The Viper Brothers: Four and a Half Years in Jail

1973 1h 30m JA

🤯

10.0

MASTERPIECE

★10.0TMDB · 1

ActionComedy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Part 5 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. After serving four and a half years in prison, Masa and his brother Katsuji leave Kobe to go to Nagoya to help a hostess get her daughter back from her mother. As they arrive in Nagoya, they get into a scuffle with the local yakuza affiliate. Sugawara and Kawaji's chemistry is even more evident here than usual, the storyline is alright if melodramatic. Delightful start with Tatsuo Endo as a nice guy prison guard! How many times have you seen that? And we got Kyosuke Machida (henchman) with cool beard and the always good Tsunehiko Watase (young hood) on board as well. One of the best films in the series.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Bunta Sugawara
Tamio Kawachi
Kyōsuke Machida
Yuriko Mishima
Tsunehiko Watase
Tatsuo Endō
Hōsei Komatsu
Aiko Mimasu

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kōsaku Yamashita
Writers: Tatsuo Nogami
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 / 7

RUNTIME

Did you know

90 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 7

ERA

Did you know

53 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 7

CINEMA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 7

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 7

CAST

Did you know

Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi and Kyōsuke Machida carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 7

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0323173 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 7

WILD

Did you know

Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kōsaku Yamashita directs. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

190 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
253 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "The Viper Brothers Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Bunta Sugawara and Tamio Kawachi and Kyōsuke Machida carry the top of the cast.
6IMDB entry: tt0323173 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
7Only 1 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.