Battles Without Honor and Humanity

The first entry in what would become a five-film series, director Kinji Fukasaku's violent gangster drama is set amid the wreckage of post-WWII Hiroshima. Soldier-turned-looter Shozo (Bunta Sugawara) befriends a local Yakuza member in jail and, upon his release, joins the mob, only to quickly find his code of ethics puts him at odds with his new cohorts and in the middle of a brutal gang war. Hiroki Matsukata, Tatsuo Umemiya also star. 99 min. Widescreen (Enhanced); Soundtrack: Japanese mono; Subtitles: English; audio commentary; featurette; theatrical trailers. In Japanese with English subtitles.