Cops vs. Thugs (DVD)
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku
Hiroki Matsukata
Tatsuo Umemiya
Mikio Narita
Seizo Fukumoto
Nobuo Kaneko
Yoko Koizumi
Ken Takakura
In his 1975 masterpiece Cops vs. Thugs, director Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) paints a dynamic portrait of flourishing corruption and unchecked greed using gritty 70s cop movie elan and true crime expose' detail. Brimming with irresistibly brutal vitality, Cops vs. Thugs demonstrates why Fukasaku counts filmmakers Takeshi Kitano, Quentin Tarantino and Takeshi Miike as devoted acolytes.
It's 1963 and the Kurashima City yakuza underworld has narrowed to two warring clans. The Kawade gang uses political influence to legitimatize their rackets, while the Ohara group shares an uneasy alliance with corrupt local cops. But when Boss Ohara initiates a bold waterfront land-grab, the precarious balance between gangsters, police, and politicians tips towards a bloodbath. "Drop dead, it'll clean the city," growls the Violence Squad's Detective Kuno to a group of Kawade assassins en route to a night club massacre. But Kuno's own hands are not spotless. Torn between his childhood connections with a yakuza kingpin, mounting pressure from reformer superiors, and the trigger happy gun-lust that led him to the police force in the first place, Kuno occupies the eye of Cops vs. Thugs' full-force hurricane of ferocious action. Coolly supplementing the body count on both sides, Kuno is a quick-triggered pilgrim in a world where, "gangsters and cops are the same. They both respect codes and laws."
From an impromptu precinct men's room conjugal visit to a bicycle-mounted beheading, Cops vs. Thugs sneaks scathing social critique inside a blood-spattered souffla of audacious photography and grisly violence, garnished with Toshiaki Tsushima's wah-wah driven score.
DVD Extras Include:
- Original Japanese Trailers
- Stills Gallery
- Optional English subtitles
- Enhanced for 16x9 TVs
Interested in bringing Cops vs. Thugs to your school or library? If you'd like to have an in-class viewing, on-campus screening, or purchase the DVD for your library's collection, please contact Estelle Grosso or call (212) 629-6880 with your request.
Cops vs. Thugs may also be available with Public Performance Rights (PPR) and Digital Site Licensing (DSL) for colleges and universities. To purchase the DVD with PPR or DSL, please contact Estelle Grosso or call (212) 629-6880. Click here to learn more at Kino Lorber Edu.
To read more about Kino Lorber Edu's terms of use and ordering information,
visit Kino Lorber Edu.
Related Products
Country: U.S.
Pandemonium and hilarity break loose when two rogue New York City cops decide to jump fence and join the ranks of crooks. This sharp-edged satire is a funny, exciting and exceptionally intelligent... More
Country: U.S., U.S.
Pandemonium and hilarity break loose when two rogue New York City cops decide to jump fence and join the ranks of crooks. This sharp-edged satire is a funny, exciting and exceptionally intelligent... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S.
In the 1980s, Corey Pegues was embroiled in a life of crime as a member of New York’s City’s infamous Supreme Team gang. After a near-death gang confrontation, Pegues flees the city, only... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy
While vacationing in Italy, a young woman with a passion for crime fiction witnesses a brutal murder. With the help of a handsome young doctor (John Saxon), she launches her own investigation and... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy
While vacationing in Italy, a young woman with a passion for crime fiction witnesses a brutal murder. With the help of a handsome young doctor (John Saxon), she launches her own investigation and... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K.
In HOUSE OF WHIPCORD, fashion model Ann-Marie (Penny Irving) is lured into a private reform school where she is punished for her sexually liberated behavior by a zealous warden (Barbara Markham). The... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K.
In HOUSE OF WHIPCORD, fashion model Ann-Marie (Penny Irving) is lured into a private reform school where she is punished for her sexually liberated behavior by a zealous warden (Barbara Markham). The... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S.
The phobia-ridden patients undergoing a unique therapy treatment with Dr. Peter Ross now face a new terror—murder! One by one they’re being killed off, and the finger points to…... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S.
