The Yakuza Papers in order

While The Godfather romanticized the American Mafia in the early 1970s, Kinji Fukasaku's five-film series known as The Yakuza Papers: Battles Without Honor & Humanity revolutionized the Japanese yakuza film with unprecedented intensity. A post-World War II epic that broke Japanese box-office records, this complex, utterly authentic cycle of gangster films replaced the popular ninkyo or "chivalry" films of the '60s with jitsuroku, an entirely new breed of gangster film that rose from the ashes of Hiroshima and post-war reconstruction, depicting a meticulously detailed "alternate history" that had been ignored by the "official" factual record. 5 films, 8h 21m in all, in release order.

1. 1
   

   Battles Without Honor and Humanity

   1973 · 99 min

   In the teeming black markets of postwar Japan, Shozo Hirono and his buddies find themselves in a new war between factious and ambitious yakuza.

   Worth the Hype
2. 2
   

   Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Deadly Fight in Hiroshima

   1973 · 99 min

   Repeatedly beat to a pulp by gamblers, cops, and gangsters, lone wolf Shoji Yamanaka finally finds a home as a Muraoka family hitman and falls in love with boss Muraoka's niece. Meanwhile, the ambitions of mad dog Katsutoshi Otomo draws our series' hero, Shozo Hirono, and the other yakuza into a new round of bloodshed.

   Worth the Hype
3. 3
   

   Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War

   1973 · 102 min

   Shozo Hirono has managed to separate from the Yamamori family and create his own small family, and extend his circle of acquaintances. These new friendships include a powerful underboss of the Muraoka family, Noboru Uchimoto.

   Worth the Hype
4. 4
   

   Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Police Tactics

   1974 · 101 min

   As Japan gears up for the 1964 Olympic Games, the cops start to crack down on the gangs, under pressure from the public and the press, adding a new dimension in the war for power among the yakuza families of Hiroshima.

   Worth the Hype
5. 5
   

   Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Final Episode

   1974 · 100 min

   While Hirono is in prison, his rival Takeda turns his own crime organization into a political party, whose two executives stir up new tensions in their thirst for power.

   Worth the Hype