Gokudô heiki

I had to write this review because I think this movie doesn't get the love it deserves. Think is I'm freeing some space on my watchlist and I'm watching movies that I have that have bad iMDB score. 90% of them I don't even make it to the end. but this one was not the case.

It may seem like a bad movie because of the over the top style, a kinda cheap look & feel and crazy silly but clichè yakuza plot. but ten minutes into the movie I thought all of those things were actually good, and then half through I thought it was a solid 7, certainly not a 5

I like all things japanese so maybe I'm biased, but I thought the directing and the overall style and tone of the movie were more than good, actors were all pretty decent and likable and action sequences were the way they needed to be, extreme and with a b movie-esque feel to them

Most of all I found it extremely funny in a silly way, but nothing short of say From Dusk Till Dawn and Grindhouse silly kind of funniness.

I'd definitely recommend it if you like comics, japanese culture or just an original action-comedy flick

For a movie in the extreme genre that has root in Japan, then "Yakuza Weapon" ("Gokudô Heiki") was fairly boring and uninteresting. Especially, because by comparison to movies such as "Machine Girl", to pick a single movie in the genre, then "Yakuza Weapon" seemed pointless and irrelevant.

The storyline is about a Yakuza member who returns to Japan after having served in some war in the times post World War II, and he has to fight against rival Yakuza people.

This was basically all there was to the storyline, it didn't have anything interesting to offer - unless you count irrelevant action sequences and fighting for leverage solid enough to make the foundation of a movie.

The acting in the movie was, as with other movies in this particular genre, over the top and not to be taken too seriously.

As for the effects and the action sequences, well, don't expect anything overly impressive or anywhere remotely near what you can see in other movies in the genre.

"Yakuza Weapon" is a boring movie that failed to capture my attention, and it became a losing battle to just sit through it to the end. I gave up on the movie and will not make a second attempt to finish it, because the movie had nothing to offer; weak storyline, poor special effects and a total sense of meaning to the movie.

I am rating the movie a mere 3 out of 10 stars rating, purely because of the production value of the movie and the acting - everything else was just irrelevant.

This is the story of a yakuza member who goes off to be a mercenary in South America, and returns to find the criminal underworld run by his enemies.

While this movie has some funny parts, and the story has some level of potential, it is just so poorly made. The film quality is bad, the special effects are bad, the CGI is bad.

The only film I can remotely compare this to is "Machine Girl", with one big difference: Machine Girl is awesome, and this film is awful. Fans of Asian sci-fi may enjoy it, I am not sure. But I just found practically nothing redeeming in it.

My suggestion is to avoid this.

When in Europe the label Shock started to release Japanese and Asian flicks everybody was looking forward, because it was hard to lay your hands on such kind of flicks. But soon people start to worry about the releases coming from that label. In the beginning it was okay and it contained the typical gore but nowadays they only release trash.

I was looking forward to see Gokudo Heiki but from the start you know this is going to suck hard. There's blood sputtering and there are actual killings going on but it's the way it was acted and the cheap CGI that makes it not watchable for me. I don't have problems with those kind of flicks but this one here left me sitting with an open mouth. What the hell is happening to those flicks coming from the rising sun and were known for their extremities. I have heard that so many people has left shock for what it is and I must agree with them. It do has a few good moments but overall it takes too long and exaggerate on part of the acting. Sad but true.

Gore 1/5 Nudity 0/5 Effects 1,5/5 Story 2/5 Comedy 0/5

If you liked Machine Girl, Tokyo Gore Police or Versus you'll love this.

Starting with an homage to Rambo, Tak Sakaguchi's "Yakuza Weapon" quickly ascends to the realms of tongue-in-cheek over the top violence and gore that only Asian cinema seems to reach.

Tak Sakaguchi plays Shozo Iwaki, the son of a Japanese Yakuza boss, who returns to Japan after 4 years as a mercenary in South America to avenge his fathers death.

If a Hollywood Good Guy can implausibly be missed by a machine gun at point blank range, or outrun an explosion in slow motion, then Shozo can be missed or dodge 10 automatics, and surf the explosion to the Baddies tent! Plus homing sticks of dynamite... catching RPG's in your bare hands... spikes on the bottom of his shoes that'll put a hole right through your head... you get my drift.

It's hilarious. Many laugh out loud moments, and spontaneous applause at the end (only the third time I've heard that in a UK cinema).

Highly recommended.

On a side note, there is one scene where Shozo walks up a stairway killing all the foes he meets on his way, that was supposed to be shot in one take after 2 hours rehearsal, but they needed 2 takes because Tak broke his neck during the first take!

That's dedication for you.