Sonny Chiba Mega Review Thread

[Takuma]

A bit more about Roaring Fire

Still


Teaser Trailer

The text says "directed by Norifumi Suzuki". Action director Chiba sitting in on the right.


Promo footage not found in the film

[Takuma]

Roaring Fire (Japan, 1981) [35mm] - 4.5/5
A mentally insane, turbo charged action comedy that is one of Norifumi Suzuki's most enjoyable films. Hiroyuki Sanada stars as a Japanese-American cowboy travelling back to Japan on family affairs only to discover a drug smuggling operation ran by a Japanese neo nazi. Except for the bloody violence and a monkey that steals a girls' bikini top, this is very much the kind of movie Jackie Chan would begin to make a few years later. There's a terrific mix of comedy, martial arts and amazing stunts. The highlights are too numerous to list, including Sanada running from ninjas in broad daylight in Kyoto, a double-decker fight scene shot in Hong Kong, and Sanada escaping on foot a helicopter that is dropping hand grenades on him. Quest star Sonny Chiba was responsible for the action design, and indeed, this is like a supercharged version of his own "Modern Action" era films from the 60s and 70s, with added Hong Kong influences to the fight choreography. Supporting cast includes Etsuko Shihomi, Abdullah the Butcher, and Masashi Ishibashi in perhaps the only good guy role of his career. Highly recommended!

* Original title: Hoero tekken ( 吠ろ鉄拳)
* Director: Norifumi Suzuki
* Chiba's role: Small supporting role
* Film availability: Toei DVD (Japan) (No Sub), German DVDs (Eng subbed and non-subbed versions exist)

Sanada and Ishibashi


Clumsy hero


Mikio Narita






Etsuko Shihomi's foot. That looks painful.


Nazi bitch


Hong Kong


This stunt is just insane






Abdullah the Butcher


Chiba

[47lab]

It seems like the same print, but somehow Rarescope managed to make it look worse. A bit less crisp, non-anamorphic, most likely PAL to NTSC as well...
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/foru...=4581&p=111086

yeah, those caps from the New German certainly do look like a major improvement over the R1 dvd. Too bad it's OOP now and probably was shitload expensive in their hardbox versions anyway.

[Takuma]

I have that version somewhere too. Wasn't the same German print used for the English dub version?

It seems like the same print, but somehow Rarescope managed to make it look worse. A bit less crisp, non-anamorphic, most likely PAL to NTSC as well...
http://www.bulletsnbabesdvd.com/foru...=4581&p=111086

[47lab]

I have the Rarescope US DVD. The quality sucks but the movie is a trip!

I have that version somewhere too. Wasn't the same German print used for the English dub version?

[Ian Jane]

I have the Rarescope US DVD. The quality sucks but the movie is a trip!

[Takuma]

I only own the German DVD of Soul of Chiba but from screencaps it seems obvious it's better than the US DVD. Same aspect ratio (in the ENG version) but the German disc is anamorphic and the image looks generally a bit crisper. It's not a huge improvement, but it's certainly a better transfer.

Soul of Chiba screened in 35mm in Finland in 2004 on a film fest. Damn I wish I could've been there. I still keep hearing stories about that screening... apparently no one who went there could ever forget it.

[Takuma]

Soul of Chiba (Japan/Thailand/Taiwan/Hong Kong, 1977) [DVD] - 4/5

This is a strangely intoxicating trash classic filmed in Thailand, and produced by Chiba with no participation by Toei. Some sources claim he was frustrated with Toei execs and directors who didn't really understand about martial arts movies, but whether that is true remains a mystery. Tadashi Yamashita, Etsuko Shihomi and Bolo joined him for the relatively nonsensical, sloppily made but very entertaining flick. The film hit the theatres in early 1977 when karate films were already going out of fashion.

The film opens with just about the quickest introduction you could possibly do. Chiba is a kid in Thailand, vowing to avenge his parents' death to soldiers who killed them. A white bearded martial arts master accepts him as his student. 20 years later the man has learned to fight, but before the film has run three minutes, the old master is also dead. The killer's name is either Someone or Sam Wan, it's quite hard to say which.

By now, Chiba and the audiences alike have forgotten all about the dead parents (never to be mentioned again in the film) as Chiba goes after someone who killed his master. Same time elsewhere an undercover cop Tadashi Yamashita is searching for the same man with an intention to bring a drug cartel down. The two heroes will eventually encounter, but only after the film has introduced a whole load of sub-plots and supporting characters, including one with a long lost, thought-to-be-dead brother, and jungle girl Etsuko Shihomi who treats injured Chiba's wounds.

