Sister Street Fighter (1974) User Reviews

"It's like a private zoo. It amuses me. It's as much fun as a carload of gorillas."

[wandering-star · 7/10 · 17 March 2007]

"Sister Streetfighter" is but one of Sonny Chiba's "Streetfighter" series, this time with the impossibly cute and dimpled Sue Shihomi in the starring role.

OK, I will admit, this film is technically not that great. The acting is bad, the plot cheesy, and you can drive a truck through the holes in it.

So I will admit I have a sick addiction to these types of movies, because I loved "Sister Streetfighter".

What other movie gives you a cavalcade of freak-shows like a drugpin who collects "killers" at is secluded villa, a guy who exports his heroin disguised as human wigs, a henchman named Hammerhead with a gang who wears black cone-shaped wicker baskets for helmets, a group of girl Thai kick boxers in leopard-print named the "Amazons 7", a dart-blowing freak with a weird African shield and dime-store cape... a movie where you will see an assortment of weapons including staff, forks, tonfa, nunchuku, darts... need I go on?? "Sister Streetfighter" is that, and more.

Sue Shihomi starts off the movie doing a combination of the katas "kanku dai" and "heian yodan". There is not much biographical information on her on the web but I would guess she has some formal karate training because she is executes many of her kicks well, and in one scene she executes three really nice thrust kicks (kekomi) in a row. You don't often see good technique in martial arts films. As a result the fight scenes with Shihomi in it are very good, exciting and dynamic. She shows herself skilled also at using nanchaku and the sai (forks), one of which she plant in a poor fellow's head. And Sonny Chiba steals the few scenes he is in.

The cheesiness of this movie cannot be understated. In one scene Tina Long (Shihomi) finds her way onto the evil drugpin's property. She is discovered by the henchman "Hammerhead". Suddenly and inexplicably, they are transported high atop a sea-side cliff. Then, just as suddenly, they are fighting on a suspension bridge. I mean, this is classic stuff people! Also hilarious is the person introduced as "Eva Parrish - Karate Champion of Australia" is shown doing an absolutely horrible version of the kata "tekki shodan". Then the mysterious Ms. Parrish is never seen again in the film.

Recommended with two thumbs up for fans of the genre!

Cool

[AwesomeWolf · 6/10 · 5 November 2004]

Version: Avenue One DVD. Dub only.

'Sister Street Fighter' was basically made to show much arse Etsuko Shihomi kicks. Sonny Chiba appears in this third Streetfighter installment for only 10 minutes, letting Etsuko do most of the arse-kicking.

Lee long is a martial artist who the Hong Kong police use to help stop a Japanese drug-ring importing drugs into Hong Kong. When he goes missing, its up to his sister Tina (played by Etsuko Shihomi) to go to Japan and find him. She gets help from Lee's martial arts school (which just so happens to include Sonny Chiba) to free Lee and generally kick arse.

The story is your average "relative has been kidnapped and our hero/ine must save them". But who needs a decent plot when you've got cool fight scenes, bad dubbing, and an 'interesting' array of bad dudes and dudettes (to say the least).

Avenue One re-mastered the movie for their DVD and included some special features, yet they couldn't do a subtitle job? I would have taken this movie a bit more seriously (and thus given it a higher rating) if it had been subbed, and not dubbed. Oh well, at least the dub was funny-bad.

Good action movie. 6/10. Check it out if you're a fan of Etsuko Shihomi.

Flawed But Delivers Where It Counts

[Space_Mafune · 7/10 · 14 February 2006]

A fierce female martial arts warrior named Tina Long sets out on a mission to rescue her captured brother Lee Long, an undercover agent now being held prisoner by the very drug smuggling ring he sought to bring down! Meanwhile, the head of the drug smuggling ring has assembled a menagerie of the world's greatest killers, some truly outlandish and bizarre eccentric characters, to protect himself and his interests.

This delivers the goods when it comes to fight scenes, 1970s style exploitation thrills, chase and action sequences and best of all, it takes a surprisingly cool stylish approach, like something out of a comic book splash page, when it comes to introducing its characters.

Where this falters is its mistaken over-reliance on wire stunts for the climactic showdown at the end leading to the most unbelievable and unrealistic fight sequence in the entire film. Also the characters, despite their colorful outer appearance, all remain completely one-dimensional making the film as an whole more forgettable than it might have been otherwise. All in all, this is a good albeit flawed effort.

Bad action, cheesy plot, but hot karate!

[lastliberal · 7/10 · 2 July 2007]

This isn't a Sonny Chiba film, although it has the same name as the series, and he does appear briefly in the film, it features the very capable Etsuko Shihomi, one of his students.

