Return of the Street Fighter (1974)

Sonny Chiba is back with those funny faces. I am still never sure if he is a good guy or a bad guy. He seems to switch sides at will. One thing is certain; he does not have the honor of Bruce Lee - he's in it for the money.I really don't see the point in the karate lessons or the weapons naming (sai, nunchuka, kon, etc) , or all that brick breaking.This time, he has a new sidekick - a girl with some fantastic outfits. The fighting in the film appears to be pretty realistic. Chiba seems to bleed as much as his opponents. He has a really cool step there that has some cool sounds when he is on your ribs. The crushing-blood-on-the-face blow is a real gore-fest. The eye popping scene is going to make you laugh. No rapists in this film; so we don't see any more castration, but we do have a Bond girl of sorts who has evil on her mind.If you like the action, then there is plenty for all.

Terry Sugury (Sonny Chiba) returns as the merc for hire in this sequel to the classic original. This time around Terry is hired by a business man (in other words gangster) who is building a super martial arts academy by soliciting "donations" for the school by falsely using the name of Terry's teacher. But when the teacher catches wind of the plot and nearly assassinated the street fighter quickly shows the baddies who really is boss.Thoughts: This highly energetic (and I feel better) sequel is a nonstop blast. The action is more abundant this time around with some lovely gore too (the eyeball scene was so cool). Yeah the dubbing still stinks and we have yet another suspect henchman but hey run with it you'll be glad you did. S10 gives the film an 8 out of 10.

I remember I really disliked this movie the first time I saw it... though I not only saw it full-frame (meaning that the fights were often hard to make out), but that it was an edited version, missing all that blood and bone crunching that warms all our hearts. Well, I recently got hands on a DVD of the first movie and this, and I gave it another look. Imagine my surprise that this public domain DVD not only had the movie in widescreen, but uncut! Seems they probably got the master from an old New Line laserdisc. (What's up with that, New Line - you release the first movie on VHS uncut and in widescreen, but you released the second movie on VHS cut and full-frame?!!?)My view of the movie the second time is somewhat better... but it still doesn't match the impact of the original. Chiba's character is much softer, lacking the anti-hero aspect he had in the original that made him simultaneously grotesque and a figure to respect OR ELSE. As well, the action even in this uncut version I saw lacks the viciousness and bloodiness that was a major selling point of the original. I have to wonder if maybe the harshness was toned down here by the filmmakers in an attempt to gain a wider audience on its home turf.There are a few acceptable action sequences, but nothing particularly outstanding. The story is lamer, with Chiba's new sidekick a particularly annoying (and ugly!) figure. At times the movie feels like a bad parody of the whole series. Still, it could have been far worse; I remember THE STREET FIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE to be even worse than this! (Though I also saw that full-frame and edited.)

A very entertaining, and funny Sonny Chiba-flick, which is the sequel to his legendary movie "Street Fighter", where he played the hitman Terry Tsuguri. The first one was the only movie rated 'X' from violence at the time. Sadly, this sequel doesn't contain as much gore and guts as the first one, but it still has some nice Karate-scenes. Sadly, when the movie has begun, we will have to wait over 40 minutes that the fighting starts, but soon the storms will rise, and bones will crack! The legendary villain, who supposedly died, from the first movie, is back...with a vengeance! Has some funny scenes (the scene in the sauna), some dramatic scenes (the b&w flashbacks from Terry's childhood), some very good fight-scenes (the scene in the alpes, the fínal battle), some groovy martial arts weapon-scenes (the training in the Karate-school), and the theme is a classic! I rate it **½ from ****. Be sure to watch it in it's full widescreen ratio.