Made in Japan, Kicking Ass Worldwide Source: Sushi Typhoon Official Movie Site: sushi-typhoon.com/films/yakuza-weapon Special Thanks to Marc Walkow
The team who brought you VERSUS have returned with YAKUZA WEAPON (????, Gokudo Heiki, 2011), another hard-edged battle royale featuring tough gangsters, deadly women and cybernetic penis implants! Working as a hard-to-kill mercenary in South America, ex-yakuza Shozo Iwaki (Tak Sakaguchi) is informed of the death of his gang boss father, Kenzo (Akaji Maro). Returning home after four years, Shozo discovers that his father’s number-one man, Kurawaki (Shingo Tsurumi), has double-crossed and assassinated Kenzo, leaving Shozo not only in charge of what little remains of the Iwaki Family, but also burning with the desire for vengeance. After a titanic battle in which an entire building is leveled, both Shozo and Kurawaki are left barely alive, Shozo missing an arm and a leg. Despite his debilitating wounds, the nearly superhuman Shozo clings to life, and wakes up in a mysterious medical facility with an M61 Vulcan cannon in place of his right arm, and a rocket launcher where his left leg used to be! Although confused by his new body and tormented by the pain it brings him, Shozo quickly learns to love his weaponized frame, and makes himself ready for a rematch with Kurawaki, who also has some mechanical improvements of his own. But before that, Shozo must also deal with Tetsuo (Jun Murakami), his former best friend who’s fallen into drugs and hard times, and has been coerced by the Kurawaki gang to find and kill Shozo! Nearly a match for Shozo’s strength and fighting ability, Tetsuo also has a mechanical secret: his younger sister Sumire (Cay Izumi), who’s been transformed into a naked weapon, using the same technology that gave Shozo his arm and leg! But can Shozo bring himself to destroy his own best friend, the only thing standing between him and final vengeance? Co-directed by Yudai Yamaguchi and Tak Sakaguchi, who between them have created crazy, action-filled comedies like BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL, CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL and BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL, and featuring action direction by Yuji Shimomura (DEATH TRANCE, VERSUS, SHINOBI), special makeup effects by Yoshihiro Nishimura (TOKYO GORE POLICE, HELLDRIVER) and based on an adult comic by Ken Ishikawa, who co-created Cutie Honey, YAKUZA WEAPON and many other famous series, YAKUZA WEAPON is a wild combination of hard-boiled gangster action, manga-style comedy and splatterific special effects. Tough as nails, armed to the teeth, pissed-off and looking for a fight, Shozo the YAKUZA WEAPON is coming soon to kick your ass!
YAKUZA WEAPON Credits
MAIN CAST: Tak Sakaguchi Shingo Tsurumi Mei Kurokawa Takashi Nishina Akihiko Sai Arata Yamanaka Ayano Washizu Jyonmyon Pe Cay Izumi Akaji Maro Jun Murakami ADDITIONAL CAST: Kentaro Shimazu Hiroshi Ohmori Shinji Kasahara Dennis Gunn CREW: Directed by TAK SAKAGUCHI and YUDAI YAMAGUCHI Screenplay YUDAI YAMAGUCHI, TAK SAKAGUCHI Original Story & Character Design by KEN ISHIKAWA “Gokudouheiki” ©1996 Ken Ishikawa/Dynamic Planning Inc. Executive Producers AKIFUMI SUGIHARA, TAKASHI NAKANISHI Associated by MASAKAZU MORITA Producers YOSHINORI CHIBA, SYUICHI TAKASHINO, TOSHIKI KIMURA Line Producer MASANORI SAKAI Original Music by NOBUHIKO MORINO BRAND new song performed by SPYRALCALL Special Molding & Make-up Supervisor YOSHIHIRO NISHIMURA Special Molding & Make-up TOMO HYAKUTAKE VFX Supervisor TSUYOSHI KAZUNO Action Director YUJI SHIMOMURA Cinematographer MASAKAZU OKA Lighting Director NORITO MATSUMOTO Production Designer NORI FUKUDA Edit Director ZENSUKE HORI Running time: 106 minutes Available formats: HDCam, NTSC Digital Betacam
About Writer / Director YUDAI YAMAGUCHI
Yudai Yamaguchi was born in 1971,and attended the Japan Academy of Moving Images, winning a number of awards at international film festivals after graduation. In 2000, he co-wrote Ryuhei Kitamura’s action-horror film VERSUS, and also served as second-unit director. He made his debut feature, BATTLEFIELD BASEBALL, in 2002, and the horror/sports comedy won the Grand Prize at the 14th Yubari International Fantastic Film Festival in 2003. Following this up with more creatively gruesome comedies like CROMARTIE HIGH SCHOOL (2005), MEATBALL MACHINE (2005), TAMAMI: THE BABY’S CURSE (2008) and ELITE YANKEE SABURO (2009), Yamaguchi has established a name for himself as Japan’s most popular comedy / action / horror filmmaker. In 2009, he served as writer, editor and creative director for comedian Itsuji Itao’s KING OF JAIL BREAKERS, and co-directed the TV series SOIL with Takashi Shimizu, in addition to preparing two films for The Sushi Typhoon.