This is her first leading role and she would make many films before achieving award status, but she is still very watchable and entertaining in this non-stop karate exhibition.

Be it Asian beanpoles armed with Nunchukas or elderly men wielding metallic claws, our lovely heroine will crush anyone who tries to prevent her from rescuing her brother from the clutches of the vile villains that hold him.

You must really like karate to watch this film as that is all there is. Be warned that there is not a lot of gore, but there is one rape scene.

FUN, SENSELESS INSANITY

[EL BUNCHO · 13 March 2002]

In many ways a film that a nine-year-old would have made, SISTER STREET FIGHTER has very little grasp on reality or coherent storytelling, but who cares? When a movie is this entertaining, all bets are off!

Sonny Chiba protegee Etsuko "Sue" Shiomi stars as a badass who goes up against a dizzying array of villains, each crazier than the next (my favorites being the basket-headed dudes). The plot really is beside the point here, so drink a few brews and enjoy!!!

Good martial arts action, but don't watch this film for Sonny Chiba

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 24 November 2007]

Note--This review is based on an English-dubbed version of this movie. Usually dubbed movies stink compared to subtitled ones, though this one wasn't bad. The worst aspect of the dubbing was the stupid voice they gave Sonny Chiba in a few BRIEF scenes. It just sounded very wimpy.

As for Chiba, there are undoubtedly a lot of "Chiba-philes" out there who will watch this film because it's part of the Street Fighter series. However, be warned, he is barely in the movie at all--appearing briefly three times and amounting to perhaps five minutes on film. I assume either they added Chiba to the film later to cash in on the success of the Street Fighter films or they just paid Chiba for a couple days work because that's all he wanted to do. Regardless, many have unscrupulously marketed this as a Sonny Chiba film, but it really isn't. Plus, what you do see of this great martial artist is far from his best work.

So instead, watch this movie just for its merits without Chiba--which it does have in spades. While not among the very best martial arts films, the action is significantly better compared to the average film from Hong Kong from the same time period. And while the story about drug dealers is just okay (it's really just an excuse for all that kicking and crunching), it's also better than the silly plots of many Hong Kong productions as well. Now I am NOT saying the Hong Kong films aren't fun to watch, but many have the most outlandish plots ever to appear in martial arts films (blind assassins, guys with three foot long tongues, fighting gorillas, etc.). SISTER STREET FIGHTER is much more direct and down to earth--with a very conventional plot and setting.

What was unusual about this film, and I appreciated it, was the collection of both styles and masters in various styles of martial arts. In fact, during one portion of the film, they freeze the frame to tell you who this master is and their style. A nice touch. However, there were also some real odd-balls among these "greats"--such as the guys who wore black baskets on their heads and the ladies who dressed like Fred Flintstone!!! You have to see them to believe it!

My most serious negative is that while the action is good, the lady protagonist's style isn't Chiba's--and she doesn't deliver as many crunching death blows as Chiba--it's more a kinder, gentler version of martial arts. Plus, the plot itself is nothing new and isn't all that engaging. Also, parents take note, there is some nudity in this film as well as the expected violence. Think twice before letting the kids see this one.

Good, if you like this sort of thing.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 16 September 2001]

I just saw this one last night. I thought it was quite fun in a awful kind of way. It features Sue Shiomi as Tina Long, a female karate expert who goes to Tokyo to find her brother. A cop who has mysteriously disappeared investigating a drugs ring. Lots of fights ensue as she tracks him down. Terrible dubbing(although thats par for the course in this sort of movie). The panning and scanning on the version I saw was horrible, regularly cutting people and faces out of shot that should obviously be on screen. Good fight sequences save it, and at 85 odd minutes does'nt outstay its welcome. Give it a go if you can find it, I liked it.

Sisters Are Doing It For Themsevles

[seveb-25179 · 7/10 · 2 December 2020]

Possibly the most polished production of the Streetfighter franchise. Few complaints about not being able to see the action properly in this one. Even Sonny himself seems more clean cut and freshly scrubbed, perhaps because he is wearing white instead of black this time, and his moral code is more conventional, if still tongue in cheek chauvinist. However, Sonny is only a supporting player, with only a few fight scenes, which may come as a disappointment to some, based on what the promotional material implies, and though he is billed as "The Streetfighter", he isn't really the same character he played in the first two movies. Instead, as the title suggests, sexy tomboy Sue Shiomi takes centre stage, stepping out from the shadow of Sonny, and she has the charisma to make it work. The film is reminiscent of "Enter The Dragon" in some ways, in that the head villain favours the metal claw as a weapon, he has an impressive "lair" (which includes an Olympic size swimming pool!) complete with underground cave passages similar to "Enter The Dragon". He also has an array of colourful assassins, who each seem to specialize in different weapons, as well as the usual cannon fodder henchmen. As fans of Japanese martial arts movies have come to expect, it has its fair share of crimes against fashion, bizarre costumes, gratuitous sadism and bloody, cartoonish violence. All present and correct then.

