By Vlad Zakh · December 26, 2025
Yakuza cinema runs from stylish, near-silent Takeshi Kitano crime dramas to the sprawling, documentary-style gang sagas that built the genre in the 1970s, and it remains one of Japan’s most reliably exported forms. Brother sends a yakuza exile to Los Angeles with his half-brother, Tokyo Drifter hunts a reformed gangster through enemy territory, Violent Cop blurs the line between cop and criminal, and Graveyard of Honor charts a real gangster’s self-destructive rise and fall. Sonatine, Fireworks, Outrage, Pale Flower, Branded to Kill and Battles Without Honor and Humanity round out the list.
01 A yakuza exile builds a new criminal foothold in Los Angeles alongside his younger half-brother.
Directed by Takeshi Kitano · 1h 53m · Rated R
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Stream: BFI Player, BFI Player Amazon Channel, BFI Player Apple TV Channel, Channel 4 Plus · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Rakuten TV
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube
02 A reformed gangster's attempt to go straight is derailed by his old gang's enemies hunting him down.
Directed by Seijun Suzuki · 1h 23m
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Stream: Criterion Channel · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
03 A brutal, unorthodox detective's own methods start blurring the line between cop and criminal.
Directed by Takeshi Kitano · 1h 43m · Rated NR
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube
04 A real, self-destructive gangster's rise and fall told with almost total disregard for his own survival.
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku · 1h 34m
Stream: ARROW · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store
Stream: Arrow Video Amazon Channel, ARROW · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
Stream: ARROW · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
05 A yakuza fresh out of prison falls into an obsessive bond with a gambling-addicted woman.
Directed by Masahiro Shinoda · 1h 36m
06 A retired detective's debts and his wife's illness push him towards one last desperate crime.
Directed by Takeshi Kitano · 1h 43m · Rated R
Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent or buy: Google Play Movies, YouTube
07 A yakuza boss's petty betrayal against a rival gang spirals into an all-out turf war.
Directed by Takeshi Kitano · 1h 49m · Rated R
Stream: Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, FlixFling
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, Google Play Movies, YouTube
Rent or buy: FlixFling
Rent or buy: Google Play Movies
08 A hitman ranked third-best in Japan is targeted by an even more elusive assassin above him.
Directed by Seijun Suzuki · 1h 31m
Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Fandango At Home
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store
09 A weary yakuza is sent to Okinawa for a supposedly simple job that quickly turns deadly.
Directed by Takeshi Kitano · 1h 34m · Rated R
4 wins & 2 nominations
Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video
10 A sprawling, chaotic gang war across postwar Hiroshima with almost no clear heroes.
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku · 1h 39m
Stream: Philo, ARROW · Rent or buy: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Stream: Arrow Video Amazon Channel, ARROW · Rent or buy: Apple TV Store, Amazon Video, YouTube
Stream: ARROW
Streaming availability data from JustWatch, via TMDB. Availability changes often, so check the service before you plan a movie night.
