The Street Fighter
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| 激突！殺人拳 | |
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 Film poster |
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| Directed by | Shigehiro Ozawa |
| Written by | Steve Autrey Kôji Takada |
| Starring | Sonny Chiba |
| Distributed by | New Line Cinema (USA) |
| Release date(s) | February 2, 1974 (Japan) November 1974 (USA) |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Language | Japanese |
| IMDb profile | |
The Street Fighter (激突！殺人拳 Gekitotsu! Satsujin Ken?), literally Clash, Killer Fist!, is a Japanese martial arts film released in 1974 and produced by Toei Company Ltd.
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[edit] Plot summary
Takuma (Terry) Tsurugi is a very violent and deadly martial arts master who will commit almost any crime for money. In the opening scenes, we see him audaciously break a condemned murderer (Junjo) out of prison by impersonating a monk, then using an ancient martial arts technique that causes delayed unconsciousness. When Junjo faints while ascending the gallows, prison officials rush him to a hospital, giving Terry a chance to free him at the expense of an innocent ambulance driver and a couple of guards. However, Junjo's brother and sister, who hired him for the job, don't have enough money to pay him, and, when he finds out, he throws the brother out a high window and sells the sister into sexual slavery.
The plot thickens when a wealthy oil tycoon dies, leaving his daughter, Sarai, as his heir. Tsurugi is sent to retrieve her from a Karate dojo, but is soon betrayed, and the rest of the movie centers on the conflict between Tsurugi and the mob as they try to acquire Sarai's new fortune. Also, the film has several side plots: a heated feud between Terry and Junjo, who owes Terry his life but is nonetheless bent on avenging his brother and sister; Terry's new-found respect for Masaoko, a Buddha-like karate master who bests him in single combat; and the relationship between Terry and his sidekick, Ratnose, who provides both comic relief and a moment of sorrow.
[edit] Cast
- Terry Tsurugi is played by Sonny Chiba
- In the English dubbed versions of The Street Fighter and Return of the Street Fighter, Chiba's character is identified as "Terry Sugury" in the credits but dubbed by the voice actors as "Terry Tsurugi". In The Street Fighter's Last Revenge, however, the voice actors call him "Terry Tsuguri."
- Sarai is played by Yutaka Nakajima
- Ratnose is played by Waicha Yamada
- Masaoko is played by Masafumi Suzuki
[edit] History
Inspired by the world-wide success of Enter the Dragon, Toho Studios decided to release its own martial arts action films and cast Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba who had been well known in Japan for a while, having starred in many successful action, comedy and drama films, as well as numerous television shows.
The film is well known for its extreme and graphic violent content. The Street Fighter was the first film to receive an X rating solely for violence. The film was especially controversial because of a scene in which Tsurugi castrates a rapist with his bare hands; it is this scene (among others) that reputedly gained the film its 'X' rating.
The Street Fighter inspired two sequels, Return of The Street Fighter and The Street Fighter's Last Revenge. There was a third sequel entitled Kozure Satsujin Ken (the last of the films), but was brought to the US by a different company under the title Karate Warriors. Additionally, the film Sister Street Fighter is a spin-off of the film.
In 1993, the film (and its sequels) received mainstream exposure in North America when they were featured in Tony Scott's True Romance (written by Quentin Tarantino), which had the two lead characters spending time at a Sonny Chiba Street Fighter marathon.
