seveb-25179 The film that made Sonny Chiba an international martial arts star, with its legendary distinction of having received the first ever X certificate for violence in American cinematic history. There is a strong streak of sadism in Japanese culture that viewers of Takeshi's Castle and other Japanese game shows will be familiar with. Along with wreaking general mayhem on almost everyone he encounters, Sonny also manages to punch one opponent in the face, producing a cascade of tumbling teeth and blood! He pokes another bad guys eyes into a bloody pulp and afterwards examines his fingers before wiping them off on his assistant's shirt!! Rips another's adversaries balls off and for dessert tears out the throat of the second to last man standing!!! 'Nuff said. However not for the last time in a Sonny Chiba movie the audience is also confronted with a troubling moral dilemma. It appears that the Japanese ideal of honour is very different from the European version, and I don't claim to understand it. In this case "Kickass for hire" Sonny rescues a martial arts multiple killer from prison at the behest of his sister and her boyfriend. Afterwards it turns out they don't have the money to pay the balance of his fee, so Sonny proposes to sell the girl into sexual slavery. The boyfriend naturally trys to prevent this and although Sonny trys to go easy on him, he ends up going out the window to his death while trying to take Sonny out with one of those trademark flying kicks that Bruce Lee was so good at. Sonny then proceeds as planned, and sells the girl into sexual slavery! We see her being held down to be raped and injected with drugs to pacify her. Is Sonny's behaviour considered acceptable and honourable in traditional Japanese culture? I have no idea, but some may have difficulty accepting Sonny's bona fides as a heroic or even anti-heroic figure after this! Later in the movie, the same large dark skinned gentleman who was the principle rapist, attempts to repeat the treatment on another girl, but this time Sonny climbs in the window in time to relieve him of his genetalia. Does this serve to mitigate Sonny's earlier behaviour? I think not. Then during the finale, the sister who was sold into sexual slavery and her kickass brother get their chance to avenge themselves on Sonny and almost succeed. But instead she ends up stabbed to death and the brother is deprived of his throat, after Sonny rallies from the brink of defeat. (Yay?) It would be interesting to conduct a poll of which side the audience were supporting during this final struggle. As for the plot, its decent enough, the villains want to hire Sonny to help kidnap a rich heiress, but he turns them down, so instead they try to kill him, after which he decides to get involved and protect the girl instead. However at one stage he admonishes his assistant that he only hopes to make money from the girl too, just in case we were thinking the leopard had changed his spots!PS - Did Sonny Chiba really appear in 4 The Street fighter and 2 The Executioner movies in the space of a single year? Busy boy!

darrenmurray84 This was the film that made Chiba an international star, and is also famous as being the first film in America to be given an X certificate due to its violent content and not for sex or swearing.There is very little plot in the film. Luckily there is some excellent action along the way which makes up for any of the plots shortcomings. Chiba is excellent and proves once again that he is one of the best martial arts stars ever. Here he plays Takama Tsuguri, the Streetfighter of the title. He isn't you'r usual kind of hero, and in any other film he would be probably classed as a villain. The film begins with Tsuguri being hired to break out a convict from prison which he does with extremely violent results. Afterwards he is double crossed by the family. Most people would get their revenge by just beating them up, not Tsuguri. Instead he beats up the convicts brother and sells the sister into prostitution, and this is the hero of the movie.What lies ahead of this are a number of increasingly violent action scenes culminating in an excellent fight on board a giant tanker fighting the main villains henchman until he comes face to face once again with the convict that he freed at the beginning of the film.Direction in the movie is basic, other than a use of an x-ray shot that shows broken bones, which was utilised to better effect years later in the Jet Li movie "Romeo Must Die". Also there are no performances of note other than Chiba, and even then he is known more for his fighting skills than his thespian ones.It is no surprise that this film made Chiba a star as he is definitely in a class of his own. His popularity in America was also due to the death of Bruce Lee and audience's wanted to fill the void left by him. Personally I prefer Chiba to Bruce Lee. He may not be as skilled as a Martial Artist, but just seems more deadly on screen than Lee was. Even in its dubbed and re-edited form, the Streetfighter is still a great Martial Arts movie.

