Simon Booth I had believed that I had seen this film on a lousy cropped + dubbed DVD some years ago and found it not deserving of the affection/adoration with which it is usually discussed. However, the film seemed so wholly unfamiliar when I watched it tonight that I think I may simply not have seen it before at all - I can't believe that widescreen + original language/subtitles would make _that_ much difference. Then again, my memory is very poor! Regardless, it seems I've finally found my Sonny Chiba groove, and can completely see why this film is loved and revered. It's as ultra-violent, nasty, sleazy a piece of 70's karate-sploitation as you're ever going to see! Chiba plays Tsurugi, a merciless karate master whose moral stance is at best ambiguous - the baddest of asses, if ever an ass was bad! He is quite happy to kill for money, but his real wish seems simply to fight an opponent of equal skill and bloodthirstiness. He volunteers to protect a wealthy heiress, though whether his real motive is to steal her money is never quite resolved. Once the bad guys start sending their karate masters to kill him it's a moot point, though, as he's much more interested in maiming and mutilating them! The film was made only a year or so after Bruce Lee's death, and it's clear that Chiba was being offered as the Japanese replacement for him - but unlike many abortive attempts by the HK studios to produce a "new Bruce Lee", Toei realised from the start that imitation wasn't the right approach... Chiba is in many ways an "anti-Bruce"... rugged, mean, visceral and brutal. He's definitely not a "hero" in any traditional sense... he even warns the heiress' family that he may be worse than the people he's going to protect her from.The film is action packed pretty much from the beginning to the end, with a small army of goons apparently willing to throw themselves on Chiba's lack of mercy - which he rewards with a whole lot of bone cracking, eye gouging and body part ripping violence. Chiba's style is distinctive, and the fights have a rawness that is quite different from the kung fu films of the day. Much of it seems to be full-contact, with Chiba hitting pretty hard. The film piles on the gore gleefully and gruesomely, though obviously the special effects look dated today.The film delivers all that fans of trashy, violent exploitation might be looking for except perhaps for nudity - conspicuously absent given the trends of the times... perhaps they didn't want to distract people's attention. It's easy to see why Chiba became an international icon, and why the film is regarded as a classic of its genre.Highly (but selectively) recommended!

SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Superb action film that is superior to all recent efforts. The Street Fighter is everything you should love about the genre. In fact, it does so much right, it should be used as a template for any film wishing to achieve such levels of excitement and brutality. The first thing to grab my attention was the lead protagonist. He isn't exactly a nice guy. Far from it. He's a mercenary for hire, and not the lovable rogue like Han Solo. He is sadistic and cruel and self serving. However, Chiba manages to instill such charisma that I was drawn to the performance. As the film progressed, so did Chiba. His actions became more heroic, even if his methods could still make me cringe. The action scenes are those I long to return. This isn't some "exciting" frenetic exercise in editing. The action derives from the actors and the stunts. The camera is following what is going on, and heavy editing is not needed. There are some stylistic flourishes which add extra cool, but not so much as to detract from the emotions of the characters. Some parts are a little convoluted, but the balance between story, dialog, and action is beautifully thought out. It's all helped along by a very 70's and very sexy soundtrack.

tomgillespie2002 Takuma Tsurugi (Sonny Chiba) is a martial artist for hire, and at the start of the film, helps the soon-to-be-executed Taketi (Masashi Ishibashi) escape by giving him his 'oxygen coma punch' to the back of his head. He is rushed to hospital and is freed by some of Tsurugi's helpers. Later a group of gangsters try to hire him to kidnap the daughter of an oil tycoon, Sarai (Yutaka Nakajima), which he refuses due to them being Yakuza. Instead, he attacks the dojo where she is being held and is eventually beaten by the dojo master, who nevertheless hires Tsurugi to protect her. Soon he and Sarai are being hunted by the Yakuza, who have also hired Taketi to murder Tsurugi.Recently this film and its two sequels were given a new lease of life by Tony Scott's True Romance, where the two leads are watching a Sonny Chiba marathon in the cinema (scriptwriter Tarantino being clearly a fan). But Chiba has been huge in Japan and amongst fans of the martial arts fans for decades, and it's not difficult to see why. Chiba is simply a force of nature on screen, with his monkey-like fighting movements and often terrifying facial expressions. His character here is a nasty piece of work. He isn't all inner peace and fighting for the greater good. He fights for money, and will quite happily rip your cock and balls off to stop a rape. Tsurugi's repulsiveness is refreshing, and Chiba is so fascinating to watch in the role that you can't help cheering for him, even when he's beating up a group of innocent karate apprentices.The plot itself is as convoluted and confusing as a lot of the Japanse Yazuka/martial arts films are, and near to the end I'd forgotten who half the characters were and what their purpose was. But with action scenes this good, I couldn't have cared less. The first film in the US to receive an 'X' rating solely for its violence, The Streetfighter revels in its over-the-top blood letting, and is all the better for it. Mouthfuls of teeth are knocked out, a skull is shattered in X-ray vision, and the aforementioned castration scene has Chiba gleefully holding the prize possession in the air once it's been removed. Big, stupid, and very gory fun.www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Ertzi Sonny Chiba is a legend in his own right I guess, but for some reason, to this day I had not seen any of his movies. It was time to remedy that situation, in the same vein uncle Argyle remedied the not-speaking-Latin conundrum of William Wallace.If I had seen this movie in the seventies, I would have probably thought it was one of the best movies ever. Sadly, I have seen the future of martial arts films, and Tony Jaa is my guide to the promised land. I'm sorry to say that my taste is more refined nowadays. The action here is way too... intermittent. I don't like how the movements end abruptly, I fancy a more flowing style. The quirky codes of the fighters seem very outdated as well. "Your karate is inferior, I will kill you. But I will fight honorably using only my fists, even though several of my henchmen surround you with pistols. Let us begin." Funny stuff.It feels like these Japanese movies were counter-programming for the Chinese kung fu cinema, or it could be that Japan was making these before China (useful sentence, right?). Whatever the case, they now have their own cult hero... Who makes lots of stupid faces. Seriously, he could be Jerry Lewis for all I know. And why on earth does this one dude call Chiba Darling throughout the film?! It is not his name. There is one awesome scene though, when Chiba does to a rapist-wannabe the exact thing I would do to them all. Satisfying much? Oh yes.I will always extend more leniency to martial arts movies as far as my ratings go, so I will give this five stars, even though it makes absolutely no sense. There are lots of fights, but they are mostly mediocre. Definite bonus points for brutality, awesome theme song and a badass ending.