Minagoroshi no kenjû

Fine, jazzy, Japanese yakuza crime drama from 1967 and as cool as it gets. Starring, Jo Shishido (Branded to Kill and Youth of the Beast) Tatsuya Fuji (In the Realm of the Senses and Empire of Passion) and one of the first films directed by, Yasuhari Hasebe (Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion - Grudge Song and the Stray Cat series) who is considered the creator of the violent pink sub genre. Some pedigree then and not a disappointment, with non-stop action and surely more bullets than I've ever seen (or heard!) for it must have taken about 20 to 50 for each death. Performances are excellent all round, direction tight and confident with splendidly stylish photography. Low key jazz score helps maintain the atmosphere and this would be a great introduction to the world of Japanese 60s crime movies.

I am so happy I randomly came across this film because it has quickly become one of my favorite Yakuza films. It is vey comparable to Youth of the Beast or Tokyo Drifter, which are two of the more well known Yakuza films. If you are remotely interested in this genre, you don't want to miss this one. Watch it!

A neat little flick for 60/70's yakuza film fans. It has all the regular ingredients - suits, shootouts, car chases, good-looking women, and scenes of Tokyo night-life of its day.

This movie is only 90 minutes long, but strangely it felt a lot longer. It is perhaps the complicated plot and the wide web of plot strands which bogs down the plot.

However, there is plenty of action - often brutal, sudden, and violent.

I enjoy this genre, and I hope to continuing watching these types of films, yet Gun Massacre is not one of my favorites. Themes of honor, and brotherhood is confused, and perhaps the aim of the film is to clarify - crime does not pay.

In fact, it pays a hefty fine. The world depicted in this movie is full of baddies and youth who are led down a dangerous or destructive path. Some are reluctant to participate in this hellish realm of money, power, and bloodshed - understandably so.

A memorably shot of a lone gunman, wounded and bloody, struggling to walk while continuing to shoot back was an attesting image.

It is tough to decide what the fellow viewer and anyone watching this will think. It will depend on if they like crime/yakuza movies, how much they've seen of them and if they are willing to have some patience. The effects are not up to any standard right now (especially apparent when a man gets shot with a wall in the back, where you can see the squibs but no blood on the person itself) - so some things have not aged well.

But this is not what makes this a good movie. It is the timeline, the characters and how everything is connected. An action will get a reacion. And while the majority will be able to guess where this is heading, it is still more than a decent movie to watch

Lots of these 1950s/1960s Japanese neo-noir crime movies have really cool titles, and honestly, Massacre Gun might be the best one I've come across yet. I can't even get mad that it's not as much of an action movie as the title sort of implies- Massacre Gun just sounds too cool, so I'm very forgiving.

As for the movie, it's pretty good, but in a standard kind of low-budget studio movie kind of way. The Japanese film industry really pumped these out, even up into the 1970s, where you have franchises like the Stray Cat Rock series that released four of its five movies within one year or release.

Massacre Gun does at least have guns and a pretty high body count, so the title gets that right. Also a simple but satisfying crime story about a trio of brothers who insistently butt heads with a powerful local gangster, leading to expectedly violent consequences.

Nothing special, but nothing bad about it. A solid sub-90-minute watch for sure.