Violent Cop

Founded in 2002 as one of the first-ever subscription film services with its DVD-of-the-Month Film Club, Film Movement is now a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. In 2015, Film Movement launched the reissue label Film Movement Classics featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on home video, with an emphasis on films by auteur directors such as Eric Rohmer, Peter Greenaway and Takeshi Kitano.

In his explosive directorial debut Japanese renaissance man-cum-comedian-extraordinaire Takeshi "Beat" Kitano plays vicious rogue homicide Detective Azuma who takes on a sadistic crime syndicate only to discover widespread internal corruption in the police force. Facing criminal charges for his unorthodox "Dirty Harry" type methods, Azuma finds himself caught in a web of betrayal and intrigue that sends him on a bloody trail of vengeance. But when his sister is kidnapped by a sadistic drug lord, Azuma’s tactics escalate towards an apocalyptic climax.

directed by: Takeshi Kitano
starring: Takeshi Kitano
1989 / 103 min / 1.85:1 / Japanese Stereo

Additional info:

• Region Free Blu-ray
• That Man is Dangerous; The Birth of Takeshi Kitano featurette
• Violent Cop HD re-release trailer
• Collector's Booklet, featuring film essay by Tom Vick, Asian Film Curator for the Freer and Sackler Galleries (The Smithsonian's Museums of Asian Art)
• English subtitles