Sonny Chiba - Der unerbittliche Vollstrecker

Director Shigehiro Ozawa and Sonny Chiba did this sequel immediately after their first Street Fighter (1974) in 1974-5. The plot is almost identical (what there is) as Sonny is again Terry who does dirty jobs for the mob and never has any morality in his mind bothering him. He just kills and kicks people's asses if the job requires that. Well so much for any "deeper" elements this film would have had; these are just ultra violent action films which are there only to offer the audience more savage action than those of HK film makers' of the same period.

Return of the Street Fighter has many flashbacks from the first film and never seems too original or interesting, but still it is never boring or hard to watch without falling asleep. The action is plentiful and Sonny tries again to be ultra cool and tough guy with some misogynistic habits, too. The violence is laughably over the top but still shocking and extreme enough to secure the highest X rating (or NC-17) for this kind of film, and so a film this savage would never come from Hollywood nowadays.

If one likes mindless action and memorable music score with strong imagery of gratuitous violence, then Return of the Street Fighter is worth a watch, but still I prefer the original first Fighter film (not that it is any remarkable masterpiece either). These films are Japan's answer to Hong Kong's Bruce Lee and Jimmy Wang Yu, but ten times more vicious, mindless and cinematically not so ambitious. 4/10

I remember I really disliked this movie the first time I saw it... though I not only saw it full-frame (meaning that the fights were often hard to make out), but that it was an edited version, missing all that blood and bone crunching that warms all our hearts. Well, I recently got hands on a DVD of the first movie and this, and I gave it another look. Imagine my surprise that this public domain DVD not only had the movie in widescreen, but uncut! Seems they probably got the master from an old New Line laserdisc. (What's up with that, New Line - you release the first movie on VHS uncut and in widescreen, but you released the second movie on VHS cut and full-frame?!!?)

My view of the movie the second time is somewhat better... but it still doesn't match the impact of the original. Chiba's character is much softer, lacking the anti-hero aspect he had in the original that made him simultaneously grotesque and a figure to respect OR ELSE. As well, the action even in this uncut version I saw lacks the viciousness and bloodiness that was a major selling point of the original. I have to wonder if maybe the harshness was toned down here by the filmmakers in an attempt to gain a wider audience on its home turf.

There are a few acceptable action sequences, but nothing particularly outstanding. The story is lamer, with Chiba's new sidekick a particularly annoying (and ugly!) figure. At times the movie feels like a bad parody of the whole series. Still, it could have been far worse; I remember THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE to be even worse than this! (Though I also saw that full-frame and edited.)

Well, against the ostensible general tide of opinion I must say that I wasn't a particularly huge fan of the original film that this follows. In fact, for me at least, the only saving grace it boasted was in its violent excesses – the majority of which were saved until the final third of its running time. From reading many of the other reviews on this site, it furthermore seems indicative that the exact said graphic violence is the principle reason that most other reviewers have awarded the flick such lofty marks.

Interestingly and conversely, this sequel actually tones down the blood letting somewhat and apparently as a result didn't hold quite as much appeal it would seem. Well, that's what I'm assuming at least.

From my own perspective however, whilst this sequel is indeed bereft of much of the old red stuff a flying, I would say that it actually surpasses the original in pure entertainment value by far. The martial arts sequences are far superior this time around including some rather nifty Kobudo weapons displays throughout. Also Sonny Chiba is on much better form here to – just check out the awesome sequence near the start of the film in which our protagonist allows himself to be taken to a police station in order to silence a witness. He makes his escape by kicking the bars out through the wall and leaping through the subsequent hole from a few stories up!

Another scene of amazing note involves our hero punching some poor chap so hard in the back of the head that his eyeballs literally pop out!!! (some great utilisation of ping-pong balls there!) It's also great to see the return of a supposedly deceased character from the first flick who returns here with the intention of exacting his revenge upon our hero.

To be quite honest, there's only one negative I can think of in this flick and that is the ill advised inclusion of Chiba's 'side-kick' (the first film also suffered the indignity of including one to!) who in this instance is a veritably annoying chick boasting ridiculous looking pig tails and who furthermore, has a rather unfortunate propensity for warbling along to crappy music (badly at that!)

Aside from this minor gripe though, overall, this proves to be a tremendously entertaining affair throughout and is well worth tracking down!

Rule #1 of the movie business - If it works, beat it to death. "The Street Fighter" worked so he returned. Back in the 1970s movies with violence could get an "X" rating. If your copy is only about 75 minutes long then you have the censored version. I have read the complete version is 83 minutes but I have also read 90 minutes. The second rule of movies is when making a sequel just do the same stuff over again but this time a bit longer and harder. This movie followed both rules resulting in viewer enjoyment and producer profit. I rate it just a tad above average for the year and genre based on that. I considered deducting a point for the annoying side kick but at least she's cute.

The movie opens with Sonny offered big money to get two guys. He negotiates for double the money. The first guy is in police custody so Sonny gets arrested. He cuts the guy's throat then escapes by defenestration. (The first movie had two defenestrations.) He discusses his second target with his new sidekick, a girl.

What style of martial arts did Sonny Chiba show in his movies? He practiced kyokushin, ninjiutsu, goju-ryo, shorinji kemo, judo, and kendo. Before he started martial arts, Sonny did track and field, baseball, and volleyball in high school. To take this to the next level, on the advice of a coach, he dedicated himself in artistic gymnastics. In his movies his moves seem more reflective of that rather than any martial arts style.

Return of the Street Fighter (1974) is a movie in my DVD collection that I recently rewatched on Tubi. The storyline follows the American mafia and a corrupt dojo master working together in Japan. Master Tsurugi will work to bring down both, the American mafia and the dojo master...

This movie is directed by Shigehiro Ozawa (Gambler) and stars Sonny Chiba (Kill Bill), Claude Gagnon (Rashamen), Yôko Ichiji (Three Pretty Devils), Masashi Ishibashi (I Want To) and Katsuya Yamashita.

The storyline for this picture isn't as compelling as the first film; however, it does still have the legendary soundtrack, one-liners and throat sequences. The training scenes are entertaining and the fights are very good, but the premise felt like an excuse to make a sequel.

Overall this is an absolute must see Chiba picture that is a huge step down from the first film. I would score this a 6/10 and recommend seeing it once.