Sister Street Fighter (1974) - A Review

 

This movie kicks butt!

Sister Street Fighter is a martial arts movie released in Japan in 1974 and stars Etsuko Shihomi, Sonny Chiba, Bin Amatsu, Masashi Ishibashi, Emi Hayakawa,  Hiroshi Miyauchi, and Xiè Xiùróng. It was directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. Sister Street Fighter was rated X for violence when released in America, and has nothing to do with The Street Fighter (1974), starring Sonny Chiba (even though he has a role in this movie).

Etsuko Shihomi as Tina Long. She is amazing in this.

In Sister Street Fighter, Etsuko Shihomi plays Tina Long, a martial artist who is in search of her missing brother, Lee Long (played by Hiroshi Miyauchi) in Japan. Lee Long is also a martial artist in the Shorinji kempo school, and was investigating the Central Export corporation before he went missing. As you can imagine, the head of Central Export, Kaki (played by Bin Amatsu) is one evil and corrupt business man. The way he makes his money is pretty outrageous (you have to see the movie to believe it), and he has multiple martial artists to protect him, including Amazons!

Tina goes on a fight-filled quest to find her brother, encountering bad guys around every corner. There is a martial arts master who hates the Shorinji kempo school, Hammerhead (played by Masashi Ishibashi), who becomes a thorn in Tina's side. Tina is not alone in her quest, she gets help from students at the Shorinji kempo school; Sonny (played by Sonny Chiba) and Emmy Kawasaki (played by Emi Hayakawa). Sonny, in particular, is a ferocious fighter. Can Tina uncover the illegal activities Kaki and Central Export are up to, and can she find and rescue her brother...?

Sonny Chiba (center) provides back up!

Though the movie is called Sister Street Fighter, and it has the star of The Street Fighter (Sonny Chiba) in a major role, and Etsuko Shihomi also had a role in The Street Fighter... this movie has nothing to do with the previous movie. Some would call it a spin-off, but is it really if the American movie company New Line Cinema renamed the movie Sister Street Fighter to capitalize on the success of The Street Fighter? It doesn't really matter to me, I guess. What matters is if I enjoyed it, and I did!

I'll just say it: Sister Street Fighter is just a fun action movie, nothing too deep. It is a showcase for Etsuko Shihomi and her martial arts skills. She plays Tina Long as a strong, determined, and caring woman on a mission to find her brother and bring down Central Export. Sonny Chiba has a somewhat small (but major) role in this movie, but his scenes are very memorable! He kicks butt like nobody else! The villains come out of a manga or anime; some of them are really over the top evil or are just plain crazy characters. Though the movie may seem goofy or less serious than something like The Street Fighter, there are some very violent deaths in this. Also a warning, there is a rape scene in this. I can understand why the movie was rated X when it came out in America, but I still think it shouldn't have been edited. It is pretty violent by today's standards, but it is not shocking like it would have been back then.

 By the way, I watched the original English dub of this movie, so I definitely need to watch Sister Street Fighter in its original language with English subtitles. I feel like I wasn't getting the whole story with the dub. Maybe I will review that version of the movie in the future.

Etsuko Shihomi shows no mercy towards disrespectful men!

The action is fast and furious in Sister Street Fighter! There are a lot of fight scenes in this movie! Etsuko Shihomi is awesome in this, and she gets to show off her martial arts skills throughout. Her first fight scene in the movie is against a bunch of men in a restaurant who "want her attention", if you know what I mean. Naturally, she destroys them, and you learn from this fight that Tina is not someone to be messed with! Sonny Chiba has some great fight scenes in this movie as well. He may not be as wild as he was in The Street Fighter, but he still fights with ferocity. The final fights are when things get crazy, with many graphically violent deaths. The action is good in Sister Street Fighter, but just don't expect Hong Kong style choreography.

So, should you watch Sister Street Fighter? I say yes! It's not the best movie in the world, but it has an amazing star (Etsuko Shihomi), crazy characters, an interesting story, and plentiful fight scenes. When you think of the best ever action stars, Etsuko Shihomi should be in the conversation. She is great, and I feel is really underrated nowadays.

Reviewed by David Williams

Shogun's Ninja (1980) - A Review

 

An underrated ninja/martial arts movie from Japan.

Shogun's Ninja is a martial arts/ninja movie released in Japan in 1980, starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba, Yuki Ninagawa, Etsuko Shihomi, and Isao Natsuyagi. It was directed by Norifumi Suzuki, with Sonny Chiba directing the action.

Hiroyuki Sanada as Takamaru.

In Shogun's Ninja, Hiroyuki Sanada plays Momochi Takamaru, the heir to the leadership of the Momochi clan (and possibly the leader of a united Japan) who escaped to China after his father was murdered by the Iga clan. Takamaru's mother sends her son away with a dagger (that is passed down to the heir of the Momochi clan), and ends her life so the Iga clan cannot get any information from her. Shiranui Shōgen (played by Sonny Chiba) is in search of the Momochi clan daggers because they have a map to the Momochi clan's hidden cache of gold.