BA_Harrison Shame on me: I've been reviewing cult Japanese movies for years now but this is the first Sonny Chiba film I've tackled. And I call myself a martial arts fan...Sonny is, of course, a legend of Japanese action cinema, and The Street Fighter is his undisputed masterpiece, an incredibly violent showcase for the star's remarkable Karate skills (and his reasonable impression of Bruce Lee). As seemingly indestructible mercenary anti-hero Terry Tsurugi, Sonny kicks, punches and tears through a veritable army of opponents, leaving them either dead, or writhing on the floor in agony, blood pouring from one or more orifices. The brutality reaches a climax in a stunning finale set aboard a rain-lashed oil tanker which must rank as one of the most intense fight scenes ever committed to film.But it's not just about the violence: the stylish execution also makes this a cut above many martial arts movies of the day, with great cinematography, innovative direction from Shigehiro Ozawa (including the legendary 'X-Ray' punch shot mimicked in Jet Li's Romeo Must Die), great editing and a funky 70s soundtrack. Do yourself a favour... don't leave it as long as I did before watching this incredible piece of Asian excess.8.5 out of 10, rounded up to 9 for IMDb.

MartinHafer If you try to compare this film to non-martial arts films, it surely would not receive a score like 9. However, for the genre, it is an exceptional film as way too many of these martial arts films of the 1970s were so cheaply made and featured the dumbest gimmicks and the most ridiculous fighting that STREET FIGHTER is a welcome relief--even being better than most of the Bruce Lee movies.Originally, this was an X-rated film due to its graphic violence, though today it probably would be rated PG-13 or R--I guess this says a lot about our culture and the type films we are making these days! There is a ton of blood and lots of gouging and ripping out of things such as genitals and throats--making it a movie you still should NOT let your kids see. Plus,instead of the likable and decent hero usually played by Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee, Sonny Chiba plays an amoral jerk who will do anything for money--this is highly reminiscent of the "heros" in FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE and other Spaghetti Westerns.The film begins with Chiba rescuing a condemned man from execution. The man DID deserved to die, but for the money, Chiba and his dopey sidekick were more than willing to help. However, later, when the same employer wants him to do other jobs but don't want to pay the price he asks, they decide to kill him--after all, they are the Yakuza and they don't want their identities revealed. So, wave after wave after wave of baddies attack Chiba. His martial arts techniques are incredible--we was obviously well-trained and unlike most heroes in martial arts films, he took pains to kill most of his victims--not just punching them but brutally destroying them. However, it also helped that in many cases, the bad guys attacked him one at a time!!! This was reasonably achieved in some cases by having them attack down a path or in an alley, though often they took turns when they all COULD have attacked at the same time--and even the greatest marital artist would not survive this. Hey folks, these are the YAKUZA--Japanese mobsters famed for their brutality--this one at a time stuff just isn't realistic. What I did like, though, was that they did sometimes use guns and Chiba was able to handle this--it wasn't all hand to hand nonsense.Aside from the one at a time problem, the only other minor problem was his fight with nice-guy Master Masaoka. Masaoka was a middle-aged and rather overweight guy but he more than handled Chiba--even though Chiba then went on to kill dozens throughout the rest of the film. Masaoka appeared in the next film as well and none of his techniques look the least bit impressive. So how did he do so well against Chiba? But for the good, there is a lot to like. This is some of the most brutal and skilled martial arts I have seen and it is very realistic due to the blood and because he remembers to kill just about all those who attack him--making Chiba a rare thing in martial arts films--a very smart and pragmatic leading man!!! While not quite as fast as Bruce Lee or artistic as Jackie Chan, Chiba's brutal combination of styles of martial arts is very impressive and hard to dismiss. Lovers of the genre MUST see this film.