Last Days of the Boss
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Synopsis
1976. A personal dispute results in two dead bodies in Amagasaki, a minor incident which explodes into a full-blown war between the Kawahara gang and the Yonemoto of Osaka. Sensing discord, much larger rival gangs throw their weight into the conflict in an effort to coalesce their Own underworld power. When a top boss is killed as an example, his adopted son Shuichi Nozaki (Bunta Sugawara), an ordinary laborer, reluctantly joins the criminal world in order to avenge his benefactor's death. Complicating matters are his younger sister Asami and her gangster husband (Chieko Matsubara and Koji Wada, Outlaw Gangster VIP), who are affiliated with the gang responsible for the killing, as well as Nozaki and Asami's own suspicious relationship. Even with his own family as a potential casualty, Nozaki charges forward on his violent quest for vengeance. Fukasaku's final film in the series once again tells an independent tale of the way poisonous underworld infect elements the can even most everyday lives.
Picture 6/10
Arrow Video presents Kinji Fukasaku’s Last Days of the Boss on Blu-ray in a new dual-format edition, available exclusively in their New Battles without Honor and Humanity Trilogy box set. The film receives a 1080p/24hz high-definition encode on a dual-layer disc, presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1. Arrow is using a master supplied to them from Toei.
Similar to the other films in the set the master has been supplied to Arrow, pretty much “as-is,” and because of that we do receive a fairly mediocre final presentation. The image is still a bit soft, lacking the sharp details I’ve pretty much come to expect from the format. It looks better than a DVD (and the DVD included here) but that’s about the best I can really say about it. Colours are still a bit dull, with only the occasional pop of red or blue, and black levels are again very murky, killing off details in the shadows.
The print is, at least, fairly clean with only a few remaining marks scattered about. But in all it’s on par with the rest of the set, which is “fine.”
Audio 6/10
The lossless PCM 1.0 monaural Japanese soundtrack is, like the others, flat and slightly distorted, though thankfully not to the extent that the audio for The Boss’s Head is. Still, dialogue is lifeless, lacking fidelity, and the film’s music and effects can be a little edgy.
Extras 2/10
Arrow spreads special features over the three films in the box set. Last Days of the Boss only comes with one significant feature itself, a continuation of the interview with screenwriter Koji Takada found on the previous disc. During this 17-minute portion he explains how the increased freedom he was allotted that allowed him to take this film in a different direction, making it more of a mystery film. He also explains why the film can feel like it’s all over the place: various real-life incidents influenced him as he was writing, calling for him to go back and change things around.
The supplements then close with the film’s original theatrical trailer.
Paired with his portion on the previous disc, Takada’s interview proves to be a fascinating bit of insight into the direction this new series took in comparison to the previous 5-film series but I still have to admit to being underwhelmed by the minimal number of supplements here and in the set as a whole.
Closing
Pretty much on par with the rest of the set, we get an okay presentation and a decent interview.
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