Sympathy for the Underdog
1971 · 93 min · ★ 7.1 · Drama, Action, Crime
A yakuza gang gets driven out of Yokohama by a big gang from Tokyo. They relocate to Okinawa to violently start over.
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku · Written by Hirō Matsuda
Your Rating
Where to Watch
Cast
-
Koji Tsuruta Masuo Gunji -
Tomisaburō Wakayama Yonabaru -
Noboru Andō Noburo Kudo -
Asao Koike Ozaki -
Tsunehiko Watase Shin Seki -
Akiko Kudō Terumi Higa -
Kenji Imai Mad Dog Jiro -
Harumi Sone One Shot -
Tōru Yuri Old Man -
Asao Uchida Eisaku Oba -
Hideo Murota 'Shark' Samejima -
Keijirō Morozumi Gushken
Trailers & Videos
Make it a double feature
3h 10m togetherBoth from Kinji Fukasaku.
Gambler CollectionSee all →
Prison Gambler · 1964Prison Gambler
★ 9.01964
MovieCrimeDrama
A film about the confrontation between two yakuza groups in the brutal Miike prison, which contained 1,500 inmates.
The second film in the series Gambler / Bakuto directed by Shigehiro Ozawa.
Gamblers and Racketeers · 1964Gamblers and Racketeers
★ 10.01964
MovieCrimeDrama
Komatsu Takioka is boss of a Yakuza group rival to Masakichi Kijima boss of the Kikuya group which supports the town vendors unlike Takioka, who will stop at nothing to undermine the vendors and take over the territory. Masakichi will do all he can to protect and support the people. Ryutaro Kijima is senior son to Masakichi, though disowned, he keeps interest in the family from a distance. He will be there for his father and his hot tempered younger brother Katsuo, if they should need his loyal help.
Gambler · 1964Gambler
★ 9.01964
MovieCrimeDrama
The main character Tachibana Isaburo is released from prison and discovers that his boss is dead. He is offered to become the leader of the group, but refuses. A young fashion villain, a Yakuza boss wants to get into politics. He makes a deal with the Osaka Railway Company, leaving many poor people homeless. Tachibana engages in a fierce battle with villains for the poor.
Seven Gamblers · 1966Seven Gamblers
★ 6.51966
Movie
Hanjiro, a one eyed vagrant arrives in Okinoshima to save the town from a violent Yakuza group with the help of six handicapped guys.
Three Gamblers · 1967Three Gamblers
★ 8.51967
MovieCrimeDrama
Three closely associated gamblers have adventures in Yokohama, Hokkaido, and Macao. Gambling trio endure hardships to rescue Naojiro’s family.
Gambler Biography · 1968Gambler Biography
★ 6.01968
MovieCrime
Historical Yakuza gangster film set the early years of the Showa era.
Gambler's Farewell · 1968Gambler's Farewell
★ 8.01968
MovieDramaCrime
The story of men devoted to the yakuza lifestyle and their struggles during a time of fading yakuza power.
A Wad of Notes · 1970A Wad of Notes
★ 7.21970
MovieAction
A lone gambler tries to keep a yakuza family from taking over a festival in Kitakyushu. After away from his hometown for 13 years, Ryuji comes back and saves the town that is becoming run-down from yakuza’s ill deeds.
The Gambler's Counterattack · 1971The Gambler's Counterattack
★ 8.51971
MovieDramaCrime
Aiba is a gang boss who has just got out of jail, and finds everything has changed. His old gang has broken up, and only a few people still respect him. So he becomes a consultant to another gang who are about to be clobbered by a much larger gang moving in from out of town. Aiba proves a crafty tactician, and does very well at playing gangs off against each other in order to save the smaller gang. His advice is not always taken by those he tries to help, but he is generally proved right.
More from Kinji FukasakuSee all →
Wounded Angels · 1974Wounded Angels
★ 10.01974
SeriesAction & AdventureCrime
Two lovable idiot "private detectives" (or at least, that's their cover story —more like gangsters) try to make ends meet on the mean streets of Tokyo.
Professional Killers · 1972Professional Killers
★ 8.01972
SeriesDramaCrime
A shikakenin was an under-the-cover trade that undertook killing in Edo. Hanemon of Otowa, an agency that introduced laborers and maids, was also one of these. Katsugoro Iseya was a timber dealer who had come in as a client. His target was the constructions magistrate Hanno, and the Tatsumiya who sipped on the benefits. Hanemon who had a stong code towards killing, where he would only kill those who do no good to be in the world, accepts this request. Baian Fujieda, a needle doctor would carry out the killing. However, the professional killer Baian fails to bring down Tatsumiya. Hanemon then looks to another shikakenin, the ronin Sanai Nishimura for the role. Although Sanai's ability with the sword is good, he lives poorly in a tenement, and accepts this commission on the condition that it is kept a secret from his wife and child. Here, they close in on Hanno and Tatsumiya again...
