The best Hiroshi Fujioka’s crime movies

In a bloody beginning, a pair of stylish Japanese thieves steal some valuable gems. In a harrowing scene, during their escape, they kill the partner of a ruffled detective (think Columbo with a Chuck Barris hairdo). The detective swears revenge, and the thieves played by the athletic and lovely Michiko Nishiwaki and her terminally ill partner/lover played by Stuart Ong plan on going to Hong Kong, sell the loot, and buy weapons for the Red Army. All the while Cynthia, a rookie cop in Hong Kong, tries to get in on the action of the task force she has been assigned to, but unfortunately her superior is her uncle who wants to keep her out of harms way. The Japanese thieves and the detective trailing them, all make their way to Hong Kong, and Cynthia ends up entangled in the same mess with the detective, trying to bring the cold blooded and desperate thieves to justice. People on both sides are killed, leading to crossed paths of personal revenge, everyone out for each others blood.

When skiers in Japan come across the frozen body of centuries-old samurai warrior Yoshimita, scientists secretly whisk the corpse to a high-tech laboratory in California, where they bring him back to life. But when Yoshimita escapes onto the mean streets of 1980s Los Angeles, his ancient and strict code of honor gets him both into and out of trouble. J. Larry Carroll directs this low-budget action fantasy.

A taut, economical policier-cum-gang-hostage thriller.