Battlelines have been set between Shozo, Akashi, and Uchimoto clans versus Yamamori, Takeda, Hayakawa and Shinwa clans . With the 1963 Olympics right around the way, the Police presence of Japan is at an all time high. They make a vow to the general public to put a stop to all Yakuza crime by any means -------------------------------------------------------------------- The War is declared when Hayakawa bombs Uchimoto Hiroshima base. Fukuda, Uchimoto's underboss, makes it his personal duty to kill Hayakawa. Makihara starts attacking Shozo's troops in Kure while Shozo is in Hiroshima for Yamamori. Shozo is looking for reinforcements to strengthen lines; while Uchimoto is still beefing with Shozo he brings in the Kawada clan to "assist", and Akashi gets Shozo in touch with Okajima and the Gisei Group, Gambling Businessman of Hiroshima. Okajima prefers to stay neutral for he has ties to Yamamori, but Shozo convinces him otherwise.While Shozo is away in Hiroshima, his underboss gets killed in Kure. Shozo is ready for war but Okubo (on Yamamori's side) convinces him to lay low and rebuild in Kure. Takeda deals with Yamamori's cheapness as the police close in on their black market affairs. He devises a plan to squeeze out everybody close to Shozo one by one. After two clients of Uchimoto gets killed in freak altercation, the public outcry's for increased police presence. The media gets involved and the police start creating task forces to crack down on all yakuza violence. When Uchimoto leaves town, his clan and Hayakawa start warring again. The result leads to two of Uchimoto underbosses deaths and police arrests on all sides and surveillance of all bosses.During all the uproar in Hiroshima, the Akashi and Shinwa clans of Kobe are making truces. Shozo, fearing he'll miss his chance to kill Yamamori, designs a plan to stage a memorial service for their fallen underboss and raid the Yamamori compound at night. But Yamamori catches wind of their plan, and blackmails Uchimoto to sell Shozo out. Yamamori then calls the cops on Shozo for violation of parole and he gets 7 years in jail.With Shozo out the picture, Makihara restarts the war in Kure. Okajima attempts to get Kawada to join the fight but he refuses. Takeda places a tail on Okajima to keep him safe, but when Yamamori catches wind he sends hitmen out to kill Okajima. Takeda pulls out the frontline, and since Uchimoto is tapdancing around his men decide to go out and bomb Yamamori club and office on their own. Yamamori puts his underbosses under fire when he places more faith in the police to keep him safe than them. Some of Uchimoto's men go out to kill Yamamori but Uchimoto snitches to stop the assassination. Upset at their boss betrayal, the men set out on the streets again and start a gun battle with Hayakawa's men. Fed up with the violence, the police arrest Uchimoto, Eda, and Yamamori on gang activities. With the absence of Yamamori, Akashi teams with Gisei to takeover Hiroshima, and only Takeda stands opposing them. After failed attempts to reconcile the violence, Takeda starts bombing Akashi bases. Akashi, thinking Shinwa is behind the bombings, starts attacking both Takeda and Shinwa's clans and all hell breaks loose. Kawada puts a hit out on Gisei Captain to take them down and seize control of West Hiroshima. With the arise of infighting, the Akashi clan decides to make a truce with Shinwa clan and return to Kobe. Shozo is left to serve a 7 year sentence while Uchimoto, Eda, and Yamamori get light sentences. The War of Hiroshima has come to a close , with no real victor .

The fourth and penultimate film in Kenji Fukasaku's epic quintet of yakuza films that began with BATTLES WITHOUT HONOR OR HUMANITY. Fans of this series can expect more of the same in terms of sudden and explicit violence countered with lots of scenes of eating, drinking, and plotting. As with the previous films in this series, it's all about the politics of power, and the struggle for supremacy between rival factions.A word of warning: if you haven't watched any of the previous films, you'll struggle with what's going on here, because back story is everything. If you have watched the previous films, I can say that this one is a slight step down in quality, although still enjoyable; perhaps it's the familiarity of the whole thing that makes this one drag a little, the need for a proper resolution.POLICE TACTICS is still an enjoyable film, although series lead Bunta Sugawara takes something of a back seat here as other players come to fame and fortune and feature heavily. Fukasaku's direction is as strong as ever, and the calibre of the performances never fails to disappoint. The series would close with the fifth and last film, FINAL EPISODE.

The fourth installment of this series details how escalating violence amongst yakuza created a bloody fallout that resulted in the deaths of many innocent civilians. As a result of public and political pressure to crack down on the violence, the police were forced to act against the crime families they had co-existed with for so long.You would be doing yourself a disservice watching this entry if you had not seen the previous three. It is simply the fifth hour in a close-to-eight-hour epic that examines, in fascinating detail, the rise of post-WW2 organized crime in Japan.This is a particularly bloody, nasty installment that is filled with action, intrigue, political maneuvering and vicious back-stabbing.Fukasaku's grasp of the material is firm and the performances remain at the highest standard.Terrific.