The phobia-ridden patients undergoing a unique therapy treatment with Dr. Peter Ross now face a new terror—murder! One by one they’re being killed off, and the finger points to…... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K.
Pop star Jack Jones (best remembered for the theme from The Love Boat) plays a singer who is haunted by the death of his estranged wife, and led into a confrontation with the killer, in THE COMEBACK.... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K.
Pop star Jack Jones (best remembered for the theme from The Love Boat) plays a singer who is haunted by the death of his estranged wife, and led into a confrontation with the killer, in THE COMEBACK.... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K.
Conservative executive Harold Pelham is involved in a car accident and declared momentarily dead. When he’s eventually released from the hospital, Pelham discovers that his exact double has... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K.
Conservative executive Harold Pelham is involved in a car accident and declared momentarily dead. When he’s eventually released from the hospital, Pelham discovers that his exact double has... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K.
In this classic '70s slasher film (British filmmaker Pete Walker's answer to Hitchcock's PSYCHO), Lynne Frederick stars as a beautiful ice skater who has witnessed the gruesome murder of her mother a... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K.
In this classic '70s slasher film (British filmmaker Pete Walker's answer to Hitchcock's PSYCHO), Lynne Frederick stars as a beautiful ice skater who has witnessed the gruesome murder of her mother a... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.S.
Professor Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is suffering from recurring nightmares of a place he has never seen, a woman he has never met, and a death so brutal and horrifying he must seek an end to the... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.S., U.S.
Professor Proud (Michael Sarrazin) is suffering from recurring nightmares of a place he has never seen, a woman he has never met, and a death so brutal and horrifying he must seek an end to the... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.S., U.S., U.S.
Young graduate student Jane Chase becomes the new assistant to an eccentric zoology professor at the remote home he shares with two brilliant chimpanzees and an elderly orangutan butler named Link.... More
Country: U.S., U.S., U.S., Italy, Italy, U.K., U.K., Canada, U.S., Canada, U.S., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.K., U.S., U.S., U.S., U.S.
Young graduate student Jane Chase becomes the new assistant to an eccentric zoology professor at the remote home he shares with two brilliant chimpanzees and an elderly orangutan butler named Link.... More
RT' @Blertabb': How ‘Hive’ Director Blerta Basholli Got Her Film Made After 10 Years and Found a Queen in Yllka Gashi' https://t.co/F0ge0eHt4h'
RT' @sampsey': Beautiful' @Variety' feature on Blerta Basholli & #HiveFilm in this week's issue! #FaceTime with' @cahorst' is always the best! 😍…
THE OLIVE TREES OF JUSTICE (1962) tells a powerful story of common people living and struggling in their daily liv…' https://t.co/qKRJptb6jZ'
RT' @themovieisle': James Blue’s only feature film The Olive Trees of Justice was shot under remarkable circumstances. On its debut in 1962,…
RT' @nytimesarts': Newly restored and still resonant, “The Olive Trees of Justice” depicts French Algeria on the eve of independence as the s…
RT' @zeitgeistfilms': “Whose school? Our school.”✊ When their new president attempted to give away their school’s independence, students at…
RT' @tnyfrontrow': The silent stream: Lubitsch's acerbic and furious 1924 melodrama Three Women, which I saw with astonishment on TCM last mo…
RT' @GeekVibesNation': 'La Cage Aux Folles II' Blu-Ray Review - Madcap Comedy Sequel Takes Beloved Couple On The Run' https://t.co/zjBLjKbbRg…'
RT' @HerbertGambill': My review of this rarely seen and powerful French film set during the last days of the Algerian War, which begins tomor…
With this year's edition now underway, stream these Sundance Film Festival alums on #KinoNow:…' https://t.co/lYqJyxE9Jl'
General Inquiries
333 W. 39th St., Ste. 503
New York, NY 10018
Tel. (800) 562-3330
Fax. (212) 714-0871
Press & Media
For publicity assistance and press inquiries please contact us by emailing dninh@kinolorber.com or calling 212-629-6880.
Educational
Please visit our educational site at www.KinoLorberEDU.com
For assistance with educational orders, please contact us at:
Phone:212-629-6880
Fax: 212-714-0871
email: edu@kinolorber.com
