Notoriously Famous, or Infamous, Sonny Chiba Movie, along with Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon" (1973), Solidified the Kung-Fu Craze in America. Bad-Ass, as He and the Movie are often Called, is an Accurate Description.Chiba made a lot of Films, this one is part of a Trilogy, but "Street Fighter" Stands Alone in its Audacious Violence, Non-Stop Action, and Unrestrained Bloody Battles. The Martial Arts Expert's Screen Persona Stamps and Stomps His Image On Screen with Facial Contortions, Grunts and Groans, and for a Man 5'10" Tall, has Lightning Quick Hands and Feet.He is No Goody-Goody either. He is a Mercenary and will Work for Anyone and Lustfully Gropes Females at will. The Plot is Inconsequential, the Girls are Brightly Attired Beauties, but it is the Gratuitous Gore that Everyone Remembers besides Our Anti-Hero. And Gory it is with Buckets of Blood and a Few Scenes that are Legendary that won't be Spoiled here.If You are merely Curious, this Film Alone will Prove why All the Fuss about Sonny Chiba. Originally X-Rated for the Violence and Cut for American Release, in the Eighties the Original Version makes it way to Video and the True Aspect Restored. Beware any Lingering Censored and Full-Screen Versions that should be Avoided.

Martial arts legend Shin'ichi "Sonny" Chiba ratchets up the intensity in this classic of the genre, playing tough as nails mercenary Terry Tsurugi. A cold blooded chap at first, his only loyalty is to the almighty yen. When the Mafia and the Yakuza approach him with a possible assignment - to kidnap a comely young oil heiress (Yutaka Nakajima as Sarai) - he says he will do it ONLY if they meet his ridiculous asking price of 60 million. They decide to try to kill him to keep the plan a secret, and he switches sides, taking on all comers as he does his best to keep the young lady from harm.Chiba is great fun to watch in this vivid and fast paced actioner. It's full of all the expected combat that a devotee of this genre could want, and it also delivers some wonderfully nasty gore to boot. (Assigned an X rating at the time, the violence here would probably cause very few people to bat an eye nowadays.) It's packed to the brim with colourful characters, such as the humorously dubbed "Ratnose" (Goichi Yamada), Terry's blubbering sidekick. It's got a very campy, pulpy appeal to the story and dialogue, and the supporting performances are all sufficiently amusing. The young actresses are all absolutely gorgeous.Helping to make this superior diversionary entertainment is the abundant sense of humour. A subplot details a vendetta against Terry; one highlight during this subplot is a hilarious moment when a character badly times a flying kick. And the final showdown between Terry and his opponents takes place on a boat, in the rain.The opening titles for the American release were designed by future director Jack Sholder, who later helmed such horror flicks as "Alone in the Dark" (1982), "A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge", and "The Hidden".Followed by "The Return of Street Fighter" and "Sister Street Fighter".Eight out of 10.

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.

Sonny Chiba puts the "K" in "Karate", "Kick Up", "Knock Out", and so many other words that is too long to list. In "The Street Fighter", Chiba plays Taguma Tsurugi aka "The Street Fighter". Swift, lethal, effective, and downright bad to the bone. He takes on a lot of bad guys with the simplest blows known to man, no other fighter could match him. However, there's one man who could think can take on and kill the super fighter. Not a chance. Ever villain that took on the Street Fighter met their painfully fast ends at his hands. One fighter gets his voice-box crushed by Terry, and the man who ordered the showdown hates dirty tricks when one of the henchmen shoots the fighter, he killed the gunman. Most villains would laugh at this predicament. What gives? Anyway, this movie is amazing, I heard talks about it, and it was a must see movie! 4.5 out of 5 stars!