Golgo 13: Kûron no kubi (1977)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Yukio Noda

Writers:

Takeshi Matsumoto (screenplay)
Nobuaki Nakajima (screenplay)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

A master assassin, bent on blood!

Plot:

Blood for Money! Sonny Chiba is "Golgo 13", a cold, calculating, ruthless assassin, working for the U.S...

Plot Keywords:

Hong Kong | Drug Syndicate | Blood | Kingpin | Assassin

Cast

Sonny Chiba	...	Duke Togo (Golgo 13)
Lun Chia	...	Detective Smith (as Callan)
Etsuko Shihomi	...	Lam Ling
Emi Shindo	...	Yip Lin
Elaine Sung	...	Kong Laan
Dana	...	Leika
Nick Lam Wai Kei	...	Chow Lui Fung
Jerry Ito	...	Polanski
Chi-Chung Lee	...	Wong Tak Ming
Yao Lin Chen	...	Chan
Shu Tong Wong	...	Hung
Joana Tors	...	Maliya
Fiona Humphrey	...	Cassowary
Gam Shing Sung	...	Lee
Tien Hsi Tang	...	Baldy Nyudo

Also Known As:

Golgo 13 (International: English title)
Golgo 13: Kowloon Assignment (Japan: English title) (literal title)
The Kowloon Assignment

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

Toei Company

Trivia:

Golgo 13 manages to pull off one of those "bullet through the sniper rifle's mounted telescope" scenes inspired by the contemporary legend of Vietnam solider Carlos Hathcock in this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the final island sequence, when Golgo 13 emerges from the sea wearing shorts there is no sign of the leg wound he received a few scenes previously.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dip huet seung hung (1989)

Hardboiled noir that never runs out of ammo

Also known as Golgo 13: Operation Kowloon,(US title) this is a perfect example of a grindhouse cinema Yakuza movie. Before John Woo there were these Yakuza movies. Films that merge the fetish of a slasher film with sex, guns and ammo. Gritty noir that has all of detective work of Chinatown with none of the charm or depth. This is not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that it's a different more lowbrow but equally watchable form of entertainment. Another American example would be Charles Bronson's "The Mechanic" from 1972.

As the relentless killer Golgo 13, a hitman that NEVER leaves a job unfinished, Sonny Chiba delivers what I would dare say the most hardboiled of it's time hitman movie. Devoid of mercy and full of bullet holes this movie takes out all of it's aggression on it's viewer with a rapid fire delivery of the plot and action sequences that flow together as if it's own style of dialog.

A perfect starter film for anyone interested in grindhouse and kung-fu style movies. Movies like Leon, Kill Bill, Ichi The Killer and later John Woo's The Killer all tip a hat to Chiba's work in this film.