Glucedee It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Sienna-Rose Mclaughlin The movie really just wants to entertain people.

Edwin The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

elvircorhodzic TOKYO DRIFTER is an action thriller film that on a unrelated, disoriented and possibly destructive way shows the life of a yakuza. A contrast is expressed in the fact that a well-known yakuza becomes a drifter because he chose to live honestly.Tetsuya is a member of a recently deactivated Yakuza gang. His boss, to whom he holds absolute loyalty has given up the life of crime. Tetsuya wants to change his life. A rival gang boss attempts to recruit Tetsu into his organization, but is turned down. However, the yakuza are determined to get him back into their life - or kill him if he refuses...Mr. Suzuki has showed a surrealistic style mixed with a pop culture, noir and westerns. An unconventional story is full of black humor, which receives an inappropriately tone. Because of this, a vivid action gets iconic character. This is especially true in a very interesting fight in a brothel. A tense atmosphere is great, the environment is impressive, and the melody is excellent. However, plots are very confusing and it is very difficult to link this movie into one whole.Tetsuya Watari as Tetsuya "Phoenix Tetsu" Hondo is too cool for a disappointed former assassin. However, his strange character fits perfectly into this experimental style. If a dangerous yakuza has no friends, why would a singing drifter had friends.

MisterWhiplash It must have been a delirious joy for Seijun Suzuki to direct Tokyo Drifter (when the meddlesome but fair studio heads got in a tiff with him over the final cut); it's a director's movie, and he shoots it and edits it like a jazz-man in a tiny club going one step further than John Coltrane. He's in love with image, LOVES filling it with color and derangement and bursts of violence when required during the theme song crooning along. This is what makes it so satisfying and troublesome; like avant-garde jazz it doesn't have much structure, it's rhythm is erratic and it will throw off some. He even makes Takashi Miike seem fairly normal in comparison. But to see those little riffs, those scenes where Suzuki rolls out all of his cinematic tricks, it's so worthwhile.For one thing Tokyo Drifter walks along a line that is so gratifying since it works as a straight yakuza thriller about gangster Tetsuo trying to go legit with his boss only to be drawn back in by a sour deal on a building worth millions, and as a oddly subtle AND over the top parody with plenty of rock music, colors that pop off the screen, and plenty of attitude and violence. Suzuki also doesn't play by any rules which is exhilarating... it also tends to be a little frustrating if looking for a very coherent story, or some supporting characters to care about. But it works because the focus isn't on the script but the direction; it's probably as strong a job as with Branded to Kill, only in lush colors (sometimes matching with white or yellow or blues, like a coloring book with a splash of acid) and with a catchy theme song (one scene, where Tetsuo is singing the song to himself while walking along, leading up to an ambush by a bunch of other yakuza, is incredibly funny).Watch it to have a fun time, for a good dosage of experimentation, and to get a couple of really bad-ass scenes, maybe some of the freshest and most entertaining in any crime movie. I was quite happy I took the 83 minute trip with the drifter and his saga, even if it is less than great is arguable, and I'd argue it isn't.

BJJManchester A basically routine Japanese gangster melodrama,TOKYO DRIFTER has been recognised as a classic example of 'B' picture film-making by dedicated film scholars and cultists in the West,along with Seijun Suzuki's other Yakuza masterpiece,BRANDED TO KILL.It has a confusing,if deliberately ambiguous narrative which takes considerable following,which is the film's only major Achilles heel.Where TOKYO DRIFTER succeeds is in it's clever production design,lighting,stylised action,superb photography and imagery.Suzuki has ensured that,if we the audience are hopelessly led astray with the murky goings on with the plot,we can still admire it's dazzling style and colour,plus some other quirky touches,such as gags about hairdryers,a John Wayne-like Western barroom brawl,and an oddly memorable theme song.This is insistently played throughout the film,but still pleasantly haunts the mind despite it's repetition.After BRANDED TO KILL,Suzuki fell foul of his bosses and was sacked for making such unusual,auteur-style Yakuza melodramas.This is a great shame as he did not direct another film for some years afterwards,depriving us all of his uniquely styled gems,possibly when he was creatively at his most fertile.It is all the more encouraging,that,in his 80's,there are still new admirers and retrospectives of his work(there was one quite recently in London,with Suzuki making a welcome personal appearance despite failing health),and his most up to date work,PRINCESS RACCOON,was generally given considerable praise.Let's hope that this previously neglected master stylist of Japanese,if not World,cinema,will finally be given his dues.RATING:7 and a Half out of 10.

freddythreepwood Another movie that amazes me. I watched this with a bunch of friends who enjoy Asian movies (Ichi, Hana Bi, Ikiru, Oni Baba, etc.) and the verdict was unanimous - this is one vastly over-hyped movie. That was our honest opinion. There was simply nothing redeeming about this movie. It appeared to be have been made by someone with a severe hangover, or someone with a bad bout of attention deficit disorder, a 15 year old dsylexic, or probably someone with all of the above traits of genius. Granted that this movie may have gone against the grain of most contemporary movies of the time, but that alone does not qualify it to be judged as a masterpiece. Storyline: Utterly predictable Acting: What acting? Effects: looks like a one man job - carpenter/painter/decorator/director Music: One song that I could not listen to again, after 2 renditions Dialogue: Arf arf! Snarl! Yapyapayapyap...The only thing that makes sense about this movie is that Seijun got fired after delivering this kind of fluff once too often. I can see the elite connoissuers raising their eyebrows in disdain at such an unsophisticated take on such a universally agreed upon work of genius. That's fine. Its an honest opinion, whatever else its not. It did not click for me.