peefyn I admit: I looked up this movie due to the biblical(ish) monologue that was borrowed by Tarantino in Pulp Fiction. It starts off the movie, and is by far the most interesting thing with it. I can understand Tarantino deciding to use it himself.I have no experience with old martial art movies, but I do appreciate it as a genre, and the mark it has left on popular culture. After seeing this movie, I realize I should probably start with some of the more higher rated movies. Also, I'm not sure if watching the dubbed American releases is the best idea. Sure, it has a campy quality, and maybe it's a nostalgic feeling for those who saw these movies as they came out (or went as reruns) - but honoring the original intent of the director is probably a good idea. Still, even though I have only seen the American release of this movie, the director's intent here probably isn't that interesting.As many have already pointed out, the plot is confusing and, well, boring. I love the premise: A master of martial arts publicly stating that he will serve as a body guard to anyone who will go against the drug mafia. That's a good set up for an interesting movie. But here it is followed up with bad fight scenes, silly decisions, horrid acting and boring dialog. Worst of all is maybe how the camera is operated. At times, it seems like the camera man thinks he is wielding a steady cam when he is not - leading to a very shaky image. Almost like when you see kids making movies, or home movies.I could go on, but basically: Start somewhere else if you want to get into kung-fu movies.

Woodyanders The almighty Sonny Chiba portrays himself as a vehemently anti-drug vigilante who declares open war on dope dealers. Chiba protects the former mistress (fetching Judy Lee) of a murdered New York mob boss from both a rival gang of vicious thugs and the Asian representatives of the Cosa Nostra. Director Simon Nuchtern really pours on the raw, brutal, bone-breaking, blood-spilling violence with ferocious abandon. In addition, Nuchtern provides a generous smattering of tasty gratuitous female nudity and a nasty misogynistic bent to further spice up the sleazy stew. The pace starts out rather slow and dull, but eventually picks up as the film progresses towards its startling downbeat ending. Joel Shapiro's snazzy cinematography makes nifty use of shaky zooms, whiplash pans, prowling tracking shots, wobbly hand-held camera-work and funky freeze frames. Maurice Sarli's groovy, syncopated score likewise does the trick. The bad guys are an extremely mean and scummy bunch of no-count wicked hoodlums. The lovely Etsuko Shihomi briefly pops up as Chiba's feisty younger sister. Martial arts champions Bill Louie and Aaron Banks also make fleeting appearances in a needless, but funny tacked-on prologue. Viva Chiba!

Mike P I liked Chiba in Street Fighter, and I figured hey, no matter how stupid this movie will be, I'll at least get to see him kick some ass, right? Wrong. This is a dull, dreary mess of pointless talking, half-assed scriptwriting and meaningless scheming. There are few action scenes of any kind, even fewer martial arts scenes, and the few that are are shot and edited so poorly that you can't even make out what in the world is going on. The dub is also atrocious, and perhaps the idiocy that is this movie is best illustrated by the fact that it prominently features the *Italian* Mafia... but they're all played by *Japanese* actors! Avoid like the plague--you would see better martial arts by looking through the window of your local preschool karate class for five minutes.

gibbog After watching "The Bodyguard" last night, I felt compelled to write a review of it.This could have been a pretty decent movie had it not been for the awful camera-work. It was beyond annoying. The angles were all wrong, it was impossible to see anything, especially during the fight sequences. The closeups were even horrible.The story has Sonny Chiba hiring himself out as a bodyguard to anyone willing to lead him to the top of a drug ring. He is approached by Judy Lee, who is never quite straight with Chiba. Lee's involvement in the drug ring is deeper than Chiba thought, as the Mob and another gang of thugs are after her.The story was decent, and despite horrible dubbing, this could have been a good movie. Given better direction and editing, I'm sure this would have been a classic Kung Foo movie. As it is, it's more like another cheesy 70's action movie.Note: The opening sequence has a quote familiar to "Pulp Fiction" fans, and then continues to a karate school in Times Square that is in no way related to the rest of the movie.Rating: 4 out of 10