The Yakuza

The Yakuza (1974)

  • 50% of critics liked it
    (10 reviews)

  • 76% of users liked it
    (1,552 ratings)

Between making They Way We Were and Three Days of The Condor, Sydney Pollack directed this little-seen thriller from a script by Paul Schrader and Robert Towne. The Yakuza stars Robert Mitchum as Harry Kilmer, a former soldier who returns to Japan to help rescue the daughter of his friend George… More

R, 1 hr. 53 min.
Directed By
Sydney Pollack
Written By
Paul Schrader, Robert Towne
Genres
Drama, Action & Adventure, Mystery & Suspense, Classics
In Theaters
Mar 19, 1975 Wide
On DVD
Jan 23, 2007

Critic Reviews

  • Variety Staff, Variety

    A confused and diffused film which bites off more than it can artfully chew.

  • Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

    A superior action movie, but all the same, it's for audiences that have grown accustomed over the last few years to buckets of blood, disembowelments and severed hands flying through the air.

  • Dave Kehr, Chicago Reader

    Unsettling, but ultimately unsatisfying.

  • Paul Brenner, Filmcritic.com

    has one leg is still straddling the Think Fast Mr. Moto era.

  • , TV Guide's Movie Guide

    Interesting and well-acted, if clumsy, American take on the Japanese gangster genre.

Read all 10 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Stephen M


    <i>"When an American cracks up, he opens up the window and shoots up a bunch of strangers. When a Japanese cracks up, he closes the window and kills himself. Everything is in reverse."</i> Not quite as wonderful as <i>The Friends of Eddie Coyle</i>,… More

  • Ken S


    My 2nd favorite Schrader script, my 2nd favorite Robert Towne script and my 2nd favorite Sydney Pollack film.

  • Pierluigi P


    An american meets the dark and violent japanese underworld. an ode to friendship, honor codes and sacrifice among far east gangsters.

  • Dean M


    Really exciting and haunting East-meets-West-head-on thriller with tough hero Robert Mitchum who goes against the yakuza (Japanese gangster) to protect his Japanese friends he trusts like a family.

Cast

See full cast

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