The Arrow Films Blu-ray Thread

[nahnahnah]

 

- 2K restoration from the original negative by Fortune Star
- High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentations of the 91-minute Hong Kong Theatrical Cut and the 99-minute Extended Japanese Cut via seamless branching
- Original lossless Cantonese and English mono audio on both cuts, plus Mandarin on the Theatrical Cut and Cantonese with alternate score on the Extended Cut
- Optional English subtitles for both cuts
- Brand new commentary by Frank Djeng & FJ DeSanto on the Extended Cut
- The Making of The First Mission and The First Mission: Pre-Release Event, two extended featurettes made to promote the Japanese release by Shochiku
- Archive interview with star Jackie Chan
- Archive interview with star Rocky Lai
- Two archive interviews with director/star Sammo Hung
- Archive interview with cinematographer Arthur Wong
- Alternate English credits as The First Mission
- Trailer gallery, including the ‘music video’ trailer by Su Rui
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sam Gilbey

FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collectors' booklet featuring new writing by Dylan Cheung and David West

[panzer]

 

• Brand new 2K restorations of The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter from 2K scans of the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
• Newly remastered High Definition presentation of The Street Fighter's Last Revenge by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations
• Original lossless mono Japanese and English versions for all three films
• Optional English subtitles for the Japanese soundtracks and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

     Disc 1: The street fighter

• Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
• Brand new audio commentary by Asian film specialists Andrew Heskins and James Mudge of easternkicks.com
• Street Fighting Man, a 30-minute interview with Sonny Chiba
• Cutting Moments, interview with director Jack Sholder discussing his role in creating the legend of Sonny Chiba
• Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     Disc 2: Return of the street fighter

• Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
• Brand new audio commentary by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer and U.S. teaser and theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     Disc 3: The street fighter’s last revenge

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the original Japanese and American versions of the film
• Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Mark Schilling and Chris Poggiali

[Takuma]

Awesome news. Looks like Arrow is going all the way. The Shout release only had the English language prints (and from what I hear, dubtitles, though I haven't confirmed this myself. EDIT: this info seems incorrect. Just tested the opening scene and the subs appear legi) whereas Arrow seems to have both the Japanese and US versions. And new scans from the original camera negative? That's surprising. Seems like they have turned down Toei's existing 2K masters and done their own for the first two films. Shame about the 3rd film not being a new scan. Speaking of the 3rd film, that's a totally underrated entry full of style and witty dialogue. And Reiko and Etsuko!

Edited January 27, 2023 by Takuma

[lilmanjs]

23 minutes ago, Takuma said:

Awesome news. Looks like Arrow is going all the way. The Shout release only had the English language prints (and from what I hear, dubtitles, though I haven't confirmed this myself) whereas Arrow seems to have both the Japanese and US versions. And new scans from the original camera negative? That's surprising. Seems like they have turned down Toei's existing 2K masters and done their own for the first two films. Shame about the 3rd film not being a new scan. Speaking of the 3rd film, that's a totally underrated entry full of style and witty dialogue. And Reiko and Etsuko!

I own the Shout! set and it was a hodge podge for the 2 sequels. The Japanese version I think was missing a lot of the Japanese version footage for the final movie of the trilogy and the upscale footage wasn't so great. The Shout! set is very much not English only prints as the first two are arranged and edited differently than their Japanese counterparts. Shout! had a disclaimer at the start of each movie stating it was as such.

[Takuma]

Correction to my earlier post: the info about Shout having dubtitles seems incorrect. I just tested the first scene and the subs seem legit.

[KUNG FU BOB]

5 hours ago, panzer said:

 

• Brand new 2K restorations of The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter from 2K scans of the original camera negatives by Arrow Films
• Newly remastered High Definition presentation of The Street Fighter's Last Revenge by Arrow Films
• High Definition Blu-ray™ (1080p) presentations
• Original lossless mono Japanese and English versions for all three films
• Optional English subtitles for the Japanese soundtracks and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Tony Stella

     Disc 1: The street fighter

• Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
• Brand new audio commentary by Asian film specialists Andrew Heskins and James Mudge of easternkicks.com
• Street Fighting Man, a 30-minute interview with Sonny Chiba
• Cutting Moments, interview with director Jack Sholder discussing his role in creating the legend of Sonny Chiba
• Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     Disc 2: Return of the street fighter

• Brand new 2K restorations of the original Japanese and American versions of the film from the original camera negatives
• Brand new audio commentary by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
• Original Japanese theatrical trailer and U.S. teaser and theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     Disc 3: The street fighter’s last revenge

• High Definition (1080p) Blu-ray presentation of the original Japanese and American versions of the film
• Original Japanese and U.S. theatrical trailers
• Image gallery

     FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by Mark Schilling and Chris Poggiali

I will happily 17th-dip (I've actually lost count ) and get this set!

