Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Motompa Go in cold, and you're likely to emerge with your blood boiling. This has to be seen to be believed.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Keira Brennan The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

Comeuppance Reviews Bob Malone (Rooker) is an L.A. ex-cop who is having a very bad day. First his daughter mouths off to him, then some guy blocks in his car, and after that he gets into a battle with his local ATM. His Loan Officer (that's his name, evidently) (Willard) won't even give him any more time. To make matters worse, two Japanese gangsters named Koji and Hideo (Ishibashi and Takasugi, respectively) show up in town brandishing a mysterious suitcase. It seems they're in the midst of a gang war with the Italian mafia, and thanks to the inadvertent intervention of a psychotic man named...well, Psycho (Goldthwait), the unlikely pair of Bob and Koji end up teaming up in the name of some sort of justice. But will Bob repair his relationship with his sassy daughter? And is there corruption that goes all the way to the top? The only way to find out is for Bob and Koji to get BACK TO BACK results! Possibly one of the earliest of what we call "Tarantino Slogs", that's somewhat of a misnomer here as Back to Back may be quite Tarantino-esque with the constant jawing of its characters in a crime comedy/drama scenario, but there's nothing sloggy about it. One of the best aspects of the movie is its brisk and peppy pace, and the whole thing is quite freewheeling. And because it was the 90's, back when movies were well-lit, you can actually see what's going on. On the one hand, you have violent action scenes with plenty of gun-shooting and such. On the other hand, you have comedians such as Bobcat Goldthwait, Fred Willard, and Jake Johannsen making appearances, and the mix of the two is uneasy, let's say. The two worlds collide in scenes where Bobcat is shooting cops with a machine gun. You won't see that anywhere else, that's for sure. Whether that's a good thing or not is ultimately up to you. Interestingly, this was touted as a sequel or semi-sequel to American Yakuza (1993), and indeed it is known as American Yakuza 2 in many territories around the world. Apparently calling it that didn't have much cache in the U.S., where it garnered the rather lackluster title it has here. As far as we can tell, the only cast or crew member that made it over from American Yakuza 1 was actor Ryo Ishibashi, though he plays a different character in this one. His star power overseas must be big, as that's a pretty tenuous thread to tie the two movies together. He has been in some things that have gotten some play over here, such as Miike's Audition (1999) and Beat Takeshi's Brother (2000), but he's just one of many cast members on show here, competing for screen time with the likes of Fred Willard, Vincent Schiavelli, Tim Thomerson, Stephen Furst, and others. Fan favorite Michael Rooker gets not only a rare starring role, but an equally rare chance to show off his comedic chops. He also does action scenes well, so a lot was demanded of him here. His daughter, played by Danielle Harris, is almost the same character she played in the great The Last Boy Scout (1991). While that also was an action movie with humor, it had the power of Shane Black behind it. Back to Back, while entertaining, doesn't have the depth, power, or quality writing of Boy Scout. But certainly fans of it would probably enjoy Back to Back as well, as they are cut from the same cloth. So, if you like spotting B-movie stars as they come and go in small roles, and you like your action with a heapin' helping of laffs, by all means check out Back to Back. If you keep your expectations low - and don't mind the whole Tarantino-esque thing - you will find some enjoyment here.

mangoatis2 After watching this movie, I was disappointed that they could've done better with the action with gang members using melee weapons such as Mob hit men armed with retractable cross blades and gang members performing in-your-face matrix-style fist fights on villains, making it from a shoot-em-up to a beat-em-up action adventure.The transitions are too old-school and would be better if they were replaced by bullet holes being shot across the screen as if it was in a video game. And the action should be downright violent and extreme to make it a cutting edge film from other movies. If they were to make a sequel to American Yakuza 2, the name should be titled "B2B:Back 2 Back" (Spelled with an inverted number two) since it would give character to the story and make it more chill.D.H. should be cast in place of Michael Rooker's role as a thug/all-girl gang leader with a lethal fighting ability who rages out when she fights using a set of glowstick-like nunchakus who later cracks heads with a Yakuza hit-man to rescue her father from the government-ruling mafia.Also, the soundtrack would be a blast if it were replaced by a Techno/Electronica score other than Rock and Country for the action scenes because it would fit well with the movie and make it look cool. A good example of this would be the opening of the movie being replaced by JXL's remix of Elvis Presley's "A little less Conversation" followed by Squarepusher's Paistow flex out for Hideo's on-foot-journey to the strip club followed by The Orb's remix of Blue room as he enters the club, immediately following that, a track from the band Tempest titled "Deepsky" as he sits down about to die as he draws out his shades.I Also think that it would be interesting if Danielle Harris were to put her Scream-Queen persona aside once and for all and star in a role where she finally fights back and gets downright brutal with her enemies. I'm for once, sick and tired of seeing her be a victim in all of the action movies she's in and would like to someday see her As a lead character in an action/thriller flick (No comedies or children's movies) fighting villains.Believe it or not, this may sound like I'm trying to damage the original but If the director is reading this, I think this should be an awesome and exciting idea for a third sequel or series to this movie.

ctomvelu-1 That terrific character actor Michael Rooker stars in the poorly titled BACK TO BACK, about a perpetually angry ex-cop caught up in a feud between the Japanese and American mobs. Against his better judgment, he teams up with a Yakuza killer (Ryo Ishibashi) to take down a capo who owes money to the Yakuza. The ex-cop's teen daughter (Danielle Harris of HALLOWEEN sequels fame) is along for the ride, and some of the best parts of the movie are the constant bickering between dad and daughter. Shot locally in L.A. and filled with Hollywood types in unnecessary cameos (Tim Thomerson, Bobcat Goldthwait, Fred Willard), the film leans heavily on Rooker, and he comes through as a divorced, aging dad with extreme anger management issues. Whatever the movie may lack otherwise, like a budget and a script, is at least partially made up for in the frequent, John Woo-style shootouts and fistfights, all of which are gorgeously bloody and well-staged. Good for insomniacs, like me. All others, approach with caution.

Jolo-2 I would've never seen this movie if Cinemax didn't show it every 5 days. It's a perfect guy's flick, with a classic mismatched buddy formula, slick gun and martial arts action, and some decently amusing one-liners and situations. The Japanese and American mobs are at war, and in the process a down-and-out American cop gets caught in the middle. The real star is the Japanese hitman played by Ryo Ishibashi, who reminds me of Chow Yun-Fat at his stoic, tough guy best. Michael Rooker is typecast but does a decent job playing the straight man, and between the two there's a lot of shooting and ass