Featured Audience Ratings

• Randy T

  
  This could have been a credible film noir piece were it not for the inept dialog, the brightly lit sets and the insistence that Japanese people are merely movie props to be placed here and there throughout the film like houseplants.

• Bruce B

  
  January has been the month of House movies. That is watching movies with house in the title. This one filmed in 1954 in Japan a time when the United States had very little culture influence on that country and this film shows the old beauty of Japan. Loaded with a host of stars. Its… More
  January has been the month of House movies. That is watching movies with house in the title. This one filmed in 1954 in Japan a time when the United States had very little culture influence on that country and this film shows the old beauty of Japan. Loaded with a host of stars. Its about a Gang of crooks from the US robbing different places in Japan, and during which a army soldier is killed and the army sends an undercover man in to bust the gang. Its a great story with great color. 4 1/2 stars, they just don't make films like this anymore.

• Michael G

  
  Even though the director is amazing, this movie could double for a torture device were it not for the beautiful Japanese setting.

• Walter M

  
  In "House of Bamboo", ex-soldier Eddie Spannier(Robert Stack) arrives in Japan looking for a friend of a his who had promised him work. His widow, Mariko(Shirley Yamaguchi), informs him that he was shot by his cohorts during a robbery. Spannier wants answers but the only… More
  In "House of Bamboo", ex-soldier Eddie Spannier(Robert Stack) arrives in Japan looking for a friend of a his who had promised him work. His widow, Mariko(Shirley Yamaguchi), informs him that he was shot by his cohorts during a robbery. Spannier wants answers but the only clue has to go on is a mention of pachinko parlors in a letter. So, he starts shaking them down for protection money until he comes across a gang led by Sandy Dawson(Robert Ryan). "House of Bamboo" works better as a travelogue(due primarily to its excellent location shooting in Tokyo and Yokohama) than as a mystery. It could also be seen as a commentary on imperialism in that it is about a gang of American armed criminals preying on Japan(not to mention these same men's less than kind treatment of Japanese women) but it is also important to note that the Americans and Japanese work together to try to bring them down. Robert Stack is as interesting to watch as paint dry but Robert Ryan does a very cool job playing a master criminal.

• Brian R

  
  A commercial picture directed by Sam Fuller. "House of Bamboo" reminds me a bit of "The Departed" but on a lighter scale(probably for commercial reasons). I admire the locations, Robert Stack as the undercover agent, Shirley Yamaguchi as the "Kimono girl"… More
  A commercial picture directed by Sam Fuller. "House of Bamboo" reminds me a bit of "The Departed" but on a lighter scale(probably for commercial reasons). I admire the locations, Robert Stack as the undercover agent, Shirley Yamaguchi as the "Kimono girl" and Robert Ryan as the gangster kingpin. Fuller is quite good with camera movement, the use of unexpected violence, and even taboo themes that deals with interracial. What did bother me was the visual idea of shooting on Cinemascope(for 3D effects), also felt the characters aren't really flushed out as they should have been, and the picture's climax also let me down. There should have been a better way to end the picture instead of using cheap violence.