The Viper Brothers: Up on 30 Charges

1974 1h 33m JA

🙌

8.0

BANGER

★8.0TMDB · 1

CrimeActionDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Part 7 in a long running (8+1 films) action/comedy/melodrama series about a pair of short tempered, amoral, but not evil chinpira (Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi) thinking too big of themselves. Katsuji finds his long lost mother, who is a rich lady of a respectable family. Comedy and melodrama ensue. A thrilling spectacle with an overly violent ending, and a remarkable, Japan's only post-prison rape comedy, Masa is determined to have sex with the female guard, despite the fact that there is a bar between them. Michi Azuma (topless swordswoman from Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril) plays a tomboy who wants to join her brothers.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Bunta Sugawara
Tamio Kawachi
Michi Azuma
Kuniko Miyake
Yuriko Mishima
Miwako Onaya
Junko Matsudaira
Eizō Kitamura

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Eiichi Kudō
Writers: Tatsuhiko Kamoi
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Viper Brothers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Eiichi Kudō, shot by Motoya Washio. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kenjiro Hirose. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Shintarō Miyamoto shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi and Michi Azuma carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0323171 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Eiichi Kudō directs. Motoya Washio behind the camera. Kenjiro Hirose scores. Shintarō Miyamoto cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

152 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Part of the "The Viper Brothers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
3Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
4Directed by Eiichi Kudō, shot by Motoya Washio. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Kenjiro Hirose. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Shintarō Miyamoto shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi and Michi Azuma carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0323171 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.