Tokyo Drifter poster & wallpaper

Chieko Matsubara, Eiji Go, Hideaki Esumi

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80% liked it

4,252 ratings

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100% liked it

7 critics

Unrated, 83 min.

Directed by: Seijun Suzuki

Release Date: January 1, 1966

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DVD Release Date: February 23, 1999

Stats: 246 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (246)

  • SirPant
    September 14, 2009
    SirPant
    Tokyo Drifter is so cool its sub-zero. Seijun Suzuki's classic still looks good today and Tetsuya Watari's Drifter is one of the coolest characters in film ever! I really want his suit!
  • sanjurosamurai
    July 26, 2009
    sanjurosamurai
    this score is almost entirely for the absurd but excellent gun fight at the end of the film. the film was shot very well, highly stylized, and the characters were excellent, but the method of storytelling knocks this film down for being entirely incoherent. a good film that cou...( read more)ld have been a masterpiece had it made a bit more sense.
  • her69eyes
    June 10, 2009
    her69eyes
    "Tokyo Drifter" was directed by Seijun Suzuki, a highly controversial Japanese director who specialized in stylish B-movies. He completed 40 movies with the Nikkatsu studio before being fired after releasing "Branded to Kill", one of many films the studioheads heralded as incomp...( read more)rehensible. He was largely blacklisted by the studio system, however he continued with his cult success releasing independently produced films. Suzuki's highly stylized "Tokyo Drifter" has influenced a number of modern films including Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill: Volume I", and it remains a feast for the eyes.

    The film centers around a disbanded gang run by ex boss Kurata (Ryuji Kita). After deciding to go straight, Kurata attempts to purchase a high-rise office building with a loan from banker Yoshii (Michio Hino). Meanwhile, however, a rival gang lead by Otsuka (Hideaki Esumi) roughs up Tetsuya (Tetsuya Watari), Kurata's former right-hand man, after trying to convince him to join their gang. Otsuka then schemes to take control of Kurata's building and gets Yoshii to sign the deeds over to him. His hired hitman, "Viper" Tatsu (Tamio Kawachi), kills Yoshii and frames Kurata. Tetsuya now must flee Tokyo and avoid the Otsuka gang, and thus he becomes the "tokyo drifter" of the title. Tetsuya, clad in a powder blue suit and sunglasses, whistles his own theme song as he evades the Otsuka gang.

    The plot is absolutely convoluted. We're introduced to a number of significant players right as the film begins, and unless you're keeping a scorecard it'll take awhile to sort out who's who. This is a fault of the film - because we're not given much breathing room, we're struggling to keep up instead of being able to immerse ourselves in the story. You may need to see the film twice in order to really see it once.

    As overwrought as the plot is, "Tokyo Drifter" achieves all it's success through it's visuals. There is a ballet-like final showdown in self-aware film set, but only after an absurd fight scene in a saloon that pays homage to American westerns. Those fond of "Kill Bill" will absolutely find something to love in the stylized violence and extremely striking colors.

    "Tokyo Drifter", however, doesn't have a heck of a lot going for it outside of it's visuals. It's plot is forgettable and familiar, and it's characters are so relentlessly "cool" that they're kept emotionally distant. I kept thinking, while watching Tetsuya plow through baddies, "do I really care if he lives or dies?" The answer is no. While an absolute achievement in set design and cinematography, "Tokyo Drifter" fails to deliver a coherent narrative that completely captivates it's audience. A perfect example of style over substance - but, it's certainly such a fantastically stylish film that i'd imagine most people won't care.
  • SarahG1988
    April 4, 2009
    SarahG1988
    Tokyo, the gangster Tetsu (Tetsuya Watari) regenerates when his yakuza boss Kurata (Ryuji Kita) decides to quit his criminal life. However, the mobster family leaded by Otsuka (Hideaki Esumi) threatens Kurata's legitimate business, and Tetsu decides to leave Kurata to relief t...( read more)he pressure on him. He leaves also his girlfriend Chiharu (Chieko Matsubara) and becomes a drifter moving to the country. When Tetsu is betrayed, he returns to Tokyo to resolve his situation.

    Don't remember why exatctly I put this on my lovefilm rental list but I'm pretty glad that I did. Tokyo Drifter is something get extrodinary and very unliked most films that I've seen. Also don't often catch a B Film at all.