About Writer / Director / Actor TAK SAKAGUCHI
Born in 1975, the multi-talented Tak Sakaguchi is a director, writer, action choreographer, and actor, best known for his lead role in the cult Japanese film VERSUS. Tak has been a trained martial artist from a very young age, and as a result typically stars in films featuring copious fight scenes where he performs his own stunts. Well skilled in Shaolin kenpo, kickboxing and mixed martial arts, he also has a professional license in boxing. Before entering into the film industry, Tak was an underground street fighter when he was discovered by then-unknown director Ryuhei Kitamura, who recruited him for a lead role in VERSUS. More recently, Tak made his directorial debut with BE A MAN! SAMURAI SCHOOL, for which he also wrote the screenplay and choreographed the action sequences, in addition to performing the lead role. He made a cameo appearance in Yoshihiro Nishimura’s TOKYO GORE POLICE, and also directed YOROI: SAMURAI ZOMBIE, based on a story by Kitamura. Since joining The Sushi Typhoon, he’s co-directed two films, also taking the lead villain role in MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD and the hero role in YAKUZA WEAPON. He and his stuntman squad, Team Zero’s, have also done the action choreography for most of the titles within The Sushi Typhoon, including KARATE ROBO ZABORGAR, YAKUZA WEAPON, MUTANT GIRLS SQUAD and HELLDRIVER.
About Action Director YUJI SHIMOMURA
One of the best-known names in the world of action cinema, the multi-talented Yuji Shimomura has worked as an action director, stuntman, director, assistant director, and more throughout his influential career. In addition to working as an action director or stunt performer on films such as VERSUS, MOON CHILD, RETURNER, THE PRINCESS BLADE, SHINOBI, ARAGAMI, Hong Kong’s FLASH POINT, ELITE YANKEE SABURO, and many others, Shimomura also directed the Tokyo Shock production DEATH TRANCE (2005), starring Tak Sakaguchi. He has also worked extensively in the video game industry as a motion capture actor or stunt coordinator, on titles such as ONIMUSHA 3, GHOST IN THE SHELL: STAND ALONE COMPLEX and DEVIL MAY CRY 3/4. Most recently, Shimomura has begun contributing his unique style of action direction to international co-productions like THE WARRIOR’S WAY and the upcoming major Hong Kong production of THE MONKEY KING.
About Sushi Typhoon
Born in 2010, The Sushi Typhoon is the upstart, wild offspring of a respectable parent: Nikkatsu Corporation, the oldest film studio in Japan and once home to legendary 1960?s action stars like Joe Shishido, Akira Kobayashi, Tetsuya Watari, Meiko Kaji and Yujiro Ishihara. With a long history of genre films and violent gangster epics, the company was also the leader of Japan’s erotic renaissance of the 1970?s with their Roman Porno line; and now, Nikkatsu’s latest offering, The Sushi Typhoon, takes their century-old extremes to the next level. The brainchild of veteran producer Yoshinori Chiba, responsible for introducing directors Takashi Miike, Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura to Western audiences, The Sushi Typhoon seeks to satisfy audiences who crave the good taste of bad taste, and for whom too much is never enough.