Give the Sister her due!

[dee.reid · 10/10 · 28 February 2008]

"Sister Street Fighter" is one of the best examples of the grind-house experience that Quentin Tarantino is always raving about in his movies. (For the record, I caught the original Japanese-language version with subtitles on Showtime early one morning last week, so I didn't have to worry about crappy dubbing.) The movie is a sequel/spin-off of the hugely successful "Street Fighter" films with Sonny Chiba. In Chiba's place, however, is Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi, who I must say is one of the most lethal screen vixens I've ever seen. Along with other high-kicking martial arts movie females, like Michelle Yeoh and Angela Mao (the latter of whom is best known for her role as Bruce Lee's tragic sister in "Enter the Dragon"), Sue Shihomi is not only very beautiful and very young (she was only 18 in "Sister Street Fighter"), but she is a true force to be reckoned with. Like Sonny Chiba before her, she uses a wide range of deft and lethal Karate moves that prove just that: she is a true force to be reckoned with. In "Sister Street Fighter," she plays a female Karate expert who is looking for her older brother after he goes missing while on an undercover assignment for the police involving drug trafficking between Hong Kong and Japan. That's really all there is to the plot and all you need to know. The director, Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, isn't concerned with plot very much, and instead relishes in the intensity of the well-choreographed and executed fight sequences. As I said earlier, Sue Shihomi is a true force to be reckoned with, and she doesn't merely beat up her opponents, she destroys them with every lethal Karate punch/kick combo you can imagine. Fault can be found, however, in that the director seems directly fascinated in showing off Karate, rather than the various other fighting styles on display in "Sister Street Fighter." We also have a variety of weapons styles including kama, nunchaku, sai and three-point staff in addition to the Thai national sport Muay Thai (the "Amazon Seven" women); I just think that it's a little nationalistic to feature all these styles and make it seem that Japanese styles reign supreme over everything else. And you would think that with such diversity, these fighters would be given their due in their fight sequences but they're often defeated too quickly and easily, which if they'd been given their due would have allowed for some much-needed diversity in the fight scenes. But it's a minor annoyance, over all. Although she's not as intense as Sonny Chiba (he does have a small part as a Karate master who helps the Sister out) before her, I recognized in Sue Shihomi the makings of a true star and someone who definitely had some sort of crossover appeal. It's a shame that it seems that she quit making movies and decided to settle down with a family. Anyway, I'm giving the Sister in "Sister Street Fighter" her due; she's a beauty, and a kick - and that is one lethal combination right there!

10/10

Shiomi is awesome. The movie isn't

[gridoon · 6/10 · 2 April 2006]

Sue Shiomi is not only a beautiful and cute woman (she reminded me of Cynthia Khan, and I love Cynthia Khan), but a fast, graceful fighter as well. Sonny Chiba has a limited role, but when he does appear he is in top form. The fights follow a mostly grounded style, although there is some unrealistic high-flying at certain points. The movie has plenty of action, but the plotting, characterization, dialogue, etc. are all nil. Simply put, there is nothing interesting going on in this film besides the fights to justify more than one viewing. Worth noting is also Maltin's review, calling this a "crude concoction of sex and sadism"; I wonder what movie he saw. And a word of advice: if you ever run across the DVD box set "Women Who Kick Butt", avoid it. At least half of the 10 movies included are complete crap, and some have no "femme fatale" action to speak of. "Sister Street Fighter" is easily the best of the bunch, but that's not really saying much. (**1/2)

All fights and no story...

[paul_haakonsen · 3/10 · 19 December 2015]

Granted this movie is old, actually one year older than me, then it is actually not all that outdated. How so? Well, because this movie was essentially just an hour and twenty minutes of Sue Shiomi beating up everyone she met while going from A to B.

The storyline was so weak and translucent that it was almost non-existing. Lee Long has been imprisoned and kept in a drug-induced stupor, and it is up to Lise to free him. That was the storyline.

For a martial arts movie from 1974 I suppose the fighting was good back then, but for today's standards and in comparison to what is seen in movies now, then it bleaks and is not noteworthy.

The sounds in the movie were just hilarious and outrageous, fully exaggerated beyond anything even remotely realistic, as it was in so many other older martial arts movies. I suffered through a horrible English dubbed version of the movie. Anything dubbed instantly drops in entertainment value in my opinion, and the DVD didn't even have audio options to switch to the original language.

