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Sonny Chiba, Gerald Yamada, Tony Cetera, Yutaka Nakajima, Teijo Shikeharo ... see more see more... , King Stone , Masashi Ishibashi , Akira Shoji , Waichi Yamada

While most martial arts films focus mainly on showing the moves, strikes and blows of the combatants, they don't show the logical consequences of these battles in any detail. The Streetfighter does, a... read more read more...nd it won an "X" rating for violence when it was released to the U.S. in 1975. This cult film and its three sequels are thought to be particular favorites of American director Quentin Tarantino. Sonny Chiba stars as Terry, a mercenary hired by the Yakuza and Mafia to kidnap a wealthy heiress. The mobs refuse to pay his large fee for the job, and he immediately changes sides. Much of the violent and gory action takes place aboard an oil tanker; though injured, Terry still takes out at least half of his many opponents. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi

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75% liked it

6,647 ratings

R, 1 hr. 32 min.

Directed by: Shigehiro Ozawa, Sakae Ozawa

Release Date: November 1, 1974

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DVD Release Date: January 1, 2002

Stats: 393 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (393)

  • phubbs1
    January 28, 2012
    phubbs1
    Gekitotsu! Satsujin Ken

    Sonny Chiba was pretty much one of the first actors to become a star utilizing his skills in martial arts (in Japan), slightly more chunky or well built than Bruce Lee with a rounder face and thick eyebrows.

    Released a few years after some of Lee's hit f... read moreilms [i]Street Fighter[/i] is very similar in terms of looks, feel and costumes plus the way Chiba composes himself, his stances and poses during fights. The main difference being Chiba is playing a kind of mercenary for hire who isn't really all that nice instead of an outright hero, he's almost an antihero of sorts.

    At the time this film was regarded as highly graphic and violent but of course these days its more amusing, there is some in your face bloody moments but the blood is way too fake looking to concern. Violence is fun and almost comicbook-like with the odd idea having been seen more recently in other fight films and videogames (MK), the testicle ripping scene has to be the most memorable.

    Classic stuff and more gritty than Bruce Lee but with maybe less refined quality, Chiba comes across as more animalistic in battle, some lovely looking ladies in there too :)
  • 366weirdmovies
    October 8, 2010
    366weirdmovies
    A mercenary (presumably at one time in the past a street fighter) tries to protect an heiress while being hunted ny the yakuza and the man whose sister he sold into sex slavery. Sonny Chiba is a badass (and frankly more than a little bit of a dick) and the film gets some violent... read more style points, but aside from its silly brutality it's nowhere near as special as its reputation suggests.
  • kiriyamakazou
    May 6, 2010
    kiriyamakazou
    Superb action film that is superior to all recent efforts. The Street Fighter is everything you should love about the genre. In fact, it does so much right, it should be used as a template for any film wishing to achieve such levels of excitement and brutality. The first thing to... read more grab my attention was the lead protagonist. He isn't exactly a nice guy. Far from it. He's a mercenary for hire, and not the lovable rogue like Han Solo. He is sadistic and cruel and self serving. However, Chiba manages to instill such charisma that I was drawn to the performance. As the film progressed, so did Chiba. His actions became more heroic, even if his methods could still make me cringe. The action scenes are those I long to return. This isn't some "exciting" frenetic exercise in editing. The action derives from the actors and the stunts. The camera is following what is going on, and heavy editing is not needed. There are some stylistic flourishes which add extra cool, but not so much as to detract from the emotions of the characters. Some parts are a little convoluted, but the balance between story, dialog, and action is beautifully thought out. It's all helped along by a very 70's and very sexy soundtrack.
  • ythelastman89
    March 2, 2010
    ythelastman89
    While I do love Enter The Dragon, this is by fa the most entertaining Kung-Fu movie ever made. Sure, it's completely ridiculous and extreme, but you'll never have more fun watching a movie. I think Sonny Chiba is really the reason it is such a classic because his performance trul... read morey sells the entire plot and character. If anyone else ripped out someone's gentiles with a napkin, you might raise your eyebrows; somehow it makes sense. The facial expressions, movement and sporadic nature of Terry is like no one else. Hands down, this is one of the greatest exploitation films ever made. It has everything you'd want in one: Violence, Gore, Nudity, and explosions galore.
  • cosmo313
    December 17, 2009
    cosmo313
    Of the varied 1970's exploitation b-movies that I've seen, this one ranks pretty high on the badass scale- mainly because I saw the unrated version. Chiba turns in an amazing performance as Terry- an amoral violent tough guy you don't dare mess with. The dubbing, facial expressio... read morens, and various noises/sound effects add to the cheesy goodness. I'm indebted to Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino for introducing me to this movie. Check it out (the unrated version, that is)-it's a blast.
  • matertenebraum
    October 15, 2009
    matertenebraum
    Plot Summary: Sonny Chiba takes it upon himself to protect the heiress of an oil company, resulting in him beating up a load of guys and spilling much blood.

