In the visual essay “Rule Breaker: An Introduction to Sado Najajima” (2025), film critic Tom Mes calls director Sadao Nakajima (The Great Okinawa Yakuza War; Jeans Blues: No Future) one of “the Three Aces of Toei,” and laments that this filmmakers’ extensive filmography has been unavailable outside of the Japan/America DVD Greymarket. Until now. Thanks to Radiance Films, the solid prison-break film 脱獄広島殺人囚 (The Rapacious Jailbreaker) (1974), starring previous Radiance release darling Hirko Matsukata (Hokuriku Proxy War; 13 Assassins), is releasing on Blu-ray in the U.S. on May 20th.
“That’s how the police are. Don’t you know that?”
The film follows Ueda, a man convicted of murder after a drug deal gone wrong on two counts: one in self-defense, and one out of impulsive selfishness. This sets up the game of Rapacious Jailbreaker, a character study of a horrible man who we still want to be free because prison is meant to dehumanize, and all resistance to dehumanization is heroic, even by the worst of men. Ueda is a composite of several criminals, and the source was kept a secret at the time of production. Throughout the film, you watch as he struggles to escape prison over and over again, valiantly struggling for freedom, only to return each time thanks to his baser instincts and menacing habits.
The Rapacious Jailbreaker is a fine film, but buyers wouldn’t be blamed if they picked this film up as an investment in their collection and not as a showpiece. The film itself is part of an unofficial trilogy of prison escape films by Nakajima, and, more than anything, the experience of the film and special features leaves you impatient to watch it with 暴動島根刑務所 (Shimane Prison Riot) (1975) and 首領を殺った男 (The Man Who Shot the Don) (1994). It’s as if I were reviewing a freshly re-discovered Hot Fuzz (2007, a better movie), and the critic’s commentary informed me that Shaun of the Dead (2004) and The World’s End (2013) existed, but weren’t viewable anywhere.
There’s plenty to admire about the film. The supporting performances by Gorō Ibuki (Battles Without Honor and Humanity; The Blood of Wolves), Tatsuo Umemiya (Battles Without Honor and Humanity; Graveyard of Honor), and Tsunehiko Watase (Battles Without Honor and Humanity; Sailor Suit and Machine Gun) as the jail boss, the jail rebel, and the old jail prankster respectively, are excellent. Matsukata’s internality as Ueda commands empathy from you as you watch him put himself through horrific pain and risky circumstances, weighing the exchange of health for freedom in his eyes. The transfer looks incredible, and the extras — that visual essay by Mes, a critic’s commentary by Nathan Stuart, and zine essays by Earl Jackson and Masahary Saito — are very good. But as a whole, the disc feels like a piece missing its whole. At the end of the day, this a welcome transfer from a studio and filmmaker whose catalogs have been left in the dustbin of history, but it remains what it was — a solid film.
The Rapacious Jailbreakers Special Features:
- High-Definition digital transfer
- Original uncompressed PCM mono audio
- Audio commentary by yakuza film expert Nathan Stuart (2025)
- Visual essay on Sadao Nakajima by Tom Mes (2025)
- New English subtitle translation
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Earl Jackson and an archival review of the film
- Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings
Available on Blu-ray May 20th, 2025.
For more information, head to the official Radiance Films The Rapacious Jailbreaker webpage.
To purchase, head to the official MVD Entertainment Group The Rapacious Jailbreaker webpage.
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Categories: Home Release, Recommendation
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