Shadow Warriors · 1980Shadow Warriors
★ 8.01980
SeriesDramaAction & Adventure
Shadow Warriors is a Japanese television jidaigeki show featuring Sonny Chiba that ran for four seasons in the early 1980s.
Chiba played different ninja characters in each series. In the first series he played Hattori Hanzō III, in second one he played Tsuge Shinpachi, in the third one he played Tarao Hanzō, in the fourth series and in Bakumatsu Hen, he played Hattori Hanzō XV. In the 2003 direct-to-DVD series Shin Kage no Gundan he played Hattori Hanzō I.
Proof of the Man · 1977Proof of the Man
★ 7.81977
MovieDramaCrime
When an American is murdered in a Japanese inn, Tokyo police detective Munesue follows the trail of the killer to New York. There he is joined by a New York City detective named Shuftan and together they sort out the crime.
Japan Organized Crime Boss · 1969Japan Organized Crime Boss
★ 7.41969
MovieCrimeDrama
Coming out of jail and hoping for a quiet life, Yokohama yakuza has to take the lead of his gang after the death of his boss. His small group is is taken in a crossfire between a big yakuza group from Osaka at war with the Tokyo alliance for the control of the city. He tries to keep to the old yakuza code but he is no match for the new thugs who live and fight without honor.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity · 1973Battles Without Honor and Humanity
★ 7.31973
MovieCrimeAction
In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima · 1973Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima
★ 7.31973
MovieDramaCrime
Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.
Battle Royale · 2000Battle Royale
★ 7.32000
MovieDramaThriller
In the future, the Japanese government captures a class of ninth-grade students and forces them to kill each other under the revolutionary "Battle Royale" act.
Gambling Den Heist · 1975Gambling Den Heist
★ 7.31975
MovieDramaCrime
After eight years in prison, Takeshi’s mission is a big heist from his own clan’s gambling parlor.
Gate of Youth · 1981Gate of Youth
★ 7.21981
MovieDrama
The story of Shinsuke, a young man who lives through a stormy life as a poverty-stricken coal miner. Ranging from Shinsuke's infanthood to his mid-teens. Coal workers and the mines dominate nearly every aspect of his life. Shinsuke's father a group leader at the mine, dies while bravely using dynamite to rescue a group of trapped Korean miners. Several older men attempt to help he and his mother cope, including a friendly Harley-riding yakuza boss. This movie has it all, drama, romance, sex, yakuza and violence! It is based on a story by Hiroyuki Itsuki that was originally serialized in the magazine Shukan Gendai in 1969-70.
Tora! Tora! Tora! · 1970Tora! Tora! Tora!
★ 7.21970
MovieWarHistory
In the summer of 1941, the United States and Japan seem on the brink of war after constant embargos and failed diplomacy come to no end. "Tora! Tora! Tora!", named after the code words used by the lead Japanese pilot to indicate they had surprised the Americans, covers the days leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, which plunged America into the Second World War.
Shogun's Samurai · 1978Shogun's Samurai
★ 7.01978
MovieActionDrama
Following the death of the second Tokugawa shogun, it is revealed that he was poisoned by retainers of his son Iemitsu in hopes of gaining him the shogunate despite the stammer and birthmark which undermine his respect. Iemitsu and his brother Tadanaga become bitter rivals for the shogunate, and the land is split into factions, eventually erupting into warfare. Iemitsu's mentor, his fencing instructor Yagyu, is fixated upon securing Iemitsu the shogunate and ends up betraying everyone, even his own family, in pursuit of the goal.
Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War · 1973Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War
★ 7.01973
MovieActionDrama
Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru Uchimoto.
Key Hunter · 1968Key Hunter
★ 7.01968
SeriesDrama
Key Hunter is a prime-time Japanese television detective series. It aired on Saturday nights in the 9:00–9:56 p.m. time slot on the Tokyo Broadcasting System network from April 6, 1968 to April 7, 1973. There were a total of 262 episodes, and it was one of the most popular action dramas in Japan at the time.
The story involved "Key Hunter", a special clandestine unit of the International Police, which endeavored to solve various crimes.
"Key Hunter" was a unique TV show, which started out as a grand scale spy thriller never before seen in Japan. The episodes were individually themed on global crimes and political strife. The initial hardboiled theme later evolved to include intellectual elements involving action, and occasionally with comical elements as well.