Soul of Chiba enjoys the reputation of being Chiba's most insane picture. Personally I feel that honour belongs to Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975), but Soul of Chiba puts up a good fight. Their breeds of insanity differ a bit. Wolfguy features a secret organization trying to mass produce werewolves using Chiba's blood. Insane perhaps, but perfectly logical and understandable! Soul of Chiba features a drug dealer crashing his boat through another boat and flying through the air for no apparent reason.

Soul of Chiba really gets to the core of madness when Chiba begins torturing with electricity while doing karate moves to make his body stronger. He treats the pain with drugs (cocaine?) of course develops a severe drug addiction! Yep, this is just about the only martial arts flick where the hero fights under the influence of hard drugs. And all that leads to a terrific ending that is one of the best in Chiba' filmography.

Even better than the electric torture is the psychedelic monkey fight where Chiba encounters four Thai fighters (JAC stuntmen actually) possessed by monkey magic, which makes them four times stronger. While the film may not be a technical triumph - it is downright sloppy a lot of the time - this sequence is filmed and edited with true inspiration. You also get the wonderful slow-mo effect priory utilized in Karate Warriors as an added bonus.

As you may have figured out by now, the action in Soul of Chiba is at least satisfactory. While Chiba uses karate, there's quite a bit of Chinese influence to the action choreography. There's plenty of action and quite a few duels as well, including Chiba's final fight, and another fight featuring Tadashi Yamashita and Bolo. The filming took 2 months, which is more that Toei would allow Chiba in his domestic productions. Some of the fights also use under-cranking, which would normally be a shame, but in this intoxicating feast of visual insanity it almost works in the film's benefit.

If you're into trivia, there was quite an interesting bunch of people involved in the production. Aside Chiba, Yamashita and Shihomi there is Bolo, who is also credited with the story concept. Someone is played by Luk Chuen aka Yasuhiro Shikamura, who played small parts in Wang Yu films and went on to choreograph the amazing The Boxer's Omen! White beard master is played by Fong Yuen, who was a make-up artist that worked on more than 350 Hong Kong films. The young boy who wishes Chiba would teach him to fight is none other than Peter Chan, the future Hong Kong director of films like Wu Xia, Perhaps Love and The Warlords. And would you ever have guessed there's a connection between Soul of Chiba and the Japanese FM Towns version of the video game Lemmings? That is composer Takashi Otani, who created the film's excellent score.

The directorial duties were dived between the mediocre Japanese workhorse Yukio Noda (Yakuza Deka, The Delinquent Boss series) and Chan Tung Man. It is unclear who did what, but that probably matters not, Their primary tasks seems to have been to film whatever Chiba and Yamashita asked for, without stressing about such things as logic or continuity.

The relatively high production values of Chiba's Japanese films are nowhere to be found here. In fact, the film often looks and sounds more like a cheap Taiwanese kung fu flick. Some of the performances are hilariously bad, the quality of cinematography varies from scene to scene, and continuity is nowhere to be found. One amusing goof is how Bolo's character is said to have had his tongue cut out by bad guys, yet it seems to have grown back since its very much visible whenever he opens his mouth. Such issues work either for or against the film, depending on the viewer. Yet, there is little doubt that the filmmakers were inhaling true inspiration (among other substances) while filming and editing. Those viewers who don't get it, have fully deserved every painful second they spend with the film.

In a nutshell: you don't need beer, you don't need weed, you just need Soul of Chiba. I made the mistake of combining Soul of Chiba with wine, and it almost made my head explode. Try at your own risk.

Soul of Chiba opened in Japan in February 1977 as a double bill with Ikuo Sekimoto's soft porn flick The General and His Empire of Joy. Toei was the theatrical distributor, but the Japanese VHS was later released by Fox, which suggests Toei does not own the rights. Outside Japan the film toured theatres from France to USA. The Italian release, which features the film's title in German for some reason, claims the prints were manufactured in Rome. Sure, why not?

According to August Ragone's (error ridden, but understandably so for dating back to the 90s) article "Shinichi "Sonny" Chiba: A Real Mean Bastard!" Chiba and Yamashita were planning a sequel that never came true that was to be shot in Mexico. The story may be true - or not.

* Original title: Gekitotsu! Jado ken (激殺！邪道拳)
* Director: Yukio Noda & Tung Man Chan
* Chiba's role: Starring role
* Film availability: NEW DVD (Germany) (Eng dub with 1.66:1 aspect ratio), Rarescope DVD (Eng dub with 1.66:1 aspect ratio + JP with 1.56:1 aspect ratio). The original aspect ratio seems to be 2.35:1. Thankfully, the original framing does not appear to have been as tight as in many of Chiba's other movies, making the fights rather watchable even in 1.66:1 presentation.

