The Street Fighter Trilogy (with The Cinema Snob's review)

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The Street Fighter ( Japanese : 激突! 殺人拳 , Hepburn : Gekitotsu! Satsujin-ken ; lit. Clash! Killer Fist) is a 1974 Japanese martial arts film produced by Toei Company , directed by Shigehiro Ozawa , and starring Sonny Chiba . It was released in the United States by New Line Cinema and became one of the first films to be a commercial success for the distributor. [ 2 ] [ 3 ] It is notable as the first film to receive an X-rating in the US solely for violence. A commercial success, The Street Fighter spawned two direct sequels, Return of the Street Fighter and The Street Fighter's Last Revenge , and the Sister Street Fighter spinoff series. There was another spin-off entitled Kozure Satsujin Ken , which was brought to the US by a different company under the title Karate Warriors . In the United Kingdom , the film was originally released as Kung-Fu Street Fighter presumably to avoid confusion with the Charles Bronson movie Hard Times which was initially released as The Streetfighter in the UK. Plot Martial artist Takuma Tsurugi meets the condemned murderer Tateki Shikenbaru while disguised as a Buddhist monk . Tsurugi applies his "oxygen coma punch" to Shikenbaru, causing him to collapse just before he can be executed. As Shikenbaru is rushed to a hospital, Tsurugi and his sidekick Rakuda ambush the ambulance and free him. The duo, who were hired to free Shikenbaru, later watch TV coverage of the incident when their employers, Shikenbaru's brother Gijun and sister Nachi, arrive. Gijun says he cannot pay the rest of the sum he owes and pleads for more time. Outraged at the broken promise, Tsurugi attacks the siblings. In the ensuing struggle, Gijun attempts a flying kick, and when Tsurugi dodges, Gijun falls out the window to his death. Tsurugi then sells Nachi into sexual slavery through crime boss Renzo Mutaguchi. Mutaguchi and his associates attempt to hire Tsurugi to kidnap an oil heiress, Sarai. Tsurugi refuses once he realizes the gangsters are members of the yakuza and Hong Kong mafia . He escapes, but the yakuza gangsters resolve to kill Tsurugi as well as kidnap Sarai. Tsurugi immediately seeks out Sarai, who is being protected at a Seibukan dojo by her uncle, Kendō Masaoka, a Karate master. Tsurugi challenges the entire dojo to a fight. He brutalizes the rank-and-file students before Masaoka fights him to a standstill. Masaoka recognizes him as the half-Chinese son of a karate master he knew long ago who was executed. Ultimately, Tsurugi offers to protect Sarai, and Masaoka agrees, despite Sarai's protests. The yakuza leaders, after failing in several attempts to kill Tsurugi, travel to Hong Kong to seek the help of Kowloon Triad boss Dinsau. Dinsau agrees, bringing several fighters and recruiting Shikenbaru to avenge his siblings by killing Tsurugi. Dinsau's fighters successfully kidnap Sarai. Tsurugi and Rakuda rescue her, but Tsurugi stays behind to fend off pursuers and is himself captured. The gangsters torture Tsurugi, who refuses to reveal Sarai's location. Rakuda, concerned for his partner but disobeying Tsurugi's orders, arrives before the gangsters can kill Tsurugi. To save Tsurugi, tells the gangsters where Sarai is. Outraged, Tsurugi forsakes Rakuda. Tsurugi pursues the kidnappers to a shipyard. There, he fights a blind samurai employed by Dinsau; Rakuda arrives to help but dies by the samurai's sword in a reckless attempt at redemption. Tsurugi avenges and then forgives his fallen friend. Meanwhile, the gangsters plan to force Shirai to sign over her ownership of the oil company to one of their members, but she refuses. Tsurugi boards the oil tanker where Shirai is being held and fights his way through the numerous guards and several yakuza leaders. Dinsau, who has come to respect Tsurugi, permits him to duel Shikenbaru, promising to surrender Sarai if Tsurugi wins. During the duel, the final yakuza leader shoots at Tsurugi, and an outraged Dinsau kills him. Nachi sacrifices herself to give her brother Shikenbaru a free shot with a sai , but Tsurugi survives and rips out Shikenbaru's vocal cords. Critically wounded, Tsurugi is helped to his feet by Sarai and Dinsau in the final shot of the film. Cast Sonny Chiba as Takuma Tsurugi (‘Terry Sugury’ in the English dub) Yutaka Nakajima as Sarai Chuayut-Hammett Goichi Yamada as Rakuda Zhang (‘Ratnose’ in the English dub) Masashi Ishibashi as Tateki Shikenbaru (‘Junjo Shikenbaru’ in the English dub) Etsuko Shihomi as Nachi Shikenbaru Masafumi Suzuki as Kendō Masaoka Chiyoko Kazama as Yang Gei-chuan Nobuo Kawai as Tetsunosuke Tsuchida Akira Shioji as Liang Dung-yat Chico Lourant as Bondo Tony Cetera as Abdul Jadot Osman Yusuf as Kingstone Jirō Yabuki as Gijun Shikenbaru Minken Karasawa as Prison Warden Yamazaki Takuzô Kawatani as Ôshima Kojiro Shirakawa as Royal Hong Kong Police Inspector Chan Hisao Mizoguchi as Endoshi (‘Yuan’ in the English dub) Takashi Noguchi as Yokoyama Jun'ichi Haruta as Kwok Gwai-lung Seizô Fukumoto as Woo Sin-gung Ken Kazama