This was Takeshi Kitano's only American film he ever made. In an interview, Kitano said that he did not like the final result of Brother and that he regretted his "Hollywood adventure", which was supposed to bring him a wider audience. As a result, Kitano said that he had no intention of filming outside Japan again.
Takeshi Kitano reputedly had problems working with Masaya Katô. Kato had his own ideas, and Kitano would get so upset that he would yell at him. In the scene where Aniki tells Shirase to put out the cigars, it is really Kitano yelling at Kato.
Impressed with Europeans' interest in the yakuza, Takeshi Kitano wrote what he described as an old-fashioned yakuza film. To greater contrast the character against more familiar elements, he set it in a foreign country, choosing Los Angeles as a place-holder. When producer Jeremy Thomas asked Kitano if he was interested in foreign productions, Kitano told him about the script. Thomas promised him complete creative control, which Kitano said he got.
The body count is 78.