Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) gave the world Japan s answer to The Godfather with this violent yakuza saga, influencing filmmakers from Quentin Tarantino to Takashi Miike. Made within just two years, the five-film series brought a new kind of realism and ferocity to the crime genre in Japan, revitalizing the industry and leading to unprecedented commercial and critical success. Fukasaku and his team broke with the longstanding studio tradition of casting marquee idols as honorable, kimono-clad heroes, defending their gang bosses against unscrupulous villains, and instead adapted true accounts torn from the headlines, shot in a documentary-like style, and with few clear-cut heroes or villains. The vibrancy and dynamism of the filmmaking, plus its shocking violence, Shakespearean plotlines, and wide tapestry of characters, launched a revolutionary new genre, establishing the series as one of the great masterpieces of world crime cinema. LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS: Limited Edition packaging and reversible sleeves for all five films including original and newly commissioned artwork by Reinhard Kleist BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY (DISCS 1 & 2) HIROSHIMA DEATH MATCH (DISCS 3 & 4) PROXY WAR (DISCS 5 & 6) POLICE TACTICS (DISCS 7 & 8) FINAL EPISODE (DISCS 9 & 10) THE COMPLETE SAGA (DISCS 11, 12 & 13) [LIMITED EDITION EXCLUSIVE]
