Film Movement has just debuted two favorites from director Kinji Fukasaku on streaming platforms. Wolves, Pigs & Men and Violent Panic: The Big Crash are now available on VOD & Digital platforms as well as SVOD on Film Movement Plus and Film Movement Plus via Amazon Prime Video. This thrilling pair of crucial action films from the master director of Japanese cinema has been restored in 2K from original broadcast elements. For expanded thoughts on these films, check out our review of the brand-new Blu-Ray release here.

Japanese director and genre master Kinji Fukasaku is often remembered amongst cineastes for his final film, BATTLE ROYALE (2000), but in his home country, the prolific auteur – across a 40-year career, he directed over sixty movies, received three Japanese Academy Film Prizes for best director, and helped redefine many genres, most notably the Yakuza genre – was respected for a broad range of films that often used violence to make statements about social control, authority, and individual freedom.

Of the many filmmakers associated with the Japanese crime film, however, perhaps none is as synonymous with the genre than Fukasaku. With his signature kinetic style and cinematic violence exploring the chaos of postwar Japan, his Yakuza films are now considered unmissable classics where nihilistic characters combine with freeze-frame flashbacks, hand-held camera, and dynamic editing to propel the story.

GVN has been provided with exclusive clips for each of these newly restored films in coordination with their streaming debut which you can find below:

Wolves, Pigs & Men

Synopsis: Three brothers, Kuroki, Jirō, and Sabu, find themselves pitted against each other as rivals in the underground world of the Yakuza. Jirō, alongside his girlfriend Mizuhara, plots to rob Sabu and his gang, stealing 20 million yen. However, when Kuroki learns of Jirō’s scheme, he journeys to track down his brothers and take the money for his own rival gang. A “ferocious, dynamic yakuza thriller” (Los Angeles Times), WOLVES, PIGS AND MEN captures the darkness and brutality of the criminal underworld. With elements of French New Wave, film noir, and music by Isao Tomita, the action-packed thriller called “an explosive, nihilistic tale which qualifies as a rough-hewn, early masterpiece” (Cinema Soujourns) is a gritty, uncompromising work that established Fukasaku as a master of the Yakuza genre.

Violent Panic: The Big Crash

Synopsis: Takashi, an expert bank-robber, plans to pull off the biggest heist of his career, stealing 300 million yen before fleeing to Brazil. However, when the robbery goes awry, Takashi finds himself alone and his getaway foiled. Trailed by the police, his lover, his partner-in-crime’s brother, and countless others, Takashi becomes the target of a manhunt filled with twists, double-crosses, and explosive action. From BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR AND HUMANITY director, VIOLENT PANIC: THE BIG CRASH is “A cult film spectacle that pulls out all the stops.” (Make Mine Criterion) Fast-paced, unrelenting, and featuring a conclusion that ranks among the most legendary car chases in film, VIOLENT PANIC: THE BIG CRASH remains one of the most action-packed masterpieces of Fukasaku’s career.