5 Star

Stunning Martial Arts Violence.

1974 was a very busy year for Shigehiro Ozawa (Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist, House of Gamblers) as he brings us three of the most violent (at the time) Martial Arts films, all staring the great Shin’ichi Chiba (Sonny Chiba) (The Executioner, Kill Bill: Vol. 1 & 2). One man versus’s the Yakuza and the Mafia. He is a Skull smashing, Bone breaking, Throat crushing killing machine. A great release from Arrow, and a must own for any Martial Arts fan. (Names taken from the English dub, Subtitles are available)

Brutal Martial Artist (Junjo) Shikenbaru (Masashi “Milton” Ishibashi, Sister Street Fighter, The Return of the Sister Street Fighter) has been sentenced to death, for killing seven fighters. Now on the day of his hanging he is visited by a Buddhist monk. Terry Tsurugi (Shin’ichi Chiba) who isn’t a priest at all, but the man hired by Junjo’s Brother Gijun (Jirô Yabuki, Shogun’s Samurai, Robot Keiji K: The Movie) and his sister Nachi (Shihomi Etsuko, Legend of the Eight Samurai, Sister Street Fighter: Hanging by a Thread) to free him, and while allowed to have a private word, he uses a secret technique, which causes Junjo to collapse at the noose. A stay of execution, as he is sent to the hospital. En route, the ambulance is stopped by Terry’s sidekick Ratnose (Goichi Yamada, Female Teacher, Young Boss), while Terry takes control of the ambulance. Junjo is shipped out of the country for safety.

Elsewhere, the owner of an oil company passes away, leaving his only daughter Sarai Chuayut (Yutaka Nakajima, Truck Rascals, Yakuza Ladies 2) is the sole heir to the company and the billions of Yen it makes a year. Criminal minds see a great opportunity, and one man stands in their way.

Assassination or suicide, that is the penalty

Sonny Chiba‘s skills sees him pitted against the Mafia in Return of the Street Fighter as they try to make more money illegally.

The Street fighter’s Last Revenge sees Sonny Chiba chasing after a top politician’s secret tape goes missing, and a cat-and-mouse chase ensues, all the while Sonny uses his skills to take out the baddies, who ever they are, and will all be done with extreme prejudice.

Men without honour will die first

With over four hours of action, this is a great one to add to your collection.

The Street Fighter Trilogy is available on Blu-ray

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS

• 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 StellaDISC 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 galleryDISC 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 galleryDISC 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 galleryFIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing on the films by Mark Schilling and Chris Poggiali