Tag Line: If you’ve got to fight–fight dirty!
Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa
Starring Sonny Chiba, Goichi Yamada, Tony Cetera
THE KILL: Sonny Chiba and THE STREET FIGHTER busted out on the scene after Bruce Lee and ENTER THE DRAGON hit it big. Where Lee was slick, smooth, and artistic in his martial arts abilities, Chiba was the total opposite: gruff, rough, and lacked the ‘art’ in his martial art—as the tagline suggests, he fought dirty!
In THE STREET FIGHTER, while Chiba isn’t Lee, he is one likable badass mofo! Coupled with the extreme fighting sequences and all around violence, THE STREET FIGHTER is what REEL ACTION kung-fu movies are all about!
Chiba plays Terry (a name that seems to have been f*cked up in translation), a hitman with no loyalties to anyone except himself, and has no morale except his love for money. For the right price, he’ll do just about anything—and if you don’t pay, he’ll simply kick your ass, throw you out a window, sell you into prostitution, or all three! When we first meet Terry, it’s hard to tell whether he’s the good guy or the bad guy (kicking the shit out of women generally has that effect), but after he vows revenge on The Mob and The Yakuza for wanting him dead (they asked him to kill someone, he gave them a price, they said no, he walked away), Terry is clearly the good guy who enjoys cracking skulls, castrating rapists, and walking away from fights with a fistful of larynx.
Terry’s sidekick Ratnose (again, another name that seems to be seriously f*cked in translation) is Terry’s only true friend—who may or may not be gay, as he worships the ground Terry walks on and even cooks the man dinner! They more or less work together, with Terry busting out his karate moves and Ratnose cheering or jeering from the sidelines. The relationship works surprisingly well, mostly due to Terry’s gruffness with Ratnose, as it appears Terry could care less whether his sidekick lives or dies. Remember, Terry’s a badass mofo!
The villains in THE STREET FIGHTER are almost laughable, as they’re clearly no match for Terry, but a few are more badass than others. The head of Yakuza (a woman, no less) and the Mob are ruthless, the gang-raping henchmen are brutal, the blind druglord and his knife throwing ‘number one’ are scary, and the convict he helps escape in the beginning ends up being a fairly worthy adversary. Add those together with the hundreds (I’m sure there were hundreds) of karate chopping foot-soldiers, you have yourself enough villains to keep any hero busy—but only a hero who fights dirty would be able to beat.
Made in Japan in the mid-70s (and dubbed in English), THE STREET FIGHTER maintains that exploitation code of extreme violence, extreme brutality, and extreme characters. Although it lacks in the nudity department, it does manage to exploit women, whether showcasing Terry’s insistence on forcibly kissing the ladies at any chance he can get (in between kicking and punching them) and selling one to a prostitution ring, to a disturbing gang-rape scene and the actions Terry takes to rescue his ‘client’ from being raped. If there ever was a grindhouse martial arts movie, this was it!
Any martial artist can bust awe-inspiring flashy moves, but only a few can do it with little style and grace, and still manage to make it look brutally cool. What Terry lacks in crazy speed and agility, he makes us up for with extreme violence. He’s not out to just put peeps out of commission, he’s out to f*ck them up and kill them. It doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman, big or small, ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ Terry will f*ck you up ten ways to Sunday, then f*ck you up some more for looking at him funny. Look out America, Sonny Chiba is THE STREET FIGHTER, and he’s here to stay!
TOP DEATH: Having too many to choose from is not a bad position to be in—my top death has to go with the rapist who gets castrated by a fist full of Terry!
TOP ACTION SCENE: Lots of fight sequences throughout, I think I got the most joy from the brother/sister/Terry fight in the beginning, if nothing else because it highlights Terry’s lack of moral, his love for money, and the fact that he doesn’t care if you’re a woman, he’ll still beat the crap out of you.
TOP HOMOEROTIC MOMENT: Terry’s sidekick, Ratnose, supplies many homoerotic moments, mostly because he worships the ground Terry walks on. They share an apartment together, and Ratnose cooks Terry dinner on a daily basis. Nope, nothing gay about that…!
FEMALE EXPLOITATION: Terry sucks face with any lady he comes in contact with—could be before he kicks their ass or kidnaps them, but he loves the ladies. Too bad he doesn’t land any of them in the sack.
TOP LINE/DIALOGUE:
Terry: “Tell that bitch who sent you how sorry I am I can no longer be her friend.”
DRINKING GAME: Every time Terry’s sidekick Ratnose screams Terry’s name, you have to drink!
TRIVIA:
When originally released, THE STREET FIGHTER received an X rating for its extreme violence.