Tetsuro Tamba starred in the 1967 film You Only Live Twice as Japanese Secret Service agent Tiger Tanaka, an ally of James Bond. This role greatly influenced his image in "Key Hunter".
Street Mobster · 1972Street Mobster
★ 6.81972
MovieCrimeAction
After serving time, a defiant street thug is incensed to find his town overrun by two yakuza factions. He gathers his crew and takes them on.
The Fall of Ako Castle · 1978The Fall of Ako Castle
★ 6.81978
MovieActionDrama
This is the story of "The Forty-Seven Ronin." Based on historical events in 1701-2, the movie tells the tale of the Asano clan's downfall and the revenge of its former samurai on the perpetrator of the catastrophe. Lord Asano was goaded, or tricked, into drawing his sword inside the Shogun's palace -- a crime which carried the death penalty. The newly installed Shogun was furious at Asano and ordered all his clan's assets seized, meaning some 20,000 samurai and commoners were unemployed and landless at a stroke. Forty-seven of these ronin (masterless samurai) banded together to take attempt revenge on Lord Kira, who had goaded Asano into drawing his sword.
More Like This
Into the Sun · 2005Into the Sun
★ 4.52005
MovieActionAdventure
After the assassination of Tokyo's Governor by Yakuza members, the CIA bureau chief for Tokyo puts out a call to an agent that had been raised in Japan and trained by ex-Yakuza. Using his former ties, he quickly determines that a war is brewing between old-guard Yakuza members and a young, crazed leader with ties to the Chinese Tong.
Kill Bill: Vol. 1 · 2003Kill Bill: Vol. 1
★ 8.02003
MovieActionCrime
An assassin is shot by her ruthless employer, Bill, and other members of their assassination circle – but she lives to plot her vengeance.
Contract Killer · 1998Contract Killer
★ 7.11998
MovieActionComedy
Financially troubled, a newbie hitman reluctantly takes the job of finding the plotted killer of a Japanese tycoon.
Dead or Alive · 1999Dead or Alive
★ 6.41999
MovieActionThriller
Ryūichi and his small gang of Triad vie for control of the Japanese underworld in a crime-ridden Shinjuku quarter while Detective Jojima tries to bring it down.
Dolls · 2002Dolls
★ 7.52002
MovieDramaRomance
Dolls takes puppeteering as its overriding motif, which relates thematically to the action provided by the live characters. Chief among those tales is the story of Matsumoto and Sawako, a young couple whose relationship is about to be broken apart by the former's parents, who have insisted their son take part in an arranged marriage to his boss' daughter.
Ichi the Killer · 2001Ichi the Killer
★ 7.02001
MovieActionCrime
As sadomasochistic yakuza enforcer Kakihara searches for his missing boss he comes across Ichi, a repressed and psychotic killer who may be able to inflict levels of pain that Kakihara has only dreamed of.
The Karate Kid Part II · 1986The Karate Kid Part II
★ 6.41986
MovieAdventureDrama
Summoned by his dying father, Miyagi returns to his homeland of Okinawa, with Daniel, after a 40-year exile. There he must confront Yukie, the love of his youth, and Sato, his former best friend turned vengeful rival. Sato is bent on a fight to the death, even if it means the destruction of their village. Daniel finds his own love in Yukia's niece, Kumiko, and his own enemy in Sato's nephew, the vicious Chozen. Now, far away from the tournaments, cheering crowds and safety of home, Daniel will face his greatest challenge ever when the cost of honor is life itself.
Outrage Coda · 2017Outrage Coda
★ 6.82017
MovieActionCrime
Five years after the all-out war between the Sanno and Hanabishi crime families, former yakuza boss Otomo works in South Korea for Mr. Chang, a noted fixer. When tensions rise between Chang and the Hanabishi, and Chang's life is endangered, Otomo returns to Japan to settle things once and for all.
Tattoo · 2002Tattoo
★ 6.12002
MovieThrillerDrama
Marc Schrader, a rookie cop caught red-handed with drugs in a police raid of an illegal rave, joins a homicide investigation conducted by Chief Inspector Minks. The victim is a naked young woman with the skin stripped off her back, killed as she staggered into traffic. As Schrader and Minks investigate the murder, the case is complicated by a finger found in the stomach of the victim. Forensic examination proves the finger belongs to Nobert Günzel, who was previously convicted of rape and assault. The police raid Günzel’s residence, and discover a blood-stained table with restraints and bits of human flesh in his basement. They also find video equipment and preserved, tattooed skin from the victim’s back. Soon, they found dead bodies buried in the garden. Günzel then goes missing.
