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is a 1989 Japanese [[neo-noir]] [[action|Action film]] [[thriller|Thriller film]] film directed by [[Takeshi Kitano]], written by Kitano and [[Hisashi Nozawa]], and starring Kitano, [[Maiko Kawakami]], Makoto Ashikawa, Hakuryu, Ken Yoshizawa, and [[Ittoku Kishibe]]. It follows Azuma, a Japanese police [[detective]] known for his [[rough and unprofessional conduct|Police brutality]], after he is assigned to investigate drug trafficking by the ''[[yakuza]]''. It was Kitano's directorial debut, and marked the beginning of his career as a filmmaker. [[Takeshi Kitano]] rewrote most of the film's original screenplay by [[Hisashi Nozawa]].
Azuma and his new partner Kikuchi are assigned to investigate the murder of a drug dealer, and break up an attempted drug deal in the bathroom of a nightclub. The seller, who works for yakuza boss Nito, names Azuma's close friend Iwaki, a vice squad detective, as his supplier. Azuma is subsequently asked to help find Iwaki, who has seemingly gone into hiding due to newspapers uncovering his ties to the yakuza, but a fisherman finds Iwaki's corpse hanging from a noose under a bridge. Refusing to believe that his friend committed suicide, Azuma attempts to track down the dealers from before, but both men are executed by sociopathic yakuza hitman Kiyohiro. Unable to take action against the well-connected Nito, Azuma False evidence in Kiyohiro's apartment, apprehends him, and tortures him for information in the police station. However, this angers the police deputy chief, who forces Azuma to resign to protect the force from investigation.
Azuma spends his first day of unemployment doing what he pleases in town, but Kiyohiro and his men use the opportunity to kidnap Akari and bring her to their hideout, where they take turns raping her and getting her hooked on drugs. Kiyohiro also defies Nito's orders and tries to stab Azuma on a busy street; Azuma grabs the knife and Kiyohiro pulls a gun, accidentally killing a young woman when his shot misses, while Azuma manages to stab Kiyohiro in the leg and escapes. The next day, he purchases ammo and an unregistered firearm from a friend at the gambling parlor and practices shooting it, preparing to battle Kiyohiro.
Knowing Azuma is coming, Kiyohiro orders his men to arm themselves for a shootout but, finding they are unwilling to fight, executes two of them, while the third attempts to flee Kiyohiro's wrath but is gunned down by Azuma when he arrives. In the ensuing gunfight, Kiyohiro manages to shoot Azuma with multiple guns, but is shot and killed by him when he tries to find another. Azuma finally reunites with Akari, but finds she is now hopelessly addicted to drugs to the point of searching Kiyohiro's corpse for more, and he chooses to mercy kill her with his final bullet. A badly-wounded Azuma begins to leave, but is killed by Shinkai, Nito's former advisor, as revenge for Azuma killing Nito under the mistaken belief that he had ordered Kiyohiro to go after Akari.
Sometime later, Kikuchi, now a senior vice detective, meets with Shinkai, who explains that with the heat surrounding Azuma's actions dying down, he wants Kikuchi to take over for Iwaki and continue to sell drugs through the police force. Kikuchi eagerly accepts Shinkai's offer and leaves.
After the movie, the title has been widely parodied in comics, magazine articles, books. For example, America's Most Dangerous Pets was translated as Kono Petto Kyōbō Ni Tsuki, with "pet" instead of "man".
With 11 friends whom he described as part of his army, he marched into the offices of Friday, a scandal magazine, and roughed up a senior editor and four staff members. The comedian, one of the most popular entertainers in Japan, told the police that he could no longer restrain himself after a Friday photographer had intrusively taken pictures of his female companion.
The Friday raid incident caused the original plan of the film to be completely washed away. Due to the incident, there were talks of replacing Kitano with another actor that was just then doing really well in the Kansai region, but after various people looked at the script, this too was washed away.
After the producer and director discussed what to do about the whole thing, they came to the conclusion that since this movie was to be Beat Takeshi’s grand return, there was no way they could have a convicted criminal play the role of a criminal. And thus, the film became about a police detective.
In the end, Okuyama asked Kitano to become the director, promising him complete freedom with schedule and directorial style.東京新聞編集局編『映画監督50人 自作を歩く』東京新聞出版局, 2001, pp.143 Kitano accepted with the single exception that he was allowed to edit the script as he pleased, staking his name and honor on the project. Production staff were generally unconvinced a comedian could direct a film, offering pointers as he went along, but due to the tight schedule, they ended up letting him do as he pleased.
Okuyama ended up drafting the marketing copy “Keep this away from your kids” to sell the violent nature of the film, which came from Bandai’s then marketing copy.
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