Outlaw Gangster VIP

Arrow's Outlaw: Gangster VIP Collection is the sort of box set you don't see many companies taking a chance on these days. A relatively unknown series of youth / yakuza films cranked out in quick succession by Nikkatsu studios in 1968, all six films are presented together for the first time in the west, introducing us to Goro the Assassin (Tetsuya Watari), a gangster with a heart of gold whose wanderings inevitably end up in entanglements of the violent and romantic kind.

All six films are ridiculously interchangeable, with every actor except Watari swapping roles from installment to installment. The format is as follows: Goro, an ex-yakuza running from his past, winds up rescuing a love interest (or old friend) from the clutches of some rival clan. With the best of intentions, our anti-hero is forced to draw his blade and mow down an army of underlings before facing off against the top dog...only to stagger away in a hollow victory.

The repetitive nature of each film doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Chieko Matsubara plays a different love interest with a different name every time - and actually doubles-down in Black Dagger by dying in the first scene only to reappear as a look-alike five minutes later! But like a Shakespearean troupe on tour, there's an enjoyable twist to each repeat performance and one begins to appreciate the small deviations in character from one film to the next.

But make no mistake; it's Watari's screen presence as Goro, the tenderhearted tough-guy, that anchors the series. With his leather jacket, tight pants and perpetual pout, the connection to western pop idols like Elvis is intentional and oh-so effective. Only instead of a guitar, Goro's favorite instrument in his yakuza blade: 3-inches of polished steel that usually winds up buried in someone's belly. The violence, when it comes, is quick and chaotic; like a rugby scrum interrupting a dry run of West Side Story. But it's always tempered with tears, as Goro's weeps (quite often) for not only his fallen comrades but also his own wasted life.

The Outlaw films are a fairly ingenious mix of gangster mayhem and teenage melodrama. What they lack in variety they make up with attitude. And having all six films (Gangster VIP, Gangster VIP 2, Heartless, Goro the Assassin, Black Dagger and Kill!) right from the get-go is just the sort of move than endears fans to a new discovery.

The hi-def transfers are spot-on with the elements getting a little cleaner on each subsequent film (standard-def discs are included as well). Extras start off with original trailers and still galleries along with an audio commentary on the first film, liner notes and a 40-minute "visual essay" that covers the series from start to finish. Another limited edition of only 3000 copies, this one is a safe bet to sell-out. And, yes, you will regret not buying it.