Guest kungfusamurai Posted September 3, 2007 Share Posted September 3, 2007 Okay, I have to admit that I hadn't sat through this film at all, because I didn't like the extreme close-ups for the fight scenes. And the dubbing was a put off. But with this BCI release, even though its not in its original language, it's a pretty entertaining movie! I'm actually enjoying it a lot! I have a question and an observation. There's a scene with two people 'dirty dancing' which doesn't appear to have anything to do with this movie. It was like someone inserted it into the film for a little titilation. Was this done in the Japanese version of the film, or is it strictly a US addition? And for those people who are fans of Kage No Gundan 1, you might recognize the naked woman dancing in that scene. It took me a while to figure out the face, but it's the same actress who played the Koga Ninja Oko, Sonny Chiba's Hattori Hanzo's love interest, in the Shadow Warriors series!!!! KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chinatown Kid Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 I had a chance to watch this on the double feature disc with Karate Warriors and have to say I enjoyed it as well, the only thing is the camera was to close to the action. I liked the Karate fights and Sue Shiomi is very cute, it was also great to see Kurata in a supporting role. Have no idea about the scene question you asked, this US version is the only one I've seen. :\ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 Kurata also played supporting roles in two Sister Street Fighter flicks and the first Executioner. It's too bad we haven't seen any of his films with him in starring roles making it to DVD (Japanese ones, that is). The close-ups are definitely annoying, which was made worse with the pan and scan full screen previous releases. At least with this new widescreen transfer, we do get a better view of the action. I hope BCI continues to put out more Japanese karate flicks. The first Tadashi Yamashita 'Karate' flick (AKA Bronson Lee) would be nice to see remastered and uncut. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Yakuza954 Posted September 28, 2007 Share Posted September 28, 2007 It would be nice to have all three of the Champion movies in English-friendly, uncut versions. I remember hearing they were going to get released in R1 last year, but eventually nothing came of it. Personally, I'd be most interested in Chiba's bodyguard TV Series- www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZJxIkf3cVI I'm a sucker for Japanese television. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Neon Samurai Posted July 4, 2010 Member Share Posted July 4, 2010 If you are looking for a Sue Shihomi movie that is a "signature" film other than Sister Street Fighter, this is definitely the one. She looks absolutely stunning in the first scenes upon arriving in Tokyo. (With the blue cape.) The problem is this just might be the worst shot film of her career. 100% of the blame can be laid on a director that just blew it when it came to framing these fights properly. The Grindhouse version cleans up a lot of the horrid closeups and the film is far more viewable as a result so if you're going to buy a copy, be sure to get that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Killer Meteor Posted July 4, 2010 Member Share Posted July 4, 2010 A lot of these Toei films suffer from awful cinemtograhphy of the fights, they're a pain to watch even in scope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member IgaNinja Posted July 15, 2010 Member Share Posted July 15, 2010 I really like this one,more so for Shihomi,she looked rad in the zen monk robes. I have to purchase this film again tho,the version in the Sonny chiba set i got is pretty dodgy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted November 10, 2010 Member Share Posted November 10, 2010 I have a question and an observation. There's a scene with two people 'dirty dancing' which doesn't appear to have anything to do with this movie. It was like someone inserted it into the film for a little titilation. Was this done in the Japanese version of the film, or is it strictly a US addition? It's a US addition. It's not in the Japanese print. There's a few other differences too. The Japanese print opens with a crime wave footage in New York. There's a short additional dialogue scene with Chiba in the beginning too. A few seconds of this crime wave footage can actually be found in the US print. A small bit was edited into the scene that introduces the assassins. So, if you were wondering why there's suddenly a burning man running in a parking hall, that's because this footage actually belongs to a different section in the film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JimPV Posted March 4, 2011 Member Share Posted March 4, 2011 Kurata also played supporting roles in two Sister Street Fighter flicks and the first Executioner. It's too bad we haven't seen any of his films with him in starring roles making it to DVD (Japanese ones, that is). Oh... my... GOD! I just realized last night, while reading Patrick Macias' notes for the Sister Street Fighter collection, that Yasuaki Kurata plays the older Japanese Jet Li spares with in Fist of Legend. Amazing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member agentzuk Posted March 12, 2011 Member Share Posted March 12, 2011 that's awesome! I wuz wonderin where the hell that guy came from. great flick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member kungfusamurai Posted March 20, 2011 Member Share Posted March 20, 2011 He also had a Japanese TV series called Fight! Dragon from '74 or '75, which BCI put out on DVD recently. It's played totally for laughs, mostly unintentional, but the fight scenes are cool. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 20, 2011 Member Share Posted March 20, 2011 One pretty decent karate film Kurata did is Which is Stronger - Karate or the Tiger. This film is famous for featuring a fight scene between Kurata and a real tiger. The film also opens with some "chicken boxing". Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi had a thing for using animals in karate films (he also directed Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter). The main villain (no, not the tiger) is played by none else than Masashi Ishibashi who appears in just about every karate film Toei ever produced. You remember him as the villain is The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter. Edit: topic here: http://www.kungfucinema.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8851 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member JimPV Posted March 22, 2011 Member Share Posted March 22, 2011 The main villain (no, not the tiger) is played by none else than Masashi Ishibashi who appears in just about every karate film Toei ever produced. You remember him as the villain in The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter. You mean Sonny Chiba ain't the villain in the Streefighter movies...?! Poor, poor, poor Masashi Ishibashi - the guy gets his ass kicked in every movie I've seen him in. Once, just once, dear-God-in-heaven-just-once!!, I'd like to see him win a fight. The closest I can think of is in Sister Street Fighter 2: Hanging by a Thread where Etsuko Shihomi's character admits she would have lost in their first battle if she hadn't turned tail and run. But other than that, pfffftttt...! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member Takuma Posted March 22, 2011 Member Share Posted March 22, 2011 You mean Sonny Chiba ain't the villain in the Streefighter movies...?! Imagine getting to see Ishibashi-san play a good guy for a change. The closest I ever came to seeing this was the second New Female Prisoner film, where he plays the warden. But you know, it's a women in prison film, so the warden is always the biggest crook in the house He was kinda good guy in Roaring Fire, though. Well, until his confession at least. But I suppose that would be the official Ishibashi good guy role. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Member TheDenizen Posted March 25, 2011 Member Share Posted March 25, 2011 Oh... my... GOD! I just realized last night, while reading Patrick Macias' notes for the Sister Street Fighter collection, that Yasuaki Kurata plays the older Japanese Jet Li spares with in Fist of Legend. Amazing... yup. For my money this scene is Jet's best fight ever on film (and his best film overall as well). As for Sue Shiomi, she is cute as a button and I fell in love with her completely after seeing Sister Street Fighter years ago. I think Dragon Princess might be the one flick from from her career that actually tops SSF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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