1974 - THE STREET FIGHTER, a Japanese martial arts film

 The bone crunching, blood flowing and general body harming Japanese martial arts film featuring the actor Sonny Chiba.  Chiba plays a brutal martial arts fighter called Terry Sugury also known as The Street Fighter.

If you are looking for the Bruce Lee Kung Fu style which is probably more elegant, don't expect that in this film.  Chiba is an intense brutal guy especially in the fight scenes and he's not about dancing around his opponent unlike Bruce Lee, he's here to beat the crap out of anyone who gets in his way.

 

The film's plot for what it's worth has Terry Sugury guarding the heiress to an oil company.  Apparently the Japanese Yakuza wants to move in and take over the company, big mistake.  Terry Sugury plows through these gangsters with his fighting skills like he was kneading bread dough.

There's plenty of blood spilling and ripping of organs out of bodies and if you are looking for action you should be satisfied.  The film was so popular that it spawned sequels and spinoffs with the words Street Fighter in the their titles.  

 

This film, is a big favorite of Quentin Tarantino. Although I haven't heard him talk about it lately on the podcasts he appears on. Sonny Chiba passed away in 2021 from complications derived from the Covid virus.  The Street Fighter is entertaining for what it is.

The film was written by Kōji Takada and Motohiro Torii, the running time is 91 minutes.