Karate Warriors (1976)

Karate Warriors (1976)
Aka: Killing Fist and Child
Japanese Title: 子連れ殺人拳
Translation:  Murder Fist with Child

 

Starring: Shin'ichi "Sonny" Chiba, Isao Natsuyagi, Akiko Koyama, Akane Kawasaki, Hideo Murota, Eiji Gô, Bin Amatsu, Yayoi Watanabe, Tatsuo Umemiya
Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

The Japanese karate boom, which started in 1973 with BODYGUARD KIBA, ran out of steam rather quickly, compared to its Hong Kong counterparts. That's surprising considering how Japan is home to as many martial arts as it is (numerous schools of karate, aikido, judo, kendo, kenjutsu, ninjitsu, etc.), but the fact of the matter is, outside of Jackie Chan and Yuen Biao, Japanese mainstream moviegoers seem to have taken with martial arts films in small spurts over the years.

Karate Warriors  is about a gang war erupting between two factions of the Yakuza, each led by a son of the big boss who died a few years before. His sucessor (who’ll show up in the last 20 minutes and be played by Bin Amatsu) is serving a life sentence, and the two brothers are bickering over a hidden shipment of heroin that each one think the other has in his possession. Enter Chiko (Sonny Chiba), a wandering karate freelancer (we don’t have many of those anymore) who joins forces with one of the factions. He befriends the kid son of a kenjutsu máster (Isao Natsuyagi, of Yagyu Clan Conspiracy and Hunter in the Dark), who has thrown in his lot with the other faction.

Caught in the middle is the big boss’s former mistress, played by Akiko Koyama. She apparently hooked up with Bin Amatsu’s character, but when he was incarcerated, she decided to play both brothers against each other. Sonny Chiba successfully seduces her, mainly because he convinces her that he can find the heroin before the Brothers do. Standing on the sidelines is Akiko’s sister, played by Akane Kawasaki, of Zatoichi goes to the Fire Festival. She plays a nurse working for a doctor who tends to the wounds of the numerous Yakuza, plus Sonny Chiba when things really get intense.

It's a shame that Japan didn't find it lucrative enough to continue financing pure karate films. On the technical side, they were more advanced than their Hong Kong counterparts. The photography here is great, especially when it beats Zack Snyder to the punch (har!) with the whole slow motion->speed up->slow motion trick that Snyder used so extensively in 300. Sonny Chiba looks magnificent in his fight scenes and his kicks are a lot sharper and more powerful than they were in the Street Fighter movies. He fights so well that it’s almost a shame when he starts using a katana for the final set of fight sequences. I wanted to see more jumping spin kicks from Chiba, which the slow-motion photography highlighted just perfectly.

This movie is odd in that it simultaneously has more heart than any of the STREET FIGHTER films--Chiba plays a sympathetic character as opposed to an amoral bada**--but at the same time, manages to be even more misogynistic than that series. On one hand, Chiba has a close relationship with the kid and at the end, becomes the kid’s guardian following a tragic reunion with the kid’s mother. Most people who watch this will label this Street Fighter Meets Lone Wolf and Cub, considering the quiet-but-affectionate relationship between Isao Natsuyagi and his son. Although for the record, the poor tyke gets banged up pretty bad here, moreso than Daigoro ever did.

But does the slightly dialed-down violence and Sonny Chiba discovering his paternal instincts mean that this is nothing more than a watered-down Street Fighter? Not hardly. There is a lot of sex and nudity on display—mainly from Akiko Koyama. That woman gets beat around something fierce by the men of the film. Poor thing. There is also a casual attempted rape in an early scene that will no doubt sour some people on the movie. People accustomed to Japanese cinema may just go with the flow for these types of scenes, but sensitive Western viewers will no doubt complain about it. And honestly, it didn’t sit well with me either. That said, Karate Warriors still possesses enough merits to warrant a viewing. Just be of cheap dollar DVD copies.