Fingers crossed that they somehow managed to find the original, uncut English dubbed audio- not the patch-work English dub that was on the US laser disc/VHS release and all subsequent bootlegs that was missing and bungled some of the movie's best lines. The only official release that had the complete English dub track was the Shout Factory release thanks to our very own (rarely seen, but still loved) @wigsplitta.

Nice artwork on this set by Tony Stella, too!

[BornToDefense]

I still have some godawful bootleg DVDs of these movies and I've been due for an upgrade for a while, this looks like this is it.

Edited January 27, 2023 by BornToDefense

[ironfistedmonk]

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the Street Fighter movies, nor the Executioner films, are these must see movies?

[ShawAngela]

4 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the Street Fighter movies, nor the Executioner films, are these must see movies?

Though I'm less interested in Japanese movies than in Chinese ones, I recently got this The Executioner boxset, together with the Diamond Guys Nikkatsu volume 2.

I liked The Executioner movies : Nice little ones, with lot of exagerated action and humor, and Yasuaki Kurata has a fight in the first one !

[KUNG FU BOB]

3 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the Street Fighter movies, nor the Executioner films, are these must see movies?

Don't be ashamed; rejoice!  There are plenty of movies that every one of us still has yet to see. The good news is that you can experience these for the first time.

Now THE STREET FIGHTER is one of my all-time favorite movies in any genre, so I'm absolutely biased in my opinion. But basically (spoiler-free), it's a Grind-house underworld thriller with brutal karate action. Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba plays an unforgettable anti-hero character with extreme emotions and fighting style. Some people aren't as enchanted by his exaggerated facial expressions and contortions, but I think it's crazy in the most enjoyable way. The other characters that populate the film are also somewhat larger than life, with vivid portrayals by some of Toei's best of the era.

Don't expect Hong Kong style action choreography and cinematography during the combat scenes though. This is a completely different kind of animal. The character's fighting style is not flowery or graceful; it's very direct, with each strike intended to cripple or kill. Chiba's character "Terry Tsurugi is not aiming to defeat his opponents so much as destroy them. Bones are shattered, teeth are smashed, and sometimes "parts" are removed with unyielding fury. Instead of paraphrasing, this is direct from IMDB:

First film to ever get an X rating for violence in the US. American newspaper ads carried the quote "NOTICE: The MPAA has rated this film unsuitable for viewers under the age of 17 because of its extraordinary fight sequences."

By today's standards (THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, THE RAID 2, etc) the violence will seem tame. But for 1974, it was certainly extreme.

Also, there's a lot of hand-held camera-work with Dutch angles to boot, but they work in this context.

In addition to all that, despite primarily being a "subtitles guy", I'm a huge fan of the English dub for this (perfect voice casting/performance for Chiba's titular dude) which is filled with endlessly quotable tough-guy dialogue. So I recommend watching it that way for your first viewing (though the Japanese language track features all of the real cast's voices and was shot sync-sound unlike Hong Kong stuff, and is also great). I mentioned above that there are two different English dubs for this film... I'll quote my own past post for Shout! Factory's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection rather than re-writing it all (to read this without edits, it's available here: https://www.36styles.com/kungfufandom/topic/24324-the-street-fighter-collection-blu-ray-set-from-shout-factory/page/2/ ):

 

On 2/12/2019 at 2:10 PM, KUNG FU BOB said:

I'm happy to say that this set (Shout! Factory's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection) was produced by Cliff MacMillan, a guy we Asian cinema fans owe a debt to for all the great releases he's helped shepherd onto the home video market, like Chiba's "Oyama Trilogy" (KARATE BULLFIGHTER, KARATE BEAR FIGHTER, and KARATE FOR LIFE), THE KILLING MACHINE, the SISTER STREET FIGHTER DVD collection, SHADOW WARRIORS, THE EXECUTIONERS and it's sequel, SHOGUN'S NINJA, SHOGUN'S SHADOW, and many more. If you are reading this and don't own any of the releases I just mentioned, you read too much! Go to eBay and get them now! 😆 Anyway, Cliff really went above and beyond on this set to make it the very best it could be, working tirelessly right up until the last second to please us fans. As we are well aware, many of our favorite martial arts films are thrown out onto the home video market with little care or respect, so it's with a huge sigh of relief that this was not the case here.

Though I was simply hired to be the cover artist, I could not help but take a serious interest in how this set would be handled. I tried my best not to be obnoxious with my suggestions and hopes, as Cliff was in the difficult position of trying to make any of my far-reaching ideas into reality. I'm very grateful that he was kind enough to even bother listening to my ramblings, and shocked and delighted that he made it all (and much more) happen. The complications and hurdles that had to be overcome would even give Terry Tsurugi himself pause, but he got it done.

... unless you saw THE STREET FIGHTER during it's original run in the theater, you've probably never heard the complete original English dub. Kind of a long story, but... When the film was originally released in US theaters it was rated X for violence, however, when it appeared on home video it was rated R and had been shorn of most violence (even the penultimate moment of the climax was missing!) including some non-bloody fighting exchanges and even some dialogue. For those that don't know how it works, the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) does not tell film producers what to cut to get a certain rating, which is how they are able to claim they are not "censors", simply providing a service by rating a film for studios to advertise it. So if filmmakers are trying or obligated to deliver a film that adheres to a specific rating, lets say PG-13 instead of R, they have to guess what is pushing them over into the R rating, editing only as little as they hope needs to be cut to achieve the PG-13 rating, then re-submit the film for rating. If it still doesn't get a PG-13 they have to go through the process again, which is not only time-consuming, but they have to pay each time they submit it to the MPAA for a rating. I learned all about this during the '80s when the MPAA was the bane of horror filmmakers' existence, and they were forcing them to shred their films to avoid getting an X rating (kind of ironic that the sort of stuff that had to be cut from an R-Rated slasher film like HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME can now be seen on a Prime-Time TV show like CSI or CRIMINAL MINDS, but I digress). At the time, getting branded with an X was the death knell for most non-Adult films, as most newspapers and TV stations wouldn't advertise them, and most theaters wouldn't book an X-rated film (no matter that it wasn't Adult fare).* Therefore I've deduced that when it was going to be put out on home video, they needed THE STREET FIGHTER to be rated R. So apparently, instead of paying the MPAA to have it reviewed for a rating over and over again while trimming it each time, they decided to just butcher the film and remove anything that could even vaguely be considered offensive or "R material". So in the middle of fights characters simply disappear with no explanation (in the original we see them being dispatched in all manners of tasty karate brutality), and it was already confusing enough due to the frenetic filming being cropped to full-screen, eliminating about 40% of the image! So this mangled version is what many of us grew up watching on VHS.

Jump forward to the early '90s when New Line (reportedly at the urging of Quentin Tarantino) finally released the STREET FIGHTER films to VHS and Laser Disc. Finally uncut, letterboxed, and as they should be... right? Not quite. They must've only had access to the English dub track from the heavily edited version of the movie, so they filled in the missing parts with new dubbing (which did not match very well) and somehow managed to screw up the best (and Chiba's first) line in the movie "My heart beats in this time." even though there was no reason to mess with the audio during this part. 😣 The line has an audio drop-out right in the middle of it so it sounds like "My heart this time."! Those bastards! 😡 It's an iconic line, as I said- my favorite- and so it was a major disappointment. Kind of akin to releasing DIRTY HARRY with his famous line "Do you feel lucky?" messed up to say "Do you lucky?"! Well, sadly, this was the best I figured we'd ever get. And now most people that have seen THE STREET FIGHTER are probably used to this version which was also used to create the many bootleg DVD releases over the subsequent years.

And now, knowing this Blu-ray release was my chance to possibly see these flaws corrected for all fans to finally see and hear the film properly, I jumped at the chance. I am so excited to say that thanks to our very own @wigsplitta providing the original uncut English dub (🙏), the notes of some rabid fan (who, me? ☺️), Cliff's incredible commitment, and his Shout! Factory team's hard work (under severe time constraints), the original English theatrical dub will be included in all its' glory! And... for those of you that are used to the re-release dub, that is also included (along with the original Japanese audio and optional English subs, of course). So everyone should be happy. I am beyond stoked for this release! 🤓

 

Note: From what I've gathered over the years they were all made and released in Japan in 1974, but their releases in the USA (according to IMDB) was as follows:

THE STREET FIGHTER- November 1st, 1974

RETURN OF THE STREET FIGHTER- December 3rd, 1975

THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE- February 16th, 1979

Perhaps the third film being released so long after the others explains why different voice actors were used for the English dub.

 

*George A. Romero and producer Richard Rubinstein were among the only horror filmmakers of the day to throw caution to the wind, refusing to edit their film DAWN OF THE DEAD to achieve an R-Rating, instead opting for the very risky move of releasing the film Unrated.

Again, the quote above was in regards to the Shout! Factory's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection and not this new Arrow set which I wasn't involved in. My fingers are crossed that somehow they managed to get and include the uncut original English dub track.

Anyway, the second film is also an exploitation treasure, and more of what made the first one so good. The third one takes a different direction for the main character (and features a less effective English dub performance by a different voice actor) where he's less animalistic and more suave, which diminishes it for me, though it's still a cool flick.

By the way, that VHS box photo above is of my actual copy, so you can see how old and well-watched it is. Though to be clear, this was a former rental copy which I cajoled the video store owner into selling to me, so it was abused for many years by the mishandling of many careless customer before I owned it (it would've been lovingly cared for and fiercely protected by me ). It's amusing to me that my VHS of this is likely much older than about half of this forum's members! 

 

1 hour ago, ShawAngela said:

Though I'm less interested in Japanese movies than in Chinese ones, I recently got this The Executioner boxset, together with the Diamond Guys Nikkatsu volume 2.

I liked The Executioner movies : Nice little ones, with lot of exagerated action and humor, and Yasuaki Kurata has a fight in the first one !

Yeah, they're fun, especially the first one which features lots of karate action opposed to the sequel's more stunt-oriented action stuff. I totally dig the crazy plot device that brings Kurata into the fold for what amounts to an extended cameo filled with ferocious fighting. The interaction of the team is amusing as they clown each other- a little bit like a Japanese version of the Hong Kong Lucky Stars thing. It has the same sort of wild tonal shifts too, featuring both fart jokes and a scene where Chiba punches into a guy and pulls out a rib!

[BornToDefense]

7 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the Street Fighter movies, nor the Executioner films, are these must see movies?

No shame in not having seen something yet (I'm a dilettante compared to most on this forum by that standard and I haven't seen The Executioner or Bodyguard Kiba films either). But Kung Fu Bob put it better than I ever could. You owe it to yourself to at least try them out, Sonny Chiba in his prime is a sight to behold and very few on-screen fighters can match his raw intensity.

Personally I'm a fan of the style of action direction in a lot of the Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and other Japan Action Club type films of the 70s too. As Bob mentioned, the handheld camera is used well, and imo gives the fights an immediate, new-wavey quality without detracting from the actual action. Think One-Armed Swordsman not Jason Bourne.

The Oyama trilogy (Karate Bullfighter, Karate Bearfighter, Karate For Life) and Shorinji Kenpo (when I saw it it was going around under the title Killing Machine, idk what people are going with now) are also great, though much more grounded and less outlandish than The Street Fighter movies.

[Super Ninja]

This is great, great news! I don't own the Shout! release so this is a must for me. I'm glad to hear this release will top the Shout! one, sorry for you guys that have to double dip yet again. 

[ironfistedmonk]

On 1/28/2023 at 4:06 PM, KUNG FU BOB said:

Don't be ashamed; rejoice!  There are plenty of movies that every one of us still has yet to see. The good news is that you can experience these for the first time.

Now THE STREET FIGHTER is one of my all-time favorite movies in any genre, so I'm absolutely biased in my opinion. But basically (spoiler-free), it's a Grind-house underworld thriller with brutal karate action. Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba plays an unforgettable anti-hero character with extreme emotions and fighting style. Some people aren't as enchanted by his exaggerated facial expressions and contortions, but I think it's crazy in the most enjoyable way. The other characters that populate the film are also somewhat larger than life, with vivid portrayals by some of Toei's best of the era.

Don't expect Hong Kong style action choreography and cinematography during the combat scenes though. This is a completely different kind of animal. The character's fighting style is not flowery or graceful; it's very direct, with each strike intended to cripple or kill. Chiba's character "Terry Tsurugi is not aiming to defeat his opponents so much as destroy them. Bones are shattered, teeth are smashed, and sometimes "parts" are removed with unyielding fury. Instead of paraphrasing, this is direct from IMDB:

First film to ever get an X rating for violence in the US. American newspaper ads carried the quote "NOTICE: The MPAA has rated this film unsuitable for viewers under the age of 17 because of its extraordinary fight sequences."

By today's standards (THE NIGHT COMES FOR US, THE RAID 2, etc) the violence will seem tame. But for 1974, it was certainly extreme.

Also, there's a lot of hand-held camera-work with Dutch angles to boot, but they work in this context.

In addition to all that, despite primarily being a "subtitles guy", I'm a huge fan of the English dub for this (perfect voice casting/performance for Chiba's titular dude) which is filled with endlessly quotable tough-guy dialogue. So I recommend watching it that way for your first viewing (though the Japanese language track features all of the real cast's voices and was shot sync-sound unlike Hong Kong stuff, and is also great). I mentioned above that there are two different English dubs for this film... I'll quote my own past post for Shout! Factory's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection rather than re-writing it all (to read this without edits, it's available here: https://www.36styles.com/kungfufandom/topic/24324-the-street-fighter-collection-blu-ray-set-from-shout-factory/page/2/ ):

 

Again, the quote above was in regards to the Shout! Factory's THE STREET FIGHTER Collection and not this new Arrow set which I wasn't involved in. My fingers are crossed that somehow they managed to get and include the uncut original English dub track.

Anyway, the second film is also an exploitation treasure, and more of what made the first one so good. The third one takes a different direction for the main character (and features a less effective English dub performance by a different voice actor) where he's less animalistic and more suave, which diminishes it for me, though it's still a cool flick.

By the way, that VHS box photo above is of my actual copy, so you can see how old and well-watched it is. Though to be clear, this was a former rental copy which I cajoled the video store owner into selling to me, so it was abused for many years by the mishandling of many careless customer before I owned it (it would've been lovingly cared for and fiercely protected by me ). It's amusing to me that my VHS of this is likely much older than about half of this forum's members! 

 

Yeah, they're fun, especially the first one which features lots of karate action opposed to the sequel's more stunt-oriented action stuff. I totally dig the crazy plot device that brings Kurata into the fold for what amounts to an extended cameo filled with ferocious fighting. The interaction of the team is amusing as they clown each other- a little bit like a Japanese version of the Hong Kong Lucky Stars thing. It has the same sort of wild tonal shifts too, featuring both fart jokes and a scene where Chiba punches into a guy and pulls out a rib!

 

Cheers Bob!  Thanks for putting so much effort in to your post, I can feel your love for these films coming off my screen.

I think I might pick this up, I've mostly concentrated on HK/Kung Fu movies and have seriously neglected Japanese cinema apart from the big ones Zatoichi/Kurosawa, and some pinky violence stuff someone on here traded with me years ago 

I see there is a Sister Street Fighter set from Arrow as well, are these up there with the Chiba films?

Edited January 29, 2023 by ironfistedmonk

[ShawAngela]

1 hour ago, ironfistedmonk said:

I see there is a Sister Street Fighter set from Arrow as well, are these up there with the Chiba films?

Etsuko Shihomi appears in one of the Street Fighters movies, if I'm not mistaken, but she has her own "series" as well, I don't remember if there are 4 or 5 movies in her boxset. I'm ashamed to say that I bought it, but haven't had time to open it as yet !

[BornToDefense]

I've only seen the first Sister Street Fighter and it was a long time ago, but I remember it being pretty good. Etsuko Shihomi, like Sonny Chiba, is the kind of performer who's worth watching in just about anything.

[KUNG FU BOB]

On 1/28/2023 at 2:51 PM, BornToDefense said:

No shame in not having seen something yet (I'm a dilettante compared to most on this forum by that standard and I haven't seen The Executioner or Bodyguard Kiba films either). But Kung Fu Bob put it better than I ever could. You owe it to yourself to at least try them out, Sonny Chiba in his prime is a sight to behold and very few on-screen fighters can match his raw intensity.

Personally I'm a fan of the style of action direction in a lot of the Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and other Japan Action Club type films of the 70s too. As Bob mentioned, the handheld camera is used well, and imo gives the fights an immediate, new-wavey quality without detracting from the actual action. Think One-Armed Swordsman not Jason Bourne.

The Oyama trilogy (Karate Bullfighter, Karate Bearfighter, Karate For Life) and Shorinji Kenpo (when I saw it it was going around under the title Killing Machine, idk what people are going with now) are also great, though much more grounded and less outlandish than The Street Fighter movies.

I hope you enjoy THE EXECUTIONER and BODYGUARD films when you see them.

Great description of the style of filming the action, @BornToDefense.

SHORINJI KEMPO (aka. THE KILLING MACHINE) is my second favorite Chiba film after THE STREET FIGHTER, and his performance in it is one of his very best. I love the story and the character in it as much as the fantastic action. The Oyama trilogy are are also among my top faves of his.

 

23 hours ago, ironfistedmonk said:

 

Cheers Bob!  Thanks for putting so much effort in to your post, I can feel your love for these films coming off my screen.

I think I might pick this up, I've mostly concentrated on HK/Kung Fu movies and have seriously neglected Japanese cinema apart from the big ones Zatoichi/Kurosawa, and some pinky violence stuff someone on here traded with me years ago 

I see there is a Sister Street Fighter set from Arrow as well, are these up there with the Chiba films?

You're welcome @ironfistedmonk; I think that's exactly what this forum is supposed to be, and I've been educated and turned on to countless films (and books, songs, games, and more) thanks to KFFF members here. If you felt my love for them then I'm glad I expressed myself accurately.

A lot of us start of concentrating primarily on one aspect of Asian (or any) cinema, then some of us start to explore. The journey of discovery is part of the fun of diving deeper into cinema. I'm still woefully behind when it comes to the classics of Italian, German, and French cinema. My son has just started watching Kurosawa's filmography chronologically and it's almost as exciting for me as it is for him.

 

22 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Etsuko Shihomi appears in one of the Street Fighters movies, if I'm not mistaken, but she has her own "series" as well, I don't remember if there are 4 or 5 movies in her boxset. I'm ashamed to say that I bought it, but haven't had time to open it as yet !

Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi is indeed in THE STREET FIGHTER, but also appears in the third film, THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE, playing a completely different character.

You'll get to these films one day.

21 hours ago, BornToDefense said:

I've only seen the first Sister Street Fighter and it was a long time ago, but I remember it being pretty good. Etsuko Shihomi, like Sonny Chiba, is the kind of performer who's worth watching in just about anything.

In regard to the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films: First, it's worth noting that "Sue" was only 16 years old when she started her career in 1973, and she appeared in both of THE BODYGUARD films (the first was her screen debut) and a TV movie too (also with Chiba). Then in 1974 she was in THE STREET FIGHTER, the TV series KIKAIDA 01, THE BODYGUARD TV series, SISTER STREET FIGHTER (she turned 17 two months after it's theatrical release in Japan), THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE, SISTER STREET FIGHTER 2: HANGING BY A THREAD, and THE EXECUTIONER 2: KARATE INFERNO! Pretty impressive for someone who was too young to even legally drink! Most of us were learning to drive and trying to survive high school at the age she was while fighting alongside one of the greatest action stars of all time on the silver screen. So considering she was in eight movies and two television series in a two year period you can see that a lot of the productions were made quickly, and they don't appear to have been big-budgeted films either. Knowing all this and that she was still finding her feet in the business as she started headlining films should give you a greater appreciation of not only Shihomi, but the quality of the movies themselves. That being said, the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films are IMHO not as impressive as THE STREET FIGHTER films, but are still rousing karate action-filled exploitation films full of eccentric villains and characters (with a lot of actors appearing in all of the films in different roles), lots of weaponry (both traditional and crazier cinematic inventions), exaggerated violence, drugs and nudity (never by our young star), and occasionally some hair-raising stunts. You can tell they didn't have the time to re-film action scenes over and over again like Lau Kar-Leung until they were perfect, so you'll see some obvious strike misses or flubs, and also some equally obvious full-contact kicks and punches. Despite any corner-cutting, Shihomi is clearly 100% committed to giving it her all and so are the stunt-people she's working with.

I don't recommend watching the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films consecutively as they stick to a very similar formula and can get repetitive when viewing them back to back. But the first three are all fun and contain the terrific guest stars Sonny Chiba in the first one, and Yasuaki Kurata in the second and third entries (both in fighting roles). The fourth film included in the SISTER STREET FIGHTER collections is not in the same vein at all, nor do I consider it one of the series. It starts off promising, but loses the original plot and most interesting characters (Masafumi Suzuki as Shihomi's character's father) as it goes along, becoming a so-so actioner with a unique setting (a movie studio). I'm still glad it was included because I enjoy this actress in everything I've seen her in, but it's a dodo bird in this collection.

 

[ShawAngela]

2 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

In regard to the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films: First, it's worth noting that "Sue" was only 16 years old when she started her career in 1973, and she appeared in both of THE BODYGUARD films (the first was her screen debut) and a TV movie too (also with Chiba). Then in 1974 she was in THE STREET FIGHTER, the TV series KIKAIDA 01, THE BODYGUARD TV series, SISTER STREET FIGHTER (she turned 17 two months after it's theatrical release in Japan), THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE, SISTER STREET FIGHTER 2: HANGING BY A THREAD, and THE EXECUTIONER 2: KARATE INFERNO! Pretty impressive for someone who was too young to even legally drink! Most of us were learning to drive and trying to survive high school at the age she was while fighting alongside one of the greatest action stars of all time on the silver screen. So considering she was in eight movies and two television series in a two year period you can see that a lot of the productions were made quickly, and they don't appear to have been big-budgeted films either. Knowing all this and that she was still finding her feet in the business as she started headlining films should give you a greater appreciation of not only Shihomi, but the quality of the movies themselves. That being said, the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films are IMHO not as impressive as THE STREET FIGHTER films, but are still rousing karate action-filled exploitation films full of eccentric villains and characters (with a lot of actors appearing in all of the films in different roles), lots of weaponry (both traditional and crazier cinematic inventions), exaggerated violence, drugs and nudity (never by our young star), and occasionally some hair-raising stunts. You can tell they didn't have the time to re-film action scenes over and over again like Lau Kar-Leung until they were perfect, so you'll see some obvious strike misses or flubs, and also some equally obvious full-contact kicks and punches. Despite any corner-cutting, Shihomi is clearly 100% committed to giving it her all and so are the stunt-people she's working with.

I don't recommend watching the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films consecutively as they stick to a very similar formula and can get repetitive when viewing them back to back. But the first three are all fun and contain the terrific guest stars Sonny Chiba in the first one, and Yasuaki Kurata in the second and third entries (both in fighting roles). The fourth film included in the SISTER STREET FIGHTER collections is not in the same vein at all, nor do I consider it one of the series. It starts off promising, but loses the original plot and most interesting characters (Masafumi Suzuki as Shihomi's character's father) as it goes along, becoming a so-so actioner with a unique setting (a movie studio). I'm still glad it was included because I enjoy this actress in everything I've seen her in, but it's a dodo bird in this collection.

 

Did you watch The Great Chase ? I enjoyed a lot watching her in this movie !

I remember that years ago, I saw on the defunct site heroinedvd.com, the title of a movie half musical-half karate with Etsuko. I regret to not have bought it (though it was a dvdrip) and I totally forgot the name of the movie. Does it ring a bell to someone ?

[BornToDefense]

Even more excited to see the other movies since you mentioned Kurata. I've seen him in all manner of Kung Fu movies but never in any Japanese ones (at least that I remember), and knowing what little I do about his real life MA background I'd love to see him performing that style of choreography. He's always a standout imo, especially in some of the early bashers where the gap between trained and untrained actors was enormous (The King of Boxers with Mang Fei comes to mind).

I've always felt that in the same way that Chinese opera influenced Hong Kong and Taiwanese choreography conventions, that jidaigeki cinema and earlier popular/artistic portrayals of Japanese MA (and likely some of the training methodologies of the actual arts) probably influenced the one-shot-one-kill nastiness of the Japanese Karate movies of the 70s, though that's more of a guess than an informed opinion.

I had no idea how young Etsuko Shihomi was when she made those movies, that's amazing. I certainly didn't look as fierce as her when I was 16. As far as the occasional sloppiness of the fights in some of these movies, it might just be me but I've always found it somewhat charming. The fighting style is so visceral that the occasional ugly move just adds to the intensity in my mind.

[KUNG FU BOB]

7 hours ago, ShawAngela said:

Did you watch The Great Chase ? I enjoyed a lot watching her in this movie !

I remember that years ago, I saw on the defunct site heroinedvd.com, the title of a movie half musical-half karate with Etsuko. I regret to not have bought it (though it was a dvdrip) and I totally forgot the name of the movie. Does it ring a bell to someone ?

Oh yes. THE GREAT CHASE is a fun movie.

One of my favorites of hers is 13 STEPS OF MAKI: THE YOUNG ARISTOCRATS (1975, WAKAI KIZOKU-TACHI: 13-KAIDAN NO MAKI). Highly recommended. Wakai kizoku-tachi: 13-kaidan no Maki

You may be looking for SHANGHAI RHAPSODY (1984, aka. SHANHAI BANSUKINGU), with the story taking place in the 1930s, or possibly CABARET (1986, aka. KYABARE), which is a modern day film about a young saxophone player.

 

4 hours ago, BornToDefense said:

Even more excited to see the other movies since you mentioned Kurata. I've seen him in all manner of Kung Fu movies but never in any Japanese ones (at least that I remember), and knowing what little I do about his real life MA background I'd love to see him performing that style of choreography. He's always a standout imo, especially in some of the early bashers where the gap between trained and untrained actors was enormous (The King of Boxers with Mang Fei comes to mind).

I've always felt that in the same way that Chinese opera influenced Hong Kong and Taiwanese choreography conventions, that jidaigeki cinema and earlier popular/artistic portrayals of Japanese MA (and likely some of the training methodologies of the actual arts) probably influenced the one-shot-one-kill nastiness of the Japanese Karate movies of the 70s, though that's more of a guess than an informed opinion.

I had no idea how young Etsuko Shihomi was when she made those movies, that's amazing. I certainly didn't look as fierce as her when I was 16. As far as the occasional sloppiness of the fights in some of these movies, it might just be me but I've always found it somewhat charming. The fighting style is so visceral that the occasional ugly move just adds to the intensity in my mind.

Of his Japanese films, Kurata is running on high octane gas in the second and third SISTER STREET FIGHTER sequels, playing two different super-cool SOBs that kick major ass! He's also in the first THE EXECUTIONER film (a smaller role, but 95% action), the FIGHT! DRAGON TV series (which came out as a DVD set in 20?? and has plenty of action (including him fighting Bolo!), and 1976's WHICH IS STRONGER, KARATE OR TIGER? (aka. BUTOKEN: MOKO GEKISATSU. Incidentally, I first came to this forum because I was trying to ID this film after receiving the poster as a gift, and yes, the film is as wild and fun as you might guess based on that insanely lurid title). All highly recommended.

Here's a link to the FIGHT! DRAGON TV series DVD set in case anyone is interested. Lame cover that doesn't even feature Kurata-san, calls it a "kung fu show" instead of karate, and claims that among its "guest appearances by many famous Japanese artists" are "Bruce Liang, Yang Sze, and Bolo Yeung" who are not only all Chinese, but Yang Sze is actually another name for Bolo Yeung. But it's what's inside that counts, and this set includes the entire series and is in its original Japanese language with English subtitles for a great price.

 https://www.ebay.com/itm/225284843987?epid=84226296&hash=item347405e9d3:g:XaYAAOSw5bNjXK2K&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoEXUT3ekIH8PPquQW%2FqRlNRpbnRUKDVaHYYKpaqxQC4%2B%2Fljwrnbpp8pGPFjuyuAISAVyzvx3LrBA76DP25o%2FAXtz%2FVWBtFeZpbd%2Ff%2F6e2pNxpOx9dF3l7IQT70GsmSRYX6e5Shb9M7LY9uWfdqnKLpOKZHMxczHTLtCe35rQPBr9wK%2F2DDCI7vaZCYu%2FWeh0aQGjdTWlLy7p%2BzM1xWkSurE%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR9SXm97AYQ

[Takuma]

I can only echo what Kung Fu Bob and BornToDefense already said. But I need to add a couple teeny tiny details:

 

On 1/31/2023 at 2:49 AM, KUNG FU BOB said:

she appeared in both of THE BODYGUARD films (the first was her screen debut)

Though it's worth pointing out she only appears as Yayoi Watanabe's stunt double in the first film. In the second film she appears as an actress.

 

On 1/31/2023 at 2:49 AM, KUNG FU BOB said:

and a TV movie too (also with Chiba).

This description, my friend, does not do the film justice! It's a karate action thriller based on a comic book by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood) about a 300 year old witch (Chiba) and his karate-skilled little sister (Shihomi) who moonlight as assassins for hire! There you go

Here's my review:

 

14 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

You may be looking for SHANGHAI RHAPSODY (1984, aka. SHANHAI BANSUKINGU), with the story taking place in the 1930s, or possibly CABARET (1986, aka. KYABARE), which is a modern day film about a young saxophone player.

Probably Shanghai Rhapsody. It's an enjoyable if overlong Shanghai musical drama comedy set in the 30s and 40s, with Fukasaku's typical frantic storytelling, plenty of singing and dancing in night club context and a brief hysterical Etsuko Shihomi karate scene in the middle. Her role is actually quite large, but it's not an action role. 

Cabaret doesn't have any martial arts action in it.

 

14 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

Oh yes. THE GREAT CHASE is a fun movie.

One of my favorites of hers is 13 STEPS OF MAKI: THE YOUNG ARISTOCRATS (1975, WAKAI KIZOKU-TACHI: 13-KAIDAN NO MAKI). Highly recommended. Wakai kizoku-tachi: 13-kaidan no Maki

13 Steps of Maki (basically a pinky violence karate film, the only one of its kind!) and Dragon Princess are my favourite two Shihomi films. Shout should really do a Shihomi box set since Toei did new HD scans of Maki, Dragon and Chase a few years ago. They also did a new HD master for Which is Stronger: Karate or the Tiger one or two years ago (which surprised me because the Toei DVD came out only 10 years ago, but they are now airing a brand new master on TV).

Oh and speaking Karate Tiger, I have this massive tatekan poster on my wall! And one for Sister too!

 

Edited January 31, 2023 by Takuma

[ShawAngela]

2 hours ago, Takuma said:

16 hours ago, KUNG FU BOB said:

You may be looking for SHANGHAI RHAPSODY (1984, aka. SHANHAI BANSUKINGU), with the story taking place in the 1930s, or possibly CABARET (1986, aka. KYABARE), which is a modern day film about a young saxophone player.

Probably Shanghai Rhapsody. It's an enjoyable if overlong Shanghai musical drama comedy set in the 30s and 40s, with Fukasaku's typical frantic storytelling, plenty of singing and dancing in night club context and a brief hysterical Etsuko Shihomi karate scene in the middle. Her role is actually quite large, but it's not an action role. 

Cabaret doesn't have any martial arts action in it.

Thanks to both of you. I also have 13 Steps Maki thanks to @NoKUNGFUforYU and, if I remember well, I must have Dragon Princess as well, but I don't think that i watched it. 

I enjoyed 13 Steps Maki as well.

2 hours ago, Takuma said:

On 1/30/2023 at 6:49 PM, KUNG FU BOB said:

and a TV movie too (also with Chiba).

This description, my friend, does not do the film justice! It's a karate action thriller based on a comic book by Kazuo Koike (Lone Wolf and Cub, Lady Snowblood) about a 300 year old witch (Chiba) and his karate-skilled little sister (Shihomi) who moonlight as assassins for hire!

I would love to see that !

 

I also have Which is stronger, Karate or Tiger, a German release, if I remember well, and I loved it !

I realize that I finally have some interesting movies in my small Japanese collection ! Maybe I'll turn into an avid Japanese movies' collector one day ! 

After having watched the Nikkatsu Diamond Guys volume 2, I tried to find the volume 1, but it's out of print and is sold for crazy prices on ebay !

I loved the first two movies, but I didn't enjoyed as much the third one, with the bunch of failing assassins.

[BornToDefense]

Bit the bullet and preordered the Street Fighter Box. Goodbye savings.

[ChillyChong]

How are Street Fighter 1&2? I used to have 3dvd set but it`s been 15 years ago or so since watched trilogy just once. I don`t remember about anything(one has x-ray violence) of 1 or 2 but seem to recall pt3 has remarkably dire music and bad choreography.

On the fence shoud pre-order it or not. Shopping list now is quite blank...

 

[Drunken Monk]

[Drunken Monk]