"Sister Street Fighter" (aka "Onna hissatsu ken") is a movie enjoyable primarily for hardcore fans of martial arts movies from ages past.

Everybody was kung-fu fighting

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 13 September 2007]

Feisty and determined karate expert Tina Long (winningly played by the beautiful and charismatic Etsuko Shihomi) goes to Hong Kong to find her missing undercover cop brother. Tina runs afoul of an evil drug cartel that specializes in smuggling heroin. She enlists the aid of a local karate school who include nonconformist loner Sonny Kawasaka (the almighty Sonny Chiba) in order to fight these no-count thugs. Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi keeps the pace brisk and unflagging throughout. Moreover, Yamaguchi stages the copious brutal action with considerable rip-snorting aplomb, sprinkles in a little gratuitous female nudity, and even adds a dash of graphic gore (the definite grisly highlight occurs when Chiba literally tears an opponent's guts out!). The bad guys are a truly nasty and colorfully quirky bunch; Masashi Ishibashi is especially notable as the heinous Hammerhead. There are a few inspired nutty touches as well; I really dug the butt-stomping chopsocky ballerina and the flunkies who wear black baskets over their heads. Best of all, the lovely and personable Shihomi puts on an often fierce, graceful and breathtaking display of martial arts in her thrilling and vigorous fight scenes. Yoshio Nakajima's vibrant, agile cinematography and Shunsuke Kikuchi's groovy disco funk score both hit the spot. A fun flick.

Female power to the Streets

[kosmasp · 7/10 · 18 June 2020]

Sister Street Fighter .. interesting title. Has nothing to do with the gaming series of course, that came much later. This is about a woman, that showcases her martial art in a male dominated world. And she does quite the good job with it. And for a movie from the 70s this is quite violent and bloody. It is the weird red fake blood, but still.

This was the one that set off a series of movies ... which I reckon is not really surprising. Violence and nudity do sell, no matter the genre. Still it's refreshing to see a female lead kicking ass and taking names. The choreography cannot match with todays standards of course, but the sound effects are still just so bonkers I love them

Dubbed in bad English

[Layback · 5/10 · 5 June 1999]

This movie contains my favorite line of dubbed dialogue. When asked why she is willing to help look for another character's brother, played by Sonny Chiba, Sister Streetfighter responds with; "He saved my life once. And not only that, if not for him, I'd be dead!!!"

One of the worst movies ever - I love it!

[winner55 · 1 February 2005]

A guilty pleasures. A terrible movie, little more than a live-action comic-book. Sets, costume design, editing, acting - all pure dreck. No continuity at all, the heroine appears to be killed off a couple of times in the film, & I can't even provide a spoiler telling how she escapes - because the film never explains how she escapes, she just does! BUT - the martial arts action is fast, furious, & occasionally almost believable; as for Sue Shiomi, she is only one of 2 female martial artists (the other Polly Shaun-Kwan)that I would call CUTE - in a positive sense: it's hard not to like this actress, even if she can't act, she's that appealing, & in an innocent, girl-next-door kind of way. Never a dull moment, & a heap o' fun; but really cannot be rated, even as a genre film - you either love to waste your time on it or you got something better to do. (Beware - although by same crew, not really a "Streetfighter" sequel, & not a Sonny Chiba film.)

Catching flies.

[Pjtaylor-96-138044 · 6/10 · 27 January 2021]

Though 'Sister Street Fighter (1974)' certainly isn't a masterpiece, the film delivers the goods in all the right places. It's a schlocky Kung fu fest with a funky seventies soundtrack and an over-abundance of crash zooms. The flick is fun when it lets its heroes do what they're best at: kicking butt. Everything in-between is average, at best. The generic narrative is barely strong enough to hold the action together. In fact, the affair is chock full of plot holes, from small continuity errors to gaping logical inconsistencies, and several scenes just end seemingly out of nowhere. The whole thing also feels quite slow despite its short run-time. However, none of that really matters all that much. Though the experience isn't close to the best in its genre, it's still enjoyable and energetic. Its final movement pushes things to a whole new level, accentuating its disregard for realism with a parade of of surprisingly gory kills and ridiculous levels of blood spray. In a welcome move, it also injects a little bit of emotional weight into proceedings. It's not going to make you cry or anything, but it makes sure you want to see the protagonist succeed. For what it is, it's quite good. Plus, it's always nice to see a strong female protagonist, especially in a martial arts movie from the seventies. 6/10

Girls can fight too, but they slow the men down

[ckormos1 · 6/10 · 5 January 2020]

The movie opens with our girl doing some basic karate kicks, punches, and some weapons. The police chief then explains the story to her. Her brother, Sonny Chiba, is also a policeman and missing