    'Streetfighter', aka The One Christian Slater Is Watching In True Romance, is without a doubt one of the greatest, most e... read morenjoyable martial arts films ever made. Set in twentieth century Japan, the film quickly sets Sonny's character up as one of, if not the toughest, most brutal antihero in the history of cinema. After going to great lengths to rescue a guy from being executed, Sonny meets the brother and sister who hired him for the assignment, and then kills the guy and sells the girl into prostitution just because they didn't keep their word regarding his payment details! As the film deals with Sonny's moral - free monster of a character, there is no time in between the awesome fight sequences for emotion or fortune cookie wisdom spouting. Only once, when we learn about the fate of Sonny's father, is there any emotion directed towards his character. The rest of the time the film is reliant on Sonny's charisma to give it any depth past the fight scenes. Thankfully, Sonny has bucket loads of it but as this is a martial arts film it wouldn't really matter if he didn't. He is without a doubt one of the coolest Asian actors ever.

    Overall this is essential for any fans of Japanese chop socky cinema or martial arts in general. It has everything; an impossibly cool and tough lead, huge body count, swords, axes, guns, OTT blood spewing, people falling to their deaths, cars being tipped of bridges, a revenge subplot, people spitting out their teeth, gorgeous Japanese women and a guy being hit in the stomach so hard his last meal comes out his mouth! Oh and one of the coolest theme tunes in history.
  • cancercapricorn2002
    February 9, 2009
    cancercapricorn2002
    A seriously rough, brutal and unsparingly violent mid-70's chopsocky grindhouse classic starring the almighty Sonny Chiba, a ferocious feral grunting beast of a man who portrays a blithely amoral mercenary-for-hire who winds up taking on the local Yakuza when they refuse to pony ... read moreup the money that's due to him. Chiba embarks on a shockingly harsh murderous spree, literally busting heads (in one breath-taking shot we see an x-ray of a skull being broken by Chiba's death blow!), gouging out eyes, knocking out teeth, ripping out throats and in one particularly nasty scene tearing a would-be rapist's penis off (ouch!) with his bare hands. This is pure raw, graphic, unflinchingly savage and hideous in-your-face karate carnage all the way, complete with gorgeous widescreen photography, funky "wacka wacka" 70's rock guitar music, wall-to-wall no-holds-barred fight scenes, globe-trotting locations, lousy dubbing, hot Asian chicks, an annoying comic relief wimp sidekick, and a reasonably complex plot. It's also exciting as all hell, especially when Chiba takes on and subsequently takes out five or six dudes at a time. The only thing I can say to close this review is that this is a awesome movie and worth checking out for fans of kung fu and grindhouse cinema
  • DragonEyeMorrison
    February 10, 2008
    DragonEyeMorrison
    Sonny motherfucking Chiba bitch. Nothing else to add.
  • EightThirty
    August 18, 2007
    EightThirty
    It's alright
  • rayman0071
    June 26, 2007
    rayman0071
    This was the movie that put Sonny Chiba on the martial arts map of kung fu mania. Brilliant action sequences throughout make this a bonafide classic. Spawn three sequels. This was the one that started it all. From 1975.

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Critic Reviews

Kevin N. Laforest
September 10, 2002
Kevin N. Laforest, Montreal Film Journal

Listen my son, TRUST NO ONE! You can count on no one but YOURSELF. Improve your skills, son, harden your body, become the NUMBER ONE MAN! Do no ever let ANYONE beat you! Full Review

May 9, 2005
New York Times

Click to read the article Full Review

Emanuel Levy
November 1, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Robert Roten
March 22, 2005
Robert Roten, Laramie Movie Scope

No review available.

Oz
December 9, 2001
Oz, eFilmCritic.com

Click to read the article Full Review

Jeffrey M. Anderson
February 10, 2007
Jeffrey M. Anderson, Combustible Celluloid

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The Street Fighter Trivia

  • Which actor stared in the 1994 film "Street Fighter" and died not too long after the film was finished?  Answer »
  • What popular video game was made into a film and then made into a game of the film?  Answer »
  • Jean-Claude Van Damme turned down the role of Johnny Cage in the film Mortal Kombat (1995) to do which movie?  Answer »
  • In which action movie is there the comic relief qoute "Quick! Change the Channel"  Answer »
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