The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman February 25, 2026

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of The Japanese Godfather Trilogy set from Radiance Films.

The Godfather Trilogy helped to more or less reinvent and reinvigorate the so-called "gangster movie" for American audiences, but the Coppola productions also had an undeniable global impact, as evidenced by The Japanese Godfather Trilogy itself. Somewhat humorously self promoted in pre-release trailers as "masterpieces", this trifecta of films from Toei fictionalized real life Japanese crime syndicate shenanigans, albeit here with at least some vignettes obviously inspired by the American films. It's kind of interesting to approach these films contextually within the very long and rather distinguished history of "crime films" in Japan, and all three of these Godfather outings can be compared in various ways to both ninkyo eiga and jitsuroku offerings.

One of the interesting things in comparing this particular trilogy to that other hat trick of Godfather films is how this one both echoes but also departs from what might be called the "Coppola (or Puzo) Canon", and this sophomore effort is a prime example. Whereas the Corleones and their acolytes had supposedly "traditional" business interests lurking in the background, the third American film in particular documented what almost a craving for respectability on the part of Michael Corleone. Here, it's manifestly obvious that any number of high ranking yakuza already have whatever amounts to "respectability" in their particular culture, but it really doesn't help them in either their "business" dealings or their private lives.

What might be stated in this regard is that whereas the tale of the Corleones often featured both "societal" and "political" intrigue lurking in the background, in this second Japanese outing, both of those elements are kind of thrust to center stage as both the Sakuras, headed by Kazumasa (Shin Saburi), and their nemeses the Kanto Alliance, headed by Kosuke Oishi (Toshiro Mifune), both fight for dominance in Tokyo. The film may either disappoint or even confuse some, the first due to its sparse use of Mifune (who takes over focus for the third and final film), the second due to a kind of odd decision to cast returning actor Bunta Sugawara in a different role from what he played in the first film.

The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Japanese Godfather II: Ambition is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Radiance Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Radiance's insert booklet contains the following minimal information on the transfer:

The Japanese Godfather trilogy was transferred in high definition by Toei Company, Ltd. and supplied to Radiance Films as high definition digital files.

This second Japanese Godfather film shares a few of the color timing issues I had with the first film, but it is in better shape overall, and in fact I'd probably argue that the color timing is more pleasing here overall than in the first film, though maybe not quite as pleasing as in the third film. This can be pretty brown and dark looking a lot of the time, to the point that even in some decently lit scenes where there are still shadows in parts of the frame, not much detail really peeks through those darker sections. As with the first film, grain is often very heavy and tends to mask fine detail in wider framings. Still, the palette is relatively healthy looking and while minimal age related wear and tear can be spotted, there are no oddities like the ones noted in the review of the first film. My score is 3.75.

The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Japanese Godfather II: Ambition features an LPCM Mono track in the original Japanese. This transfer doesn't have the "header" before the Toei masthead like the first film, and so any evident hiss and/or other damage is not as immediately discernable as with that film, though that said, while there is some background hiss (and even a slight hum at times), it's not as prevalent or noticeable as in the first film. Music also makes it through the gauntlet a bit better, with a less distorted and more burnished sound. Dialogue is rendered cleanly and clearly throughout. Optional English subtitles (which at times are quite large and take over substantial lower parts of the frame) are available.

The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Kazuyoshi Kumakiri (HD; 16:09) is a new interview with the Sadao Nakajima acolyte. Subtitled in English.


• Trailers (HD; 6:30)

The Japanese Godfather II: Ambition Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Japanese Godfather II: Ambition may frankly show early signs of some of the attrition and narrative slowdown that afflict the third film, but it's still surprisingly visceral. Technical merits are generally solid, and the main supplementary interview very enjoyable. Recommended.