Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Yakuza Wolf Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 11, 2024

Ryuichi Takamori's Yakuza Wolf (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment. The supplemental features on the release include new audio commentary by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema; new video essay by critic Howard Hughes; and vintage trailer. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The man who performed murder

It is not necessary to speculate whether Ryuichi Takamori might have modeled Yakuza Wolf after Sergio Corbucci’s Django. It is beyond obvious that he did. In fact, it is just as easy to tell that screenwriter Fumio Konami had studied and borrowed plenty from Django as well. What is not entirely clear is whether Takamori and Konami might have looked for inspiration in several other famous spaghetti westerns. And yet, if I were a betting man, I would comfortably put money on them spending plenty of their time doing precisely that.

This obvious relationship between Yakuza Wolf and Django/other spaghetti westerns, however, is the very reason the former is such an effective genre film. Indeed, Yakuza Wolf emulates the most attractive qualities of the classic spaghetti westerns but in the process reveals a personality that also makes it attractive in an entirely new way. A surprising development? Not really. This is exactly what the spaghetti westerns did after they began emulating the most attractive qualities of the classic American westerns that were made before them.

The trick that allows Yakuza Wolf to develop a personality rather than copy that of Django is pretty easy to figure out as well. It remains an unapologetically Japanese affair, working hard to impress a Japanese audience that would have appreciated that it pays homage to Django/other spaghetti westerns but expected it to behave like a Japanese film. It is why despite the seemingly endless stylistic and thematic similarities Yakuza Wolf is impossible to profile as an exotic copycat. (For reference, this is precisely why John Sturges’ The Magnificent Seven is impossible to profile as an American copycat of Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai, too. It has a personality that makes it attractive in an entirely new, very American way).

Sonny Chiba’s character, a loner named Gosuke Himuro, emerges in much the same way many of Clint Eastwood’s famous western characters do -- wearing a cowboy hat and with the scorching sun behind him. Instead of riding a horse, however, he drives a cool muscle car of the kind Eastwood’s Dirty Harry would have loved to be seen with. Himuro then eliminates several clueless targets that initiate his plan to trick two powerful gangs into exterminating each other. Even though a couple of very skilled rivals emerge and challenge Himuro, the plan works as intended, but when he accidentally discovers that his sister (Yayoi Watanabe) has survived the hit job that forced him to become an avenger, a few forced improvisations complicate it and then make it impossible for him to control it.

The 1970s produced virtually all of the ultra-violent Japanese gangster films that are now considered cult films. Yakuza Wolf is one of them. It oozes the unmistakable machismo these films legitimized, and has a genuine star that easily makes the ugly that came along with the over-the-top violence look attractive. While important, the rest is essentially elaborate decorative work used to continuously enhance both.

One final element of Yakuza Wolf that should not be ignored when its strengths are highlighted is Toshiaki Tsushima’s score. It is simple yet most effective in conveying that Yakuza Wolf is not ashamed to be associated with Django/other spaghetti westerns. Tsushima composed numerous such scores while collaborating with the likes of Kinji Fukasaku (Battles Without Honor and Humanity), Hideo Gosha (Samurai Wolf films), and Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Wandering Ginza Butterfly).

*Yakuza Wolf is paired with its sequel, Yakuza Wolf 2, in this two-disc set from Eureka Entertainment.

Yakuza Wolf Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 and granted a 1080p transfer, Yakuza Wolf arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka Entertainment.

The release introduces a recent remaster of Yakuza Wolf that was prepared on behalf of Toei in Japan. In case you are wondering, it is the same master that the folks at Shout Factory worked with to produce the American release of Yakuza Wolf, which is included in The Sonny Chiba Collection.

The film has a solid organic appearance that is quite attractive. However, I have to immediately point out that it has not been fully restored. Why? A few very small surface imperfections remain. They are never distracting, and I think that most viewers will not even notice their presence, but a proper restoration would have eliminated them. The overall quality of the visuals ranges from good to very good, in a few areas possibly even great. However, you should expect to encounter various fluctuations. Most are introduced by stylistic preferences, but a few, mostly in darker indoor areas, are from source limitations. I assume that the remaster was prepared from an interpositive because select darker nuances have the type of thickness that is typically an element that is at least a generation away from the OCN would produce, but I could be wrong. Regardless, the important point is that some darker nuances can be better exposed. Color balance is convincing. I think that a few of the supporting nuances could have been managed a little bit better, but I did not encounter any troubling anomalies. Image stability is very good. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Yakuza Wolf Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: Japanese LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

Toshiaki Tsushima's score is outstanding, so I sat down to view Yakuza Wolf with the volume of my system turned up quite a bit. I thought that the quality of the lossless track was excellent. In fact, in several of the big action sequences, it surpassed my expectations. The dialog is clear, stable, and easy to follow. I did not encounter any age-related anomalies to report. The English translation is excellent. Also, I would like to specifically point out that the size of the English subtitles is perfect.

Yakuza Wolf Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered trailer for Yakuza Wolf. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (3 min).

• Lone Wolves: Yojimbo, Django, and Yakuza Wolf - this new video essay explores the influence of the Italian spaghetti westerns on the Japanese crime and samurai films. The essay was created by critic Howard Hughes. In English, not subtitled. (24 min).

• Commentary - this new audio commentary was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. It covers a wide range of topics, such as the extremely flexible standards of Japanese genre films during the 1970s, the evolution of the Japanese crime films, the production of Yakuza Wolf (and its sequel), Sonny Chiba's career and star image, etc.

• Booklet - a Limited edition collector's booklet featuring new writing by Tom Mes and Howard Hughes, as well as technical credits.

Yakuza Wolf Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Most of Sonny Chiba's big cult films are transitioning to Blu-ray, which is excellent, so hopefully the rest are coming as well. I would rank Yakuza Wolf, a distant relative of Sergio Corbucci's Django, among Chiba's coolest gangster films and think that it can easily inspire one to explore more from his body of work. However, I want to encourage producers to consider acquiring and releasing more of the gangster films that emerged in Japan between the late 1960s and early 1980s without Chiba, too. There are many gems -- like Umetsugu Inoue's Cobra films -- that younger cinephiles will be thrilled to discover. Yakuza Wolf is paired with its sequel, Yakuza Wolf 2, in this two-disc set from Eureka Entertainment, which is Region-B "locked". HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.