Ten years later, Takamaru comes back to Japan, in search of the man who killed his father. He meets up with his surviving childhood friends, and together they plan to get revenge. The girl who saved his life in China and introduced him to Chinese martial arts, Ai-Lian (played by Etsuko Shihomi) has also arrived in Japan, looking for him. Unbeknownst to Takamaru, his childhood friend Otsu (played by Yuki Ninagawa) survived and is now living as the sister of Hattori Hanzō (played by Isao Natsuyagi). Hattori also wants the daggers. Takamaru has many people on his side, but is it enough to defeat  Shiranui Shōgen and his shogun?

Sonny Chiba as Shiranui Shōgen.

Shogun's Ninja is a Japanese martial arts movie that goes all out in in every way. There is a lot of action, lots of cool scenery, lots of memorable moments, and lots of memorable characters. Hiroyuki Sanada, in his first lead role, plays a great hero. He gets to show his martial arts skills throughout, and even his dancing prowess as well. He is likable, and Takamaru is a hero you can really root for. Sonny Chiba is more of a stoic villain in this movie. He is highly skilled and merciless. There is a scene where his character is torturing Takamaru, and it gets pretty painful (if you are a male, you will especially feel it)! It is always great to see Etsuko Shihomi kicking butt in movies, and she does a lot of that in Shogun's Ninja! She is a strong woman who wants to help Takamaru any way she can.

The plot is kind of basic (finding the twin daggers, which has a map to treasure engraved on them), but it really doesn't need a deep story when it has so much action in it. Takamaru just wants revenge, Shiranui Shōgen wants the daggers, and therefore the treasure and the power. Hattori Hanzō wants the daggers for the treasure, so he sends his sister to steal them. Since Otsu grew up with Takamaru, we are unsure of her motives throughout the movie. It's an interesting scenario. The resolution to everything is pretty fitting, I feel.

I have been looking for this movie for years! It's been decades since I last watched it on late night cable TV (TNT). These are the only things I could clearly remember about the movie: it was called "Ninja's Revenge", there were ninjas who crawled up and down trees like spiders, a female martial arts fighter ripped her pants when fighting some bad guys, the main character looked similar to Jackie Chan, and the main villain was played by Sonny Chiba. I looked everywhere for this movie, but as you can imagine, I wasn't finding anything under the "Ninja's Revenge" title. Finally, I see Shogun's Ninja on the American streaming site Tubi, I read the description, and I take a chance on it. Everything I remembered from back then happened in this movie! What a feeling it is when you find something after years of being unsuccessful looking for it. The only thing I didn't remember was the soundtrack to this movie. It has a very funky, jazzy soundtrack. The music is okay, I guess, but it is surprising for this type of movie! It was better than I remembered, that's for sure!

There is a lot of crazy ninja action in Shogun's Ninja!

There is a lot of action in Shogun's Ninja!  Hiroyuki Sanada gets to strut his stuff throughout the movie. His first fight in the movie is a good display of his hand to hand combat skills. He fights off a group of thugs with ease, and he does some sweet kicks and acrobatics in the process. In later fights, he mainly uses his dagger(s), which he is very proficient at. Sonny Chiba's character is a ruthless fighter, and one of his special moves is forming a human tower with twin fighters. It's very cool to see it in action! Etsuko Shihomi is great in this, and mainly uses nunchakus against her enemies. There are ninja battles high in the trees, with ninjas falling to their deaths. Lots of bloody action as well, with limbs flying and blood spurting. The action is very good in Shogun's Ninja!

If you like ninja action, swordplay, and historical Japanese stories, I think you would enjoy Shogun's Ninja. I think it is a very entertaining and enjoyable movie. This may not be considered one of Sonny Chiba's or Hiroyuki Sanada's best movies, but they are great in it. What a lead role debut for Hiroyuki Sanada in Shogun's Ninja. He really gets to show his physical talents in this, and it is like a preview of the greatness he would later achieve in movies like Ninja In The Dragon's Den (1982) and Royal Warriors (1986). Check out Shogun's Ninja, it's a wild ride!

Reviewed by David Williams

The Street Fighter (1974) - A Review

 

The Street Fighter is an incredibly violent cult classic martial arts film.

The Street Fighter (also known as Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken and Kung Fu Streetfighter) is a martial arts movie released in Japan in 1974, starring Sonny Chiba, Goichi Yamada, Masashi Ishibashi, Yutaka Nakajima, Etsuko Shihomi, Jirō Yabuki,and Rinichi Yamamoto. The Street Fighter was directed by Shigehiro Ozawa, with fight direction by Tsutomu Harada, Reggy Jones, and Ken Kazama.

