After his gang disbands, a yakuza enforcer looks forward to life outside of organized crime but soon must become a drifter after his old rivals attempt to assassinate him.

After yakuza boss Kurata (Ryuji Kita) dissolves his own criminal empire, a rival kingpin offers a position to Kurata’s top operative, Tetsuya “Phoenix Tetsu” Hondo (Tetsuya Watari). When the fiercely loyal Tetsu declines, Otsuka taps unstoppable Tatsuzo the “Viper” (Tamio Kawaji), a ruthless gun-for-hire, to assassinate him. As the Viper trails his target through the countryside, the agile Phoenix Tetsu grows concerned that one of his former associates has betrayed him.

In this jazzy gangster film, reformed killer Tetsu’s attempt to go straight is thwarted when his former cohorts call him back to Tokyo to help battle a rival gang. Director Seijun Suzuki’s onslaught of stylized violence and trippy colors is equal parts Russ Meyer, Samuel Fuller, and Nagisa Oshima—an anything-goes, in-your-face rampage. Tokyo Drifter is a delirious highlight of the brilliantly excessive Japanese cinema of the sixties.