Absolutely Fantastic

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

The final installment of the Yakuza Papers Saga .. About cleaning up the yakuza lifestyle in the ever changing times , but old habits die hard and gangsters will always be gangsters ----------------------------------------------------- The movie begins 20 years since the first chapter , 1966. Shozo is still serving his 7 year sentence , and Takeda has revamped the old Yamamori clan into the political body Tensei Coalition, with the vow to drop their yakuza customs and become legit and straight businessmen. An altercation between Matsumura (youth commander), and Shozo's old clan leads the Tensei discussing how to manage the younger generation of hotheads. Meanwhile Boss Ichioka , whom shared prison time with Shozo, wants to war with Takeda and the Tensei Coalition as vengeance. After killing Tensei's trusted financial supervisor it puts Tensei in an uneasy position fore they must maintain a clean outstanding image but always must rule underworld with an iron fist. Ichioka crashes the funeral and starts a rift between Matsumura, the calm head in clan, and Otomo, the hothead old-school yakuza. The result leads to Otomo and his flunkies breaking off Tensei and starting their own party. Due to the resurgance of violence, the police take the opportunity to investigate and find guns stashed in the compound. They arrest Takeda, but first he must choose the new Chairman to take his position. Matsumura, the director under Takeda, is prime to be the new Chairman of the Tensei Coalition due to his calm head and good morals, while Otomo wants to revive the old yakuza ways of discipline and violence. Matsumura wins the vote but makes an enemy out of Otomo.Otomo sends some hitmen to eliminate Matsumura but the plan backfires. In spite of this Matsumura invites Otomo back into the family and Ichioka takes the opportunity of the rift to join forces with Otomo in taking down the Tensei Coalition. Matsumura buys Hayakawa and Makihara support (now a boss in Kure) to stregthen his team.Upon hearing of the Makihara/Matsumura team-up, Ichioka takes the liberty to trash Tensei shops in Otomo's name. Matsumura gets Ichioka rubbed off, and Otomo gets arrested as he's going after Matsumura for revenge. With his competitors out the way, Matsumura decides to make Tensei Coalition his own and has all members swear to his name under oath.Its now 1970, the year both Takeda and Shozo get out of prison. Matsumura steps down from Chairman position, which creates rifts within the loyalty of the Tensei. Shozo's release has revitalized his men, as they terrorize Makihara's gang in Kure. Some of Shozo's goons assassinate Makihara, sealing Shozo's power over Kure as a whole. Makihara's assassination leads Takeda to retire, fore he knows his generation is outdated and the younger guns are on the rise. He attempts to talk Shozo into retirement to calm the unrest of Hiroshima but Shozo thinks otherwise. Matsumura makes a surprise visit to Shozo to present his retirement case , and the two agree to both Shozo's retirement and the joining of his Akashi clans with the Tensei Coalition on one condition: Matsumura cleans up Tensei from the inside to make it safe for outsiders.It's now the day of Matsumura's formal installation as the new Chairman. On the way to his ceremony he gets ambushed by former members of the Hayakawa and Otomo clans. He survives the attack and defies his enemies by still attending his ceremony half-dead. Shozo, impressed by the young man's resilience, announces his retirement and the union of his and Tensei's families. After the ceremony, Takeda offers Shozo a drink but Shozo refuses, knowing this is only a minor peaceful victory in a long history of violent struggles. Later that year, after a random yakuza shooting, Shozo officially retires, as he looks back on his 25 year history serving as a boss in the Yakuza System

FINAL EPISODE is, unsurprisingly, the last of Kinji Fukasaku's five-part yakuza film series that began with BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY years previously. This handles a more political storyline, lighter on the action and heavier on the talk, that nonetheless brings the story virtually up to date and continues to enchant with its depiction of a lawless world of honour, reputation, and death.As with the other films in this series, FINAL EPISODE has plenty of energy to keep it moving through the slower spots. The yakuza may be older and more grizzled in this film, but they're none the wiser, and the low level thugs are still committing carnage on the streets. Bunta Sugawara's Hirono is finally released from prison and discovers a world very different from the one he knew previously. The production values remain high and the excellent soundtrack continues to complement the on-screen action perfectly.

With the authorities cracking down on organized crime, many yakuza families prolonged their existences by becoming political parties. The cops weren't fooled, but it did make it harder to prosecute them.The talkiest of the entries and the entry burdened with the task of wrapping up dozens of loose threads, FINAL EPISODE depicts the legitimization of the crime and protection business and draws a curtain on the life of Bunta Sugawara's symbolic yakuza "torpedo".It is as compelling for its performances as for its historical detail. Right up until the last body falls, director Fukasaku keeps the energy level high and kicks the narrative along at a heady pace.It has been a monumental journey and a classic, unforgettable piece of cinema.

I would have said "awful" but the other films were so great! It was such a disappointment after watching the others. At the end of the film there were too many loose ends, so much left behind unresolved with no closure for the main character or more importantly, the viewer. At this point in the series, I was having problems as well with everyone's inability to hold a gun straight. And why were they always falling down on the people they shot?All I can say is that if this is based on the memoirs of a Yakuza boss, and these films held true to story... only then can I accept this "real" ending. Otherwise what a let down. Maybe I'm just sad it's over.