Originally meant to be a follow up to his earlier Japan's Organized Crime Boss, Fukasaku reunited with lead actor Koji Tsuruta for a film with many similarities to their earlier collaboration, but with a unique style all its own. Tsuruta stars as Gunji, a yakuza gang leader released from prison after ten years. Gunji finds that his gang has long since broken up, while his key cronies have attempted to make it in the legitimate world by slinging noodles and raising families. Gunji and his men reform the old gang, but with all the territories in mainland Japan overrun by different yakuza families, they decide to make of go of it in Okinawa. They quickly build a reputation on the island, but soon find that the same deadly battles and rivalries that plague the yakuza on the mainland are also found on Okinawa.

In making Sympathy for the Underdog Fukasaku was heavily influenced by Gillo Pontecorvo's seminal Battle of Algiers, a film that dealt with resistance in the face of occupation. Fukasaku himself was addressing the influence of American influence in Japanese culture, as Okinawa was the site of lingering military occupation by the United States. But even more than the influence of Battle of Algiers, Sympathy for the Underdog draws much inspiration from Sam Peckinpah's The Wild Bunch. Tsuruta is clearly cast in the William Holden role, while his gang is very much like the aging outlaws struggling to keep pace with a world that has left them behind. There are even two pivotal scenes straight out of Peckinpah's classic, including a bloody showdown between Gunji and his men and a small army of yakuza that have come to take over their territory.

Although its not my personal favorite film by Fukasaku, Sympathy for the Underdog is still a classic. And when watched in context with his other films, it shows a clear defining point when a master filmmaker made a serious transition in tone, content and theme, changing with him the face of modern cinema.

Video:
If there is one thing that Home Vision Entertainment has proven with their past Fukasaku releases is that they get it right. Presented in 2.35:1 widescreen, Sympathy for the Underdog boasts a beautiful transfer, with vibrant colors that look they were captured on film yesterday.

Audio:
Sympathy for the Underdog is presented monoaural with the original Japanese language track and English subtitles.

Extras:
Clocking in at around 15 minutes, the main bonus feature on the disc is an interview with Sadao Yamane, Fukasaku's biographer. Although the interview is brief, Yamane offers interesting insights into Fukasaku as well as Sympathy for the Underdog.