Battles Without Honor and Humanity: The Complete Saga

Since seeing the five superb other films in the set (all also reviewed) I've been trying to decided on when to play the final Battles Without Honour and Humanity disc, but have been put off by the near four hour run time. Near to hitting review milestones,I decided I was time to go into the final battle.

View on the film:

Closing their magnificent box set with guns still blazing, Arrow present a terrific transfer,with the audio staying crisp and the print having a fitting level of grit, wrapped up with a short,but informative interview from the editor.

Asked by the studio in 1980 to create up a "Complete Saga" of the series that was to get a limited run in cinemas,and screened on TV,and getting the blessing of director Kinji Fukasaku (who was filming in the North Pole at the time of editing!) editor Toru Dobashi's decision to ignore the final flick in the run, (Final Episode (1974-also reviewed)) highlights the incredible high standards of Kazuo Kasahara scripts (who did not write the final film.)

Even when understandably having to be condensed with new montages and mildly distracting new narration, (due to it clearly not being the same narrator as the one who narrated the five Battles) Kasahara writing shines as a epic tale spanning the underworld history of Japan.

From the opening roar,Dobashi editing confirms Toshiaki Tsushima's gripping score as being a major character of the films, with Kinji Fukasaku's stylish, raw directing across four films being all blended together in layers of Tsushima thunderous score playing the final notes to thee battles without honour and humanity.

Compiling the first four Battles Without Honor and Humanity into a single film was certainly a bold move on Toei's behalf, cutting the compilation together with rapid new montages to cover lots of material in a short time and mildly distracting new narration to keep you somewhat in the loop, you certainly lose a lot of the intricate character motivations when trimming these films down. From its explosive opening to its melancholic end, it all hinges on how the material was edited together, it could have lived or died from the extreme cuts but thankfully is handled with a degree of care to make sure its audience isn't lost in the proceedings. Still, the film remains a showcase for the real power behind Kinji Fukasaku's fiery and brutish directing interwoven with Toshiaki Tsushima's decisive score and exceptional writing of Kazuo Kasahara that made these films so grippingly engaging, this certainly isn't the best way to experience the series but The Complete Saga makes for a mighty fine curio in its own right, it works because Battles Without Honor and Humanity worked and this greatest hits style approach to the series can't do the individual films the justice they fully deserve.