit of housecleaning of potential rivals.Kitano doesn't glamorise his Yakuza: they're untrustworthy - no sooner is an alliance made than it's broken - ruthless and engaged in a job without much of a future and only the odd moment of fun (mostly at the expense of an African ambassador they blackmail into turning his embassy into a casino). The trouble is that while it's occasionally outrageous and offers the odd subtle bit of corporate satire, it isn't especially funny for a black comedy while as a crime drama it's all very, very familiar. Some have compared it to his badly received  Brother [DVD] [2001 ], but where that felt like a film he really wanted to make, this feels like a business plan. It's solidly made, well cast and watchable enough if you're not squeamish, but it's like Kitano's just going through the motions on autopilot to get a safe commercial hit after more anarchic projects like  Takeshis' [DVD ] and  Glory To The Filmmaker (Import Dvd) (2012) Varios  didn't find much of an audience. In that it's successful, spawning a sequel, Beyond Outrage, but it's certainly not one of his most memorable films by a long shot.Kitano's first scope film, the UK Blu-ray offers an okay but unexceptional 2.35:1 transfer with burned-in unremoveable English subtitles. The only extras are the US trailer and a rather badly transferred 18 minute collection of interviews with the supporting cast that has a surprisingly large number of digital glitches. Sonatine [DVDBrother [DVD] [2001Takeshis' [DVDGlory To The Filmmaker (Import Dvd) (2012) Varios

I went in to this film looking for Yakuza thrills and spills. I got them, and then some.Some people have said it isn't up to Kitano's usual standard, but to my knowledge it has all the right elements: extreme violence, a reasonably complex story and some genuinely laugh out loud moments. I'll admit there isn't much of a heart to it - it wasn't very emotionally involving like 'Hana-bi' or 'Zatoichi', but that hole is filled with a dangerous mixture of tension and blood. So why expect anything more?Kitano himself is totally cool, as usual. The rest of the cast also did a brilliant job.It isn't pretty, and it won't please everyone, but it's worth a look if you like gangster films, or just enjoy Kitano's acting roles.

Gave up on this after about 15 minutes. Over-acted and implausible. Pity.

It was a little slow in getting started but when it does WOW! 'Beat' Kitano shows why he is one of the world's best directors with a tale full of twists and turns. It is up there with the best US gangster movies.

Excellent. Much faster moving than Takashi's old movies but just as unique and very Japanese.

BF loves this film, decent price/quality

I've been a Kitano fan since Violent Cop, Sonatine is one of my favourite films of all time. But this.....well.... this terrible. Predictable, dissapointing, boring & very derivative of his earlier, superior films. Beat Takeshi on autopilot, I never thought i'd see the day.

Takeshi Kitano San, excellent as usual. A good Yakuza film.

Gang on gang battles. Its OK. But I know Kitano can play a better range in his roles. But I bought it anyway...

Typical TK

Great film, one of the best gangster films of all time.Waiting for beyond outrage to be available here in uk.

GOOD

Mit "Outrage" hat Takeshi Kitano seinen jüngsten filmischen Beitrag zum Thema japanische Mafia abgeliefert - kaltschnäuzig, präzise & drastisch, wie man es diesbzgl. von Kitano gewohnt ist. Anders allerdings als in seinen bisherigen Genre-Beiträgen "Sonatine" oder "Brother" zeichnet der Nippon-Superstar diesmal die Yakuza als eine Art Firma, in welcher sich die Angestellten gegenseitig zu Tode mobben.Mit dieser wahrlichen Collector's Edition hat Capelight die optimale Edition für Fans des Films veröffentlicht. Das hochwertig verarbeitete Mediabook enthält den Film sowohl auf Blu-ray als auch auf DVD. Auf der Front des Mediabooks befindet sich ein leicht abzulösendes Infoblatt mit Hinweisen auf die limitierte Erstauflage und dem FSK-Logo. Das Mediabook selbst weist keine Aufdrucke auf (vom Titel des Films natürlich abgesehen).Der 24-seitige Buchteil des Mediabooks beinhaltet Kommentare Kitanos & Bilder zum Film sowie kurze Biographien zu den einzelnen Schauspielern.Bild- & Ton-Qualität sind erwartungsgemäß tadellos. Als Bonusmaterial (auf Blu-ray & DVD verteilt) gibt's die Original Kinotrailer, eine Vielzahl an Interviews mit Cast & Crew, das Making Of "Outrage - Inside Out", Kurzberichte zu den Premieren in Japan & Cannes sowie ein "Behind the Scenes"-Featurette.Weiters befindet sich noch Kitanos Film-Romanze "Das Meer war ruhig" von 1991 als Bonus-Film auf eigener DVD mit im Set. Ursprünglich sollte anstelle dieses Films die Dokumentation "Young Yakuza" als Bonus im Mediabook Platz finden. Wie Capelight jedoch verlautbaren ließ, hat das japanische Kitano Office dem Label untersagt, die Doku zusammen mit "Outrage" zu veröffentlichen. Der Grund hierfür ist, dass "Young Yakuza" in Japan verboten ist und man durch eine entsprechende Veröffentlichung wohl um das gute Ansehen Kitanos im Ausland fürchtete.Für alle, die Interesse an dieser Doku haben, hat Capelight diese nun als Einzelausgabe auf den Markt gebracht:  Young Yakuza (OmU)Young Yakuza (OmU)

Das ist der erste Film den ich von diesem Regisseur gesehen habe und er hat mich ein wenig an einen Guy Ritchie Film nur auf japanisch erinnert.Die deutsche Synchro finde ich eher unterdurchschnittlich, der Hauptdarsteller hat eine total unpassende Stimme, hört sich an wie ein Kirmesboxer. Sonst cooler Film, viele Dialog-Szenen, die sich mit expliziter Gewalt abwechseln, zusätzlich dazu ein paar interessante Aufnahmen von Japan.

Zu diesem Film kann man stehen, wie man will. Habe schon einige Stimmen vernommen, die den Film (aufgrund der Dialoge) langweilig fanden. Da stimme ich diesen Leuten auch zu, denn wer hier hollywoodeske "Baller-Baller-Bumm-Bumm"-Ausschweifungen erwartet, wird enttäuscht werden. Dieser Film ist trotzdem alles andere als ein Film für Menschen mit schwachen Nerven - Ganz im Gegenteil! Die Gewaltszenen sind sehr drastisch und den Dialogen mangelt in keinster Weise an "Schärfe". Was ich besonders an diesem Film mag, ist diese düstere "Unterwelt"-Atmosphäre und die verschlagen-heimtückische Art und Weise, die die Akteure in ihren jeweiligen Rollen an den Tag legen - große Klasse und 1a-Schauspieler, wie ich finde!Fazit:Wer das eintönige Hollywood-Action-Geballere leid ist und gerne Filme mit subtiler, düsterer Atmosphäre guckt, denen es aber auch nicht an "bissigkeit" mangelt, ist mit "Outrage" sehr gut bedient!Von mir die volle Punktzahl!