Sonny Chiba as Takuma Tsurugi. Do not mess with him!

In The Street Fighter, Sonny Chiba plays Takuma Tsurugi, an assassin for hire who is highly proficient in martial arts. At the start of the movie, Tsurugi uses a martial arts technique to free a prisoner (played by Masashi Ishibashi) on death row. When he gets back home, the brother (played by Jiro Yabuki) and the sister Nachi (played by Etsuko Shihomi) of the prisoner come to Tsurugi's apartment to see their brother and to ask for more time to pay off the fee. Tsurugi informs them that he sent their brother out of the country, and he wants the full payment now. Naturally, they fight, and the brother dies during the altercation. Nachi is sold into prostitution after that.

The Yakuza capture Tsurugi at one point. How he is able to escape has severe repercussions...

Takuma Tsurugi is not a good guy. Later on, he gets a meeting with some shady business people who want to hire him to kidnap Sarai Chuayut-Hammett (played by Yutaka Nakajima), the daughter of a recently deceased billionaire oil tycoon. Tsurugi refuses the assignment once he finds out they are Yakuza. From there, The Yakuza plan to kill Tsurugi and kidnap Sarai themselves.

Tsurugi goes to the martial arts dojo Sarai's uncle runs to offer his services to protect Sarai. After fighting the martial arts students there and the master, we learn a little about Takuma Tsurugi's origins and why he fights the way he does. The uncle agrees to hire Tsurugi, and from there Tsurugi and his partner Rakuda (played by Goichi Yamada), have several run ins with Yakuza assassins while trying to protect Sarai. The prisoner who Tsurugi got out of prison also has a part in all of this. Can Tsurugi protect Sarai from the Yakuza, and avoid being killed himself?

You back a wild dog into a corner, he gon' bite.

The Street Fighter is a cult classic martial arts movie that has left a lasting legacy. When it got released in the United States, it got an X rating for the violence in it! Reading/hearing about some of the things that happens in this movie made me avoid it like the plague whenever I saw it for sale at the specialty video stores I used to go to. I am not against extreme violence, it's just not something I seek out (unless it was pro wrestling back in the day). The first time I was able to watch The Street Fighter (or at least part of it) was on broadcast TV about ten years ago! They blurred one particularly graphic (and famous) scene. Seeing what The Street Fighter was like for myself, I finally put it on my list of 'Need To Watch Movies'.

The plot, as I summarized it above, may seem a bit thin, but there is actually some depth to it. There's more to the story than I summarized, and it goes to some unexpected places. To me, the plot was very shonen manga-like, in a good way. I could actually imagine The Street Fighter as a manga or an anime. In some ways, Takuma Tsurugi reminds me of Kenshiro from Fist Of The North Star. Sonny Chiba is amazing in this movie. Takuma Tsurugi is an antihero with principles. He really does not tolerate organized crime syndicates. He does what he does for money, and he is loyal (if you show loyalty to him). The way Tsurugi fights is wild. He fights to maim, to kill, and to destroy. He has a simmering rage inside, and that helps him in his line of work. Sonny Chiba was the perfect guy to play Tsurugi. If anyone else played him the way Chiba played him, I don't think The Street Fighter would be taken as seriously as it is (to martial arts movie fans, at least). Also very cool that Etsuko Shihomi has a part in this. She plays a strong woman who gets beaten down by men in her life, both literally and figuratively. Her self sacrifice is admirable. Masashi Ishibashi as the freed prisoner is great as the tortured enigma who is completely focused on revenge.

Seek and destroy seems to be Takuma Tsurugi's motto.

The action in The Street Fighter is extreme! Sonny Chiba fights like a wild animal; punching, kicking, gouging, and tearing out whatever he can to win the fight. Sonny Chiba is a snarling, spitting beast as he fights. Blood spurts out frequently in this movie. Sonny Chiba even tears out body parts of his opponents to win. There is the famous scene of him giving a rapist what he deserves, and another famous scene that shows the X-ray effect of punching a man's skull, then the bloody aftermath. I'm trying not to go into too much detail, as these scenes come out of nowhere and are quite shocking if you aren't expecting them. Really, the violent bloodiness reminds me of the Lone Wolf and Cub movies (and of the American edited version of it, Shogun Assassin). The fight scenes are...okay. They aren't intricately choreographed like in Hong Kong martial arts movies, but the fight scenes are still fun.

In conclusion, I highly recommend watching The Street Fighter. If you want extreme violence with your fight scenes, this is the movie for you! Sonny Chiba's performance is amazing, and totally memorable. The plot is interesting, and even has a few twists. The music in this is great as well, with the main theme almost sounding like it's from the the soundtrack of Shaft! Check out this classic movie and be amazed! And hey, you can say you watched an X-rated movie and not feel like a perv for admitting to it!

Reviewed by David Williams