Movielogr
Kamikaze Cop, Marihuana Syndicate (1970)
Directed by Yukio Noda
Twitter Facebook Google+Overview
An undercover cop insinuates himself into a yakuza family. Managing to avert an assassination attack on the boss he is assigned to kill a rival boss.
Length 87 minutes
Actors
Sonny Chiba | Ryôhei Uchida | Fumio Watanabe | Jirô Chiba | Osman Yusuf | Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama | Toshiaki Minami | Asao Uchida | Kôji Sekiyama | Harumi Kojima | Tomoko Hamakawa | Genji Kawai | Gôzô Sôma | Tetsuya Kigawa | Osamu Yamanouchi | Ryô Suga | Toru Yuri | Mayumi Fujii | Takashi Hio | Akira Kuji | Nenji Kobayashi | Tomotaka Ueda | Tooru Hanada | Kumiko Sawa | Koji Miemachi | Kôji Sawada | Sakae Shima | Shohei Baba
Viewing History (seen 1 time)
| Date Viewed | Device | Format | Source | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05/30/2020 | TV | Broadcast | Other | 6 stars |
| (Average) 6 stars |
Viewing Notes
Programmed in the “Japanese Sinema” slot for DKUTV’s Saturday late, late night line-up. This is one goofy ass movie for a number of reasons. Firstly, it’s a loose remake of Yojimbo, stress on *loose* where Sonny Chiba is an undercover cop playing both sides of two yakuza gangs. Secondly, the primary story is about a parcel of marijuana b/c the yakuza are in the drug running biz and oh boy the mary jane is evil stuff (Japan has always had such rigid laws around weed).
Thirdly, this movie is an action comedy which is a tad strange given the seriousness treatment of the main premise and crime beats. Like, it gets borderline slapsticky at times. And it’s also a buddy cop flick of sorts which plays into the humor. Lastly, one of the woman that is tasked with getting Chiba in line w/the yakuza takes him to a secret underground “marijuana club” where he gets high and it’s so funny how this is depicted.
This movie is one in a series of “Kamikaze Cop” films Chiba made and I’d love to see them all now. It’s amusing that he in many of these types of films he’s essentially portraying the same character (ex. Doberman Cop, Wolf Guy, etc.); he’s a badass playboy.
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