"Actor: Noboru Ando"

• Japan Organized Crime Boss | Blu Ray | (18/11/2024) from £18.00   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Two major yakuza factions from Tokyo and Osaka battle over control of Yokohama, using local gangs as their proxies. Amid this violent struggle, Tsukamoto (Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss), the head of one of the local gangs, is released from an eight-year prison sentence. The feud forces him into action, but he learns that those pulling the strings have political connections and that he is up against overwhelming forces. A predecessor to and blueprint for Fukasaku's Sympathy for the Underdog, Japan Organized Crime Boss also signals the director's first collaboration with Bunta Sugawara, the later star of Battles Without Honour and Humanity as well as with Tomisaburo Wakayama (The Bounty Hunter Trilogy) and gangster-turned-movie star Noboru Ando (Eighteen Years in Prison). LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURESNew 4K restoration by Toei CompanyUncompressed mono PCM audioArchival interview with Kinji Fukasaku Interview with yakuza film historian Akihiko Ito (2024)Visual essay on Koji Tsuruta's collaborations with Fukasaku by yakuza cinema expert Nathan Stuart (2024)TrailerNewly improved English subtitle translationReversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time TomorrowLimited edition booklet featuring new writing by Stuart Galbraith IV and an archival review of the film

• 18 Years in Prison (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (29/07/2024) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Trying to survive in the ruins of post-war Japan, Kawada (Noboru Ando, By a Man's Face Shall You Know Him) and Tsukada (Asao Koike, Sympathy the Underdog) run afoul of the military police after stealing valuable copper wire. Kawada is arrested and sent to prison, but Tsukada uses their gains to start a yakuza gang. Facing violent inmates and a cruel warden (Tomisaburo Wakayama, Big Time Gambling Boss), Kawada vows to escape and stop his former partner. Tai Kato directs this epic prison story with characteristic visual flair, while gangster-turned-actor Ando delivers a stunning performance charged with real-life gravitas. As an examination of the deep scars of wartime, this genre classic is also a clear precursor to Kinji Fukasaku's epoch-making Battles Without Honour and Humanity series.

• Sympathy for the Underdog (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (24/06/2024) from £17.99   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  Returning from a ten-year prison sentence, former gang leader Gunji (Koji Tsuruta, Big Time Gambling Boss) finds that his turf has been taken over by his former enemy, now a large crime syndicate with a legal corporate front. Looking for new opportunities, he gathers his old crew and heads for the island of Okinawa, a legal grey zone ripe for the taking. Made just before Kinji (Yakuza Graveyard) Fukasaku's 1970s streak of yakuza movie masterpieces, Sympathy for the Underdog is a key film in the development of this director's unique style and themes.LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES High-Definition digital transfer Uncompressed mono PCM audio Audio commentary by yakuza film expert Nathan Stuart (2024) Interview with Fukasaku biographer Olivier Hadouchi (2024) Visual essay on Okinawa on screen by film historian and author Aaron Gerow (2024) Trailer New and improved English subtitle translation Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Bastian Meiresonne and an archival review of the film

• By A Man's Face Shall You Know Him (Limited Edition) | Blu Ray | (26/02/2024) from £17.98   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A community struggles against immigrant gangs in the ruins of postwar Tokyo. Only doctor Amamiya (real-life ex-yakuza Noboru Ando) can save them, but he had enough fighting in the war. His pacifism is severely tested by the gangs' increasingly outrageous taunts and when his neighbours decide to take matters into their own hands, Amamiya is forced to take action. The consequences prove to be much more far-reaching than he could ever foresee. With a story spread across three time periods, Tai Kato's ambitious revision of the yakuza movie was one of the first films to tackle the taboo subject of Japan's Korean nationals, greatly influencing later directors such as Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike. Product Features High-Definition digital transfer Uncompressed mono PCM audio Appreciation by filmmaker Kenta Fukasaku Visual essay on Noboru Ando by Nathan Stuart Trailer Newly translated English subtitles Reversible sleeve featuring original newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited edition booklet featuring new writing Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

• By A Man's Face Shall You Know Him | Blu Ray | (24/03/2025) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £N/A

  A community struggles against immigrant gangs in the ruins of postwar Tokyo. Only doctor Amamiya (real-life ex-yakuza Noboru Ando) can save them, but he had enough fighting in the war. His pacifism is severely tested by the gangs' increasingly outrageous taunts and when his neighbours decide to take matters into their own hands, Amamiya is forced to take action. The consequences prove to be much more far-reaching than he could ever foresee. With a story spread across three time periods, Tai Kato's ambitious revision of the yakuza movie was one of the first films to tackle the taboo subject of Japan's Korean nationals, greatly influencing later directors such as Kinji Fukasaku and Takashi Miike.

• The Wolves | DVD | (02/02/2003) from £N/A   |  Saving you £N/A (N/A%)   |  RRP £19.99

  An indisputable Yakuza masterpiece about loyalty and betrayal 'The Wolves' is as sharp as wolves' teeth. It chronicles one man's journey out of the simplistic values of the gang ethics that have provided him with a harsh haven into a wider and even darker world. Released from prison in a general amnesty Iwahashi returns to the bosom of the Enokiya gang. Here he findes that the feud between them and the Kannon gang has been resolved by a corrupt and successful enterpreneur Asakura.