Bernell DorroughThe Street Fighter (1974)
Directed by: Shigehiro Ozawa
Starring: Sonny Chiba, Gerald Yamada
It seems like this DVD review might be apropos seeing that “Kill Bill Vol.2” is soon to be released. “The Street Fighter,” as the DVD jewel case tells me, is among Quentin Tarantino’s many and diverse influences, and it isn’t hard to see why. Out a year after Bruce Lee’s epic “Enter the Dragon,” “The Street Fighter” boasts a degree of martial arts violence that seems to have consciously needed to one-up the classic “Dragon.” On its initial release in the States, “The Street Fighter” was given a risqu‚ NC-17 rating due to excessive amounts of fake blood, X-ray violence, and flesh tearing (oh, don’t worry, gentle reader, all will be revealed).
The story is the tale of one Terry Sugury, played by Sonny Chiba (who, interestingly enough, has a cameo as the sword maker in the first “Kill Bill”). Terry, you must understand, is no good guy; Terry is a badass mercenary. We first encounter Terry disguised as a Buddhist monk ostensibly administering last rites to Junjo, a death row inmate, but really springing him from the big house. When Junjo’s sister and brother go to Terry and Ratnose’s (Ratnose being Terry’s “man servant,” saved by Terry years ago in Singapore) apartment, it turns out that they didn’t have the money they promised to pay him. Bad move, kids. Terry proceeds to beat up on these kids until Junjo’s brother gets the bright idea to start jump kicking in a thirtieth story apartment and flies crashing out the window to his death (complete with a gigantic pool of bright red blood). Terry, like any good businessman, sells Junjo’s sister into prostitution and apparently just lets Junjo go. Sweet.
More great scenes abound. When Terry wants to become the bodyguard of Sarai, an oil heiress, he must fight her uncle, a 40-year-old fat guy, for the esteemed position (watch for a close up on the nubbly fingers). The action continues as Sarai is indeed kidnapped, and Terry must work (with the aid of the valiant Ratnose) to free her. The highlight of the fighting along the way occurs when Terry is accosted by three thug henchmen and must fight his way out. Here, as the last hapless goon is on his knees, Terry jumps up into the air and delivers a vicious punch to the head, at which point the video goes into X-RAY FREAKING VISION. This is amazing-you get this goofy ass grinning skull just being thwacked by an equally X-ray fist. Then, oh it’s not over yet; as the camera cuts back from X-ray mode, blood spurts out of all seven orifices of this guy’s head, once again in excessive bright red fashion. Another gem here is when Terry finally gets to the leader of the evil group, who is the possessor of the legendary “Blue Dragon,” which turns out to be a red sword (there’s nothing even remotely blue about it). Similar wackiness continues up until the film’s thrilling finale.
“The Street Fighter” is a great movie, and the DVD, while lacking in extra features, does have a quiz! That’s right, once you’re done enjoying all the graphic violence and X-ray skull punching (you’ll seriously want to see that, like, 10 times) you can take a five-question quiz about the plot/characters. There’s really no reward for getting it all right besides the pure satisfaction that you are a “NUMBER ONE MAN” or woman, of course.