A Masterpiece!

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

David Brandt (Mortensen) is an FBI agent assigned to go deep undercover to infiltrate the Yakuza. He poses as an ex-con named Nick Davis and begins working in the warehouse of Isshin Tendo (Fujioka). When the main rivals to the Tendo gang, the Italian Mafia under the command of Dino Campanela (Nouri), stage a raid on the warehouse, Brandt saves Sawamoto (Ishibashi) from certain death. Sawamoto takes a liking to "Nick" and takes him under his wing. However, when Brandt's boss, Littman (Forster) informs him that the Campanela clan is going to wipe out the Tendo gang, and to stay out of it, Brandt gets angry, firstly because he's fallen in love with Yuko (Lawson), and secondly because he's come to actually respect the culture and customs of the Japanese, which has blurred his judgment to the fact that he's dealing with criminals. So during the final firefight between the two gangs, Brandt makes his final stand...what will it be? American Yakuza is classier-than-usual fare and recommended viewing. It's shot very well, the acting is top-notch, there's intelligence behind the writing, and it's directed with a mixture of grit and an artistic streak that is very hard to pull off, but here wins over the audience.It's definitely more of a gangster drama than an action movie, but there are some spectacular action scenes that make you wish there was room in the plot to fit in a few more. But it is somewhat unfair to demand "More Action!" because this isn't strictly an action movie. It's a well-thought-out, underrated affair that more people should see.It's funny, Robert Forster plays pretty much the exact same role here as he does in Scanner Cop II (it even looks like it's shot in the same room), and Michael Nouri plays almost the same role as he does in Overkill. If they were items on a computer, it's easy to imagine the director dragging and dropping them from their respective movies into this one. That's not meant to be an insult, Forster does his usual professional job and Nouri seems in his element. It's actually one of the better Nouri performances we can remember. Viggo Mortensen made this movie before he was even really a big name, and he achieves the complex task of making you understand his emotions and motivations as he pulls off his double life. He should get more credit for that. As he gets swept up in the Yakuza lifestyle, he still tries to make a contrast between his American culture, and their Yakuza one, by preferring good old American whisky to their Sake.Because American Yakuza combines visual flair with an engaging plot, you really can't lose. Interestingly enough, this would make a great double feature with American Dragons (1998). They are both high quality movies with some similarities. We give high marks to American Yakuza.For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com

I enjoy most of Viggo Mortensen's films and he was good in this, but as a Sicilian-American, I am offended by the Italian stereotypes. I hate the Mafia as much, if not more, than anyone else. However, I am sick to death of them being portrayed as dumb, arrogant, and inferior to black/Hispanic/Asian, or whatever rival mobsters oppose (and usually beat) them in the movies. A gangster is a gangster, and they are all vicious thugs, no matter what their nationality or race or how old their organization and "traditions" may be. This film made yakuza look like samurai. That is an insult to the samurai class, the Japanese equivalent of European knights and nobility.The ending is supposed to be tragic, but frankly I consider it a happy ending. Hateful, racist swine that he is, I was glad to see that at least Campanela didn't die a coward. I was also glad he took his enemy with him. Good riddance to both bags of bad rubbish.By the way, didn't the FBI have any special agents of Japanese ancestry back in 1993? Yakuza are known to be extremely xenophobic, and it is highly unlikely they would accept a Caucasian in their ranks.

American Yakuza was a very good film when i bought it i thought it would just be an action film i was wrong. it is much more than just a run of the mill action movie it has a intriguing plot good acting and some good action.Viggo Mortensen stars as Nick Davis an FBI agent sent undercover in the Yakuza.Whilst undercover he becomes friends with the boss and becomes more and more loyal.i like Viggo Mortensen his films are normally good and so is his acting especially in this film. the action is decent and well directed but thats not what American Yakuza is about it is about drama and how characters are developed. the director did a good job as well with some stylish tricks with the camera. to end the review i thought American Yakuza was a very well made film with most of the actors on top form and good directing makes me give 9 out of 10

Viggo kicks ass in this movie. What made it interesting to me was to see just how far someone goes to keep their cover while infiltrating a crime organization. The Yakuza have a lasting impression on those that it deals with both friends and foes. All the blood in this movie (and there's a good amount of it) was done very well. The women in the movie are also very nice. I remember one of the scenes had a set of massive knockers in a little shower scene while her husband/boyfriend was being assassinated. They never showed what happened to the girl but I bet they had played some basketball with those babies. B movie or not it still gets my good vote.