    Japnese Cinema of the 1960s. I believe was inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill and Kill Bill 2. This is evident in the faboulous sets and brilliant imagery that Suzuki implements into this films. The story is very much the same, with the Tokyo Drifter (Tetsu) playing a similar role to Uma Thuram's character. Definatly check it out if you enjoy Tarantino'd cinema.

    Tokyo Drifter take you into the world of Japanese Organised crime, with much of it feeling like you're watching a 1960's Bond film. The narrative is at times pretty bizzare and you really have to pay attention to the subtitles and what's going in in every scene. Which brings me on to the translated dialogue, which did seem a little oddly phrased at times. Argubaly this adds to the enjoymet of the film!

    With some rather bizzare musical sequences, including a rather catching soundtrack and some great corny dialogue-not understanding the plot may not necessarily matter. For instance the musical sequences and the theme somehow has a symbolic reference, depending on how you look at it.
    I mean, every musical sequence, was injected with a colourful pop art like backdrop, which is pratically postmodern. What I loved about that is that is it really depicts the 1960's so well.

    Intrestingly, I noticed some of changing of scenes, was at time done so quick that you got lost in the story. Not quite sure of the purpose of that but somehow it doesn't matter. One brilliant thing to look out for is the changing colour in the openinging sequence, then to colour. This makes it feel like a distant memory or some sorts.

    Overall, you can tell from my review that I don't watch a lot of Japanese cinema from the 1960's, so apologies for that. I highly recomend this film for it's gorgeous set design and one theme that you'll be whistling for hours. The plot is conventional, but at times hard to follow. If you keep at it you'll feel like you've watched an excellent film!

    Look out for the brilliant end sequence!

    Highly recomended

    8/10
  • columbiatch
    August 8, 2008
    columbiatch
    There were some great scenes but it didn't manage to be as entertaining as Branded to Kill. The conventional yazuka honor/betrayal story arc was not hard to follow, unfortunately I don't care for plot of any Suzuki film I've seen, it's his stylish excess that I love. I could see ...( read more)an attempt to make the film more abstract than Youth of the Beast but there were still not enough awesome action scenes to make up for the boring exposition. The film lacks the atmosphere and humor of Branded to Kill. Not having Jo Shishido as the lead also hurts.
  • hamel3
    June 26, 2009
    hamel3
    Lots of flash, little substance
  • rickrudge
    June 8, 2009
    rickrudge
    Tôkyô nagaremono or Tokyo Drifter (1966)

    Not to be confused with Tokyo Drift, which is part of the Fast and the Furious franchise (the title could have been a tip of the hat to this movie though). Tokyo Drifter is about a Yakuza gangster who has tried to go straight and is forc...( read more)ed to wonder the countryside alone to protect his X-boss and girlfriend.

    I remember the theme song from back when I was going to college. I worked in a Japanese restaurant and they'd play those two songs (Blue Clouds and Tokyo Drifter). We would get many homesick Japanese businessmen that would come in and many of them would sing along tearfully with the music. The song sounded so sad, but I never heard it again until I saw the Kill Bill movie where they included it as an homage to this movie. But, director, Seijun Suzuki's use of color and black & white in the film is also copied in the Kill Bill movies.

    It's your standard gangster fare. Tetsu "the Phoenix" Hondo (Tetsuya Watari) joins his Boss, Kurata (Ryuji Kita) decision to go straight and disbands his gang. The rival gangs want more than just Kurata's territory. They want his straight business too. Tetsuya (who is ultra cool in his powder blue suit, white shoes and dangling cigarette) leaves town thinking that he is the one who is bringing the heat to his boss. He wanders the countryside trying to keep from getting arrested by the police or shot by these rivals gangs. This movie really celebrates the 60s and really makes me want to see Suzuki's Branded To Kill (1967), which is supposed to be even better.
  • DrStrangeblog
    October 15, 2008
    DrStrangeblog
    'Tokyo Drifter' Comes And Goes

    A '60s Japanese gangster movie that plays more like an urban western. There's even a barroom brawl! Tarantino has said this was one of the inspirational films for Kill Bill Vol. 1, I didn't know that until afterwards but while watching this some el...( read more)ements of KB came to mind like the color schemes and the suit & tie gang of hoods and the glass-floored club. Visually striking, dramatically routine, and displays some of the most discontinuous editing ever put on screen, it's like a style of its own! Plus you have to hear the theme song about 15 times.
  • engrymfilm
    October 13, 2008
    engrymfilm
    'Cool' is an understatement

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