Kung Fu Movies

Japan had its Bruce Lee craze just like everywhere else in the early seventies and Sonny Chiba was their answer to Bruce Lee. The action scenes are on par with anything Bruce lee has done, and perhaps have more of a grittier edge. Along with the vicious, fast and furious action scenes there are some typically Japanese acts of misogyny which may seem pretty bizarre to Western audiences when it’s the “hero” doing it (When was the last time you saw Chuck Norris or Jackie Chan sell a woman off to a slave ring because she couldn’t afford to pay for getting her brother out of jail?).
This entry into the Street Fighter series is somewhat tamer than the first films in the series. This time around Chiba is more of a James Bond kind of character, donning rubber masks and vampire fangs and manages to become embroiled in a plot involving cassettes with top secret information. There’s also some Gong Show-type freak (Who you see a lot of on Japanese TV) who can break chains (he actually uses a laser) who’s heard to kill Chiba (Yeah, right!). A must see for any self respecting fan of martial arts films.
Along with the awful dubbing there’s also the same black and white footage where Chiba, as a kid, sees his father executed to the Chinese which turns up in all the STREET FIGHTER movies.