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7.3 1h 24m

The Hoodlum Priest

The first film in the 2 part series about Ryuzen, a renegade martial-arts priest who, in addition to breaking all the commandments against sex and gambling, opens his own gambling den in direct defiance of the local yakuza boss. Exciting action and a twisty plot this movie breaks new barriers in Japanese cinema. Katsu Shintaro is superb in one of his better non-Zato Ichi roles as he fights off the advances of a love-lorn woman and risks his life to defeat the powerful gambling boss who has a stranglehold on the town.

Top Cast

  • Shintarō Katsu

    Shintarō Katsu

    Ryuzen

  • Mayumi Ogawa

    Mayumi Ogawa

    Otatsu

  • Mikio Narita

    Mikio Narita

    Kashiwa Shinjuro

  • Kayo Mikimoto

    Kayo Mikimoto

    Otsuru

  • Naoko Kubo

    Naoko Kubo

    Oen

  • Jun Tatara

    Jun Tatara

    Gonroku

  • Hōsei Komatsu

    Hōsei Komatsu

    Daihachi

  • Ryūtarō Gomi

    Ryūtarō Gomi

    Toramatsu

  • Yoshio Kaneuchi

    Yoshio Kaneuchi

Overview

The first film in the 2 part series about Ryuzen, a renegade martial-arts priest who, in addition to breaking all the commandments against sex and gambling, opens his own gambling den in direct defiance of the local yakuza boss. Exciting action and a twisty plot this movie breaks new barriers in Japanese cinema. Katsu Shintaro is superb in one of his better non-Zato Ichi roles as he fights off the advances of a love-lorn woman and risks his life to defeat the powerful gambling boss who has a stranglehold on the town.

Rating

7.3 / 10
3 Reviews
1 Popular

Recommendations

American Yakuza

When Nick Davis leaves prison after one year in solitairy, he is hired to operate a forklift in a warehouse in the harbor owned by the Japanese Yakuza patriarch Isshin Tendo. The place is assaulted by the Italian Mafia lead by Dino Campanela and Nick rescues and saves the life of Shuji Sawamoto, who is the representative of Yakuza interests in America. Shuji hires Nick to work for Yakuza and becomes his godfather in the family after his oath to join Yakuza. However, Nick is a lonely FBI undercover agent assigned to penetrate the criminal organization. When the FBI discovers that Campanela is organizing a massive attack to destroy the Yakuza, Nick's boss Littman calls off the operation to leave the dirty work to the Italian Mafia. But the connection of Nick with Shuji and his goddaughter Yuko forces him to help his Japanese family.

American Yakuza

5.8 1993