Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (1977)

Sonny is in James Bond mode again in this solid but somehow underwhelming entry in the Chiba cannon. Sonny's character is very intense, but his rage is suppressed, less volcanic and emotional than usual, and he kills from distance with his high powered rifle, rather than up close using his fists, as Chiba fans have become accustomed to seeing (Chiba does Bronson or Eastwood if you will). However the main problem is that, when the climax arrives, Sonny isn't involved in the real action, he gets to carry out his un-necessarily complicated assassination, but all the hand to hand fighting is left to the Hong Kong police, which is an big let down for hard core Chiba fans. So it's a decent espionage movie with Sonny Chiba the actor in it, rather than Sonny Chiba the martial arts star. One interesting cultural moment comes as Sonny is walking back to his hotel down a back alley, when he comes upon a man and woman arguing. The guy begins to slap her around as Sonny approaches. On the one hand, the part of your brain that has watched many Hollywood movies expects our hero to come to her aid, however those who have seen a few of Sonny's movies should know better, he just walks on by. However when she pulls a gun, shoots and kills the guy, she gets Sonny's attention. He is impresssed and helps her avoid arrest when the cops arrive, by saying she is with him and the shooter went that-a-way. As Sonny sums it up "The first shot was from anger, the second from fear and the third from love, you didn't want him to suffer".

Ever watch a movie that wasn't in your native tongue to start but has been so badly dubbed you can't tell if the movie bites or the dubbing? This is one of those movies. Sure I've seen plenty of bad sword and sandal films and martial arts flicks but this films dubbing so so hideous that I'm wondering what planet the dubbing director was on. Its all the bad 70's dub voices but in this film they are put to particularly bad use...The horror, the horror...I honestly can't rate the film because the dub is so bad its not fair to even try....

The charismatic Sonny Chiba is most impressive in this kick ass action movie that flits from Hong Kong to Miami and from Tokyo to Kyoto.We flit from enemy to enemy as well in a slightly confusing tale of drug dealers, hit men and the Hong Kong police, not forgetting the Peruvian ambassador and his daughter! How much we follow the slender plot matters not, as long as we miss none of the mister super cool Sony Chiba action. All fast moving and spirited stuff with martial arts, shoot outs and assassinations. Spirited.

There's nothing quite like a 1970s professional hitman, usually played by an emotionless hunk in a suit and tie, eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, carrying a briefcase from which he will coldly assemble a sniper rifle. Not only do you get one snap-together rifle scene in ASSIGNMENT: KOWLOON, but you get two, as Sonny Chiba portrays the professional assassin who cannot be stopped and will not cease until his job is done. Or, until he has his revenge against those who've wronged him. Both is the case in this movie.The plot of this film is incidental, as Golgo 13 is hired to kill a renegade drug trafficker posing as an important businessman; Golgo 13 is beaten to the kill by another faction, but is nonetheless blamed for the assassination by a strong-willed Hong Kong detective named Smithy who is determined to stop Golgo 13.This is a gritty film, with a seething, rock-hard performance by Chiba as Golgo 13, presenting a character who is a professional killer, and worse. Chiba's barely-controlled rage is palpable; Golgo 13, when not coldly sighting down his rifle, emerges as a dangerous, paranoid man expecting at any moment to be attacked. And as is the case, Golgo 13 finds violence wherever he goes, whether or not he is involved directly or not. A young woman, a mere stranger on the street arguing with a man, suddenly murders this man in a blind rage right in front of Golgo 13. Golgo 13 not only saves her from the police, but from the murdered man's roving gang, who are seeking the girl, for revenge. This puts the girl in debt to the assassin, and later he will use her when he is wounded and nearly captured by police. Golgo 13 affords himself a way to stay alive by taking advantage of any situation, even if it is a poor girl who made a mistake; that mistake is the assassin's edge, and Chiba revels in it.The Crash Cinema video is great, though the sub-titles are some of the worst I've ever seen. But the movie very much retains its 1970s grindhouse purity, to be viewed in a run-down theatre smelling of piss and cigarettes. GOLGO 13 is a tough, well-made movie, and Chiba is just a wicked physical performer who makes his kills, with hands or weapons, look especially painful. The character of Golgo 13 is what James Bond might have become, if he ever left the BSS and turned into a for-hire killer. He'd be unstoppable, and that's what Golgo 13 is: Unstoppable, and very, very cool.