Virus (1980)

aka Day of Resurrection

In 1982 a deadly virus wiped out most of humanity, leaving less than 1000 people alive. The search for a cure by the survivors has no single protagonist to lead it, and therefore no principal actor or actress for us to journey with, but the film still manages to ensure we keep what's important fixedly in mind.
The White House scenes aren't anything special. By contrast many of the street scenes manage to be more realistically horrifying than even horror movies get. It's a bleak, powerful drama with some shocking scenes.
Part Japanese and part English language, the 156 minute version (with subs) is the film as it should be seen. The shorter 108 minute version that's more easily found in western territories reportedly cuts out most of the best Japanese actor's scenes, and through truncation drastically changes the ending.

4 flightless birds out of 5

Yakuza Graveyard (1976)

Two rival Yakuza gangs are at each other’s throats and war seems imminent. The police, instead of doing their utmost to prevent it, end up exacerbating it because they put a beat cop, Ryu Kuroiwa (Tetsuya Watari), on the case. Kuroiwa is just as brutal as the people he’s tasked with policing. He’s constantly on edge, ready for action and will dish out a punch to street thugs and well-dressed businessmen alike.
Not as great a film as I'd hoped for, it's rough and the pacing is awkward. But I do think that if Dir. Fukasaku had the resources available while making YG that he had later in his career then it would more closely resemble the kind of drama that it aspired to be; the vision is certainly there.

2½ punchy gatherings out of 5

Tora! Tora! Tora! (Extended Japanese Cut) (1970)

This ambitious dramatization of the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbour is a film with two identities. The English language half was directed by Richard Fleischer. It focuses on the clerical errors made by the politicians, diplomats and desk jockeys on the American side, not the fighting man on the ground. The Japanese half was directed by Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda. It follows the planning and eventual execution of the bombing.
The two halves aren't too dramatically different, so they don’t feel at odds with each other visually when cut together into one story, although the Japanese parts feel less set-bound and are definitely better paced.
The extended version adds some new scenes but nothing that changes the outcome... the bombs still fall.

3 tigers out of 5

Battle Royale (2000)

High-school students are given weapons and told to use them on each other. The cull begins. If only it was real.

4½ backstabbing bitches out of 5