Autant en emporte mon nunchaku

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!

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.

In this sequel to The Streetfighter, released the same year, it's much more of the same for bad-ass martial-artist-for-hire Tsurugi (Sonny Chiba), only much less plot. Of what there is, the film focuses on a fake charity organisation used to embezzle money for the mob and see good folks out of their hard-earned money. Tsurugi is still p****d at the mob from the first film, so he doesn't take too kindly to this revelation. The mob sends waves of bad guys after him, and he kicks their arses. Also returning is Masashi Ishibashi as the presumed-dead Tateki, only minus a throat and plus an artificial voice-box.

I must admit I remember very little of this film apart from a lot of thoroughly enjoyable action sequences in which Chiba is never under any threat. I thought this was because I'd drank quite a lot of brandy, but it is because the film genuinely contains little else. Saying that, I still enjoyed the 70 minutes of carnage. It doesn't come near to the original, in which Tsurugi is much more despicable character, but I suppose they were aiming at a wider audience with this sequel. Which is probably why the gore factor, something that was so lovable about the first film, is noticeably toned down. It still has a scene where Tsurugi knocks someone's eyes out with a blow to the back of the head, so not all is lost. An easy 70 minutes, and mixes very well with spirits.

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Sonny Chiba is back with those funny faces. I am still never sure if he is a good guy or a bad guy. He seems to switch sides at will. One thing is certain; he does not have the honor of Bruce Lee - he's in it for the money.

I really don't see the point in the karate lessons or the weapons naming (sai, nunchuka, kon, etc) , or all that brick breaking.

This time, he has a new sidekick - a girl with some fantastic outfits.

The fighting in the film appears to be pretty realistic. Chiba seems to bleed as much as his opponents. He has a really cool step there that has some cool sounds when he is on your ribs.

The crushing-blood-on-the-face blow is a real gore-fest. The eye popping scene is going to make you laugh. No rapists in this film; so we don't see any more castration, but we do have a Bond girl of sorts who has evil on her mind.

If you like the action, then there is plenty for all.

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.)