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Released by: Eureka Video
Released on: 12/30/2002
Director: Kinji Fukasaku
Cast: Bunta Sagawara, Noboru Ando, Mayumi Nagisa, Noboru Mitani, Nobuo Yani
Year: 1972
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The Movie:
An incredibly fast paced gangster film, Street Mobster is the story of Isamu Okita (Bunta Sagawara), an aging mobster stuck in jail for killing some rivals Takigawa clan gangsters in a bathhouse a few years ago. He serves his time and once he's released, he finds out that the old school gangsters are no longer in power and that a more vicious breed of Yakuza rules the streets.
Soon after he's out of the big house, he meets up with Kizaki, a young wanna be gangster who talks Isamu into reforming his old gang and taking back control of the territory.
Okita's gang impresses yet another group of Yakuza and the two groups align and successfully crush the Takigawa's. But when a rival gang leader named Mr. Owada from a different territory comes on the scene to further expand the new alliance, things fall apart and Okita and crew are kicked out for disrespecting the powerfully Owada.
Okita, sick of taking orders from rival gangs and wanting control of the territory for himself, starts a gang war between all allied factions and things very soon spiral out of control around him.
Fukasaku does an excellent job of pulling us into the world of a vicious anti-hero. It's not hard at all to find yourself rooting for Okita, even while he's popping caps at other gangsters and trying to further expand his criminal empire. And while, yes, Okita is the (anti) hero of the film, at the same time the camera doesn't flinch away when it's time for him to get down to some nasty business as we see him shooting his way through the Japanese underworld.
Rounded out nicely with an evocative score and some unusual handheld camera work, Street Mobster is a gritty and serious crime film that focuses on the violent side of the criminal element.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.20.1 and enhanced for anamorphic sets, Street Mobster looks pretty beaten up on this release. The image is quite grainy and at times this can be quite distracting. There are also a lot of scratches and lines on the print that are quite noticeable. It's not that the transfer is horrible, but that the source material used was obviously in very rough shape and it appears that little, if any, restoration was done.
Specs on the disc state that the DVD has a Mono soundtrack on it but it registered on my receiver as Dolby Digital 2.0. It doesn't make much difference though, as there isn't really any surround action at all during the entire length of the film. That being said, clarity is fine with minimal distortion or hiss present. It's never hard to hear the dialogue over the sound effects and the film's unusual score comes in nice and clear. A 5.1 track would have been a great enhancement to the film, as would some more low-end action for the subwoofer, but what's here is sufficient and clean. It serves the movie well enough.
Eureka has included a well-written profile of Kinji Fukasaku and a still gallery consisting of ten images. Extras are rather disappointing as some interview footage with the cast and crew would have been very welcome. I realize a few of them have passed on, but surely there's some archival footage around somewhere. I felt that the film deserved a bit more than what is given here. And where's the trailer?
The Final Word:
Street Mobster is an excellent film but this release is unfortunately marred by poor video quality on an almost barebones disc. Sadly, it will have to do until a better release comes along.