1. Battles Without Honour and Humanity

Often referred to as, the Japanese Godfather, this movie has shaped all other Yakuza films to come after it. The film depicts a nation struggling to come to terms with the westernisation of the environment around them. This, plus many, many more reasons makes this our No. 1 on the Top 10 Yakuza Movies to watch. The opening scene alone is amazing. If you’re only willing to watch one Yakuza movie, please watch this!

 

2. Tokyo Drifter

What a soundtrack, I mean I f&cking love it and so will you. This movie is one of the more stylized films you will find. Seijun Suzuki is truly an auteur. What a class opening to the movie, resembling more of a western, than a Yakuza movie. This was made in two week, f*ck, it took me longer to make that average documentary under “My Own Work”.

Just watched the trailer as I was uploading this and now I’ve got to watch the film right now, one of the greatest movies i have ever seen!

 

3. Battles Without Honour and Humanity: Proxy War in Hokuriku

This is the sequel to our number 1 best Yakuza Movie, not as good but still sh%t hot overall. The screams for people who get killed in this movie haunt me. Take a look and be sure to tell your friends, as no one really watches Yakuza Movies in Europe or America anymore… get involved!

 

4. Graveyard of Honor

Japanese people are great, only they see nihilism as a quality in the hero’s depicted in their stories and screens. It comes from Buddhism, an ability to escape ones own emotions, in a way… something like that. This film is the best example of that, the hero is a bad, bad, bad person. He has little, if any redeeming qualities, besides an ability to feel no emotion towards another human being. I f^cking love Japanese cinema!

5. Sonatine

“Beat Takeshi is a bad mother f*cker!” I think I’ll get that line made into a t-shirt. How that man was a comedian, I will never know. This film is as hard as Clint Eastwood’s balls!

6. Outrage

Hana-Bi used own this spot… that was before I recently watched “Outrage”. It has everything you want from a Yakuza movie; gangsters in cool suites, traditional ceremonies, tattooed gangsters, a facade of honour and the traditional . Also the pace of the movie is excellent, we’re never bored in the slightest. Also the older Beat Takeshi gets, the more intense his thousand yard stare seems.

7. Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics

The third in our Battle Without Honor series. Still a great film, watch the amount of main characters that get slaughtered in this one. Still not only a great Yakuza movie but a great movie. (that full stop means Full Stop)

8. Ichi The Killer

Fuck me, what a crazy film! My Mum caught me watching this once and though I was watching a snuff film. Not sure if she is totally convinced I wasn’t to this day. Watch out for all the Yakuza classical scenes in this one. The cutting off of the finger, the revealing of the Yakuza members tattoo, etc. all done in an unorthodox way. One of the most violent Yakuza Movies you’ll see!

9. Gozu

I’ve never enjoyed milk the same way after seen this movie, I swear it’s true! Takashi Miike is such a strange dude, how does he come up with this stuff! He’s coming out with loads new movies soon, watch them, enjoy them!

10. Branded to Kill

Seijun Suzuki again, another stylish gangster film. The only reason this come lower down on the list, is because it isn’t as Yakuzaee (made up a word there) as the others on our yakuza movies list.