We really know that in this yakuza situation what will happen and it will be with lots of shouting with guns and knives and much blood and many dead. The well known, Koji Tsuruta, being out of prison after ten years and is wanting to get together some of his old pals. Still with this we have had it before but then it is rather splendid that they had been together in Yokohama and decides to go to Okinawa. It is rather surprising because here at the time the US was in control there only a few months after the film was released and they gave it back to the Japanese. There are much location shots really there and it looks great and we see foreigners and resistance groups and some many dark alleys and seedy bars. In Okinawa we get to see with great Tomisaburo Wakajama as the downtown boss and we know that there will be some spectacular action. I thought it was rather good with Koji and his pals walking together in the street and I wondered if Tarantino had seen this because it reminded me of Reservoir Dogs (1992).

Sympathy For The Underdog was second movie i have watched from legendary director Kinji Fukasaku, first was Street Mobster, which is brilliant movie but this is a real masterpiece of yakuza cinema, everything is good from characters, plot, location, action. Koji Tsuruta is just amazing in a role of boss Masuo Ganji, one of the best acting i have seen in Japanese cinema, other actors are also great especially Tomisaburo Wakayama as a Okinawan boss, just his looks are enough to become your favorite character in the movie. This movie was definitely one of the biggest influences on Kitano's Sonatine, the story is very similliar, the location is similliar, Sonatine is excellent movie but i must admit this one is really a classic, the reason why i say in the summary " with the spirit of samurai cinema ", i saw some similarities with 7 samurais, the main boss Koji Tsuruta gathered different people around him in his gang, there were 7 of them like in a Kurosawa's classic, this was not a minus for me just plus, Fukasaku really goes deep to every character like Kurosawa in his movie. This movie is real gem and everyone who loves Yakuza movies and Japanese cinema in general must watch this.

my grade: 8.5/10

A yakuza thug gets out of prison after ten years. It seems that while he was incarcerated his entire gang was broken up and a newer and tougher one has taken its place (Daitokai). As a result, they have no territory and decide to relocate to Okinawa where they think it will be a lot easier to establish a base of operations. All they need to do is defeat the much smaller and weaker gangs of this southernmost Japanese island. Well, it's no so simple--as the local gangs aren't about to just surrender to the new blood from the mainland. So an all-out war between the gangs develops--with LOTS of killing and posturing. But, when Daitokai now appears in Okinawa, what are they to do? There is no place else to go.

The problem I had with this film is that I really had a hard time caring for who won--after all, they all were bad and you really didn't have a lot of connection to them. They all just seemed like nameless gangsters and nothing more. As a result, although the film is well made, it doesn't have a lot of depth or lasting value. The end, incidentally, is pretty ridiculous. Watchable but that's not enough.

By the way, if you look carefully, at the 73 minute mark, you can see the OTHER arm belonging to the one-armed guy! yes, it's hiding under his coat and the editor must have missed this brief glimpse.