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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

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Violent Cop (1989)

Rating: 3 Stars (out of 4)

Dirty Takeshi

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Violent Cop on DVD

Violent Cop (1989) is the first film directed by Japanese superstar Takeshi Kitano (who acts under the name "Beat" Takeshi) following Takeshi as he busts up a drug ring. Kitano had already developed his trademark style -- slow, long, quiet scenes that explode with sudden and brutal violence. As an actor, "Beat" Takeshi has incredible charisma onscreen. His leathery face and motionless jaw make him seem as tough and cool as Harvey Keitel, Clint Eastwood, or Chow Yun Fat. Many will like the lean and severe Violent Cop but I prefer the oddball flourishes that he developed in his later films, Boiling Point, Sonatine, and Fireworks. Violent Cop opens August 27 at the Roxie.

Starring: "Beat" Takeshi
Written by: Hisashi Nozawa
Directed by: Takeshi Kitano
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Running Time: 103 minutes
Date: August 27, 1999