Chiba


Old master


Yamashita. His moustache alone deserves the film a viewing


Shihomi


Chiba and Shihomi


Electric shock training. This too, alone deserves the film a viewing


One of the many great shots from the spychedelic monkey fight scene


Monkey fighters


Yamashita vs. Bolo


The Oscar for the best over-actor goes to...


Why this guy decided to crash through a boat instead of going around it is anyone's guess


Chiba vs. Someone

[Takuma]

Golgo 13: Assignment Kowloon (Japan, 1977) [DVD] - 3/5
It took Toei 4 years to follow up their first Golgo 13 live action (with Ken Takakura) despite that film having been a major box office success. Director Junya Sato said the studio was not keen on the franchise because the films were too expensive to make due to their international nature. This one takes place almost entirely in Hong Kong, with Sonny Chiba in the lead. The film is generally considered underwhelming considering its potential, but with expectations kept in check the film is actually pretty cool. Chiba is pretty badass in the role, adding ultra violent karate moves to the smooth master sniper's repertoire. There's also a bit of Chiba's modern action influence with some cool stunt work. One assassination in the film greatly resembles a similar scene in The Killer (1989). Another highlight is Golgo's final kill, which may be very brief, and not have a hint of realism to it, but it looks cool as hell. The film's main liabilities are Yukio Noda's mediocre direction, a storyline that could've easily lost 10 minutes, and charisma free supporting actor Chia Lun in a major role as a Hong Kong cop. Etsuko Shihomi has a decent supporting role, and eye-patched Koji Tsuruta of all actors appears in two scenes.

* Original title: Golgo 13: Kí»ron no kubi (ゴルゴ１３　九竜の首)
* Director: Yukio Noda
* Chiba's role: Starring role
* Film availability: Optimum DVD (UK), Toei DVD (no subs).

Chia Lun


Chiba








Shihomi

[Takuma]

The Visitor in the Eye (Japan, 1977) [DVD] - 2/5
Nobuhiko Obayashi's second feature film (following House, 1977) is a manga adaptation of Osamu Tezuka comics. There's a fair amount of movie magic to be found here, some with amazing visuals, a stunning 3 minute tracking shot, and an awesome turn by Joe Shishido as the medical genius Black Jack who is the manga's hero. So what gives? Well, Black Jack is not the main character here, in fact, he's a minor character. The relatively uninteresting main story follows a girl who receives an eye transplant - and odd visions of a mysterious man with it. Etsuko Shihomi appears as her best friend in a major supporting role; Sonny Chiba has a 60 second cameo as drunken man. Other cameos include director Toshiya Fujita (Lady Snowblood) and Obayashi himself. The film certainly has its moments, but those moments alone are not enough to keep it from sinking.

* Original title: Hitomi no naka no houmonsha (瞳のä¸ã®è¨ªå•è€…)
* Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi
* Chiba's role: Cameo
* Film availability: Pioneer DVD (Japan) (No subs)

Black Jack


And here we have the character portrayed by Joe Shishido


Lovely Obayashi visuals


Shihomi


Unfortunately neither Shihomi nor Shishido is the main character, but rather this guy...


... and these guys




This little girl is impossible not to love


Chiba

[Takuma]

Review in the works...

[Takuma]

Y.W.: Murder of a Rascal; that title wouldn't grab my attention at all.

Which title is accurate?

I Perform Murder is a direct translation.

[Keeth]

yeah, that's a cool flick. It's available on bootleg with subs if you're interested but it goes by a different title. Sad thing is the bootlegger actually "borrowed" Takuma's mini-review for it and shamelessly uses it as a blurb on their website without any acknowledgment. But I'm sure Takuma is used to it by now.

Y.W.: Murder of a Rascal; that title wouldn't grab my attention at all.

Which title is accurate?

[Jason C]

13 Steps of Maki (Japan, 1975) [35mm] - 4/5
This is perhaps Etsuko Shihomi's most enjoyable, and certainly sleaziest, film. Shihomi is a girl gang leader straight out of a comic book, spending half of her time saving her delinquent karate girls from trouble. It's basically a pinky violence movie with karate action instead of gun and knife fights. Although there is little plot, the film is well paced. Lots of solid action, no irritating supporting characters or comic reliefs, very little in terms boring side plots, and just when you might start getting a bit tired of it they throw Shihomi in prison and the film goes all WIP. Great theme song too! Sonny Chiba has cool cameo as Maki's brother, and Roman Porno actress Meika Seri appears as assassin in the prison segment. Someone really need to put this film out on DVD and BD immediately.

* Original title: Wakai kizokutachi: 13 kaidan no Maki (??????????????)
* Director: Makoto Naito
* Chiba's role: Cameo
* Film availability: None. Review format: 35mm.

I need this

[Takuma]

But I'm sure Takuma is used to it by now.