The Wolves

[daisho2004]

A Hideo Gosha Film:

This title will be released on September 2, 2008.
Product Description
At the dawn of the Showa Era, the new Emperor has granted amnesty to almost 400 prisoners. One of those men, Seiji (Nakadai), formally a henchmen for one of Japan's toughest gangs, must now cope with the fact that his former boss is dead and the power shift has created new conspiracies.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51EuSwC5MSL._SS500_.jpg

[Tosh]

Great news bro! I've been wanting to see this one for some time now.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I stopped into Best Buy on Thursday for DVD blanks and was shocked to find this. Snatched it right up.;)

[daisho2004]

Hey Bob let me know how it is I don't remember if I see this one.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Hey Bob let me know how it is I don't remember if I see this one.

Yeah Man, I'll watch it soon.

[oldeschool17]

same here. I might stop by there as well based on your review

[GwaiLoMoFo]

Have been interested in checking this out for a while myself. But all the reviews Ive ever read have been fairly mediocre, so Ive been in no hurry. Here's a review of the film and the Animeigo DVD:The Wolves (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews40/the_wolves.htm)

[fabhui]

Seen this one a couple of years ago and to be honest I was slightly disappointed with it, probably due to the fact I had much higher expectations for the movie.

[oldeschool17]

Have been interested in checking this out for a while myself. But all the reviews Ive ever read have been fairly mediocre, so Ive been in no hurry. Here's a review of the film and the Animeigo DVD:The Wolves (http://www.dvdbeaver.com/film2/DVDReviews40/the_wolves.htm)
Not a valid review as always (predictable coming from dvdbeaver). A screencap page is more appropriately titled. Looks like we'll rely on Kung Fu Bob's analysis after he views it.

[GwaiLoMoFo]

Not a valid review as always (predictable coming from dvdbeaver). A screencap page is more appropriately titled. Looks like we'll rely on Kung Fu Bob's analysis after he views it.
I agree, I didnt read the actual film review at dvdbeaver myself. But all the other reviews Ive read (and word of mouth) on the film in the past were never too good.

[KUNG FU BOB]

I've been stuck working twice as many hours as normal at my (non-art) job, so my "movie watching" time is being spent working on art projects. And there it sits... THE WOLVES... waiting to be seen. :S

I'm planning on checking it out Friday night if all goes well, and will give you guys my opinion about it right away.

[vengeanceofhumanlanterns]

The Wolves is a decent Tatsuya film. It's more of a street fighting type of violence from what I remember. I have'nt watched my DVD of it for a while. I remember it never really building up to much in the end. It's just great seeing Tatsuya Nakadai's presence in the film which would otherwise be an un-note worthy film IMO. If you appreciate late 19th century yakuza settings with a fair amount of violence as a Tatsuya Nakadai vehicle then you'll definitely appreciate this film. Definitely worth buying.

[Nakadai]

Been waiting for this release seemingly forever, happy its finally almost here!

[Tosh]

If you appreciate late 19th century yakuza settings with a fair amount of violence as a Tatsuya Nakadai vehicle then you'll definitely appreciate this film. Definitely worth buying.

Sounds like my kind of filmXD

[vengeanceofhumanlanterns]

I made a mistake on the timeline. The setting is actually early 20th century. Probably 1920s or so. It's not a samurai film. It's yakuza mobster violence.

[almaric]

I really dug this movie, but I'm new to period Yakuza films. This is the review I posted to Netflix:

THE WOLVES is a bit slow to get going, and I fell asleep early on, but once it gets going this yakuza period piece is absolute gangbusters. Part of my initial lackluster reaction stemmed from a disorienting storytelling style that never identified a series of flashbacks, or a pair of ronin-like female assassins. Once my confusion wore off, I was quickly absorbed into this familiar tale of a recently pardoned ganster trying to follow a straight and narrow path...or at least as straight and narrow as a yakuza can. As parolee Iwahashi, Tatsuya Nakadai is a slow boil trying to hold on to a failed yakuza code that represents his last, best hope at personal sanity. When Iwahashi boils over, he unleashes a volanic mountain of comeupance that is simply bad@ss. I don't cheer on many movie heroes, and Iwahashi is hardly a hero, but there's something inspiring in his grim determination to put things right despite the knowledge that he's doomed regardless - he reminded me of a one man WILD BUNCH. No guns to be found anywhere, this movie is all hand-to-hand brutality. Fans of Yakuza cinema should find THE WOLVES worthwhile entertainment, especially from a historical perspective.

[Rebornman]

great movie

[Alex]

great great movie, incredible acting from Nakadai as expected and it looks like a painting. good amount of action too

the only thing holding it back imo is the somewhat formulaic standard 'old honorable yakuza vs corrupt new regime' plot. even with that i'd easily put it in the top 5 examples of the genre that i've seen so far.