japanese movies

[ramnair23]

hey ppl.i just vvatched the Sonny Chiba Streetfighter movies and I'm really dissapointed. I vvould never have thot Sonny Chiba a martial artist vvatching this movie if i didn't already knovv that for a fact. There's little or no choreogaphy vvhatsoever in his movies. can some1 recommend to me some vvell choreographed japanese martial arts movies that compares to the HK ones?

[GwaiLoMoFo]

Well the movie you watched is called "STREETfighter", hence the unstylized street fighting. You're not going to find a Classic (old school) Japanese MA film with HK style shapes. Japanese MA films are more direct, brutal and "realistic" (comparably). Less dancing about and more kicks/punches landing. Chiba's Mas Oyama films & "Killing Machine" are more stylized than the Streetfighter films. But they still stay true to the stlye of Karate which they are portraying. He's made a boatload of excellent samurai films which feature more stylized action ie "Iga Ninpocho", "Shogun's Ninja", "Makai Tensho", "Shogun's Samurai", ect..

[ramnair23]

vvell MoFo jap movies maybe direct and brutal but def. not realistic. i don't knovv about every1 else but i look for plausibility not authenticity in a MA movie. none of those moves are going to save Sonny Chiba in a real streetfight. my problem vvith this being projected as a martial art movie is that Sonny Chibas got no moves a non-martial artist hasn't. his punches are higher than his kicks. thanks for recommending those other movies. i hope i'll enjoy them better

[GwaiLoMoFo]

I would definitley categorize the "Steetfighter Trilogy" as EXPLOITATION films first, and martial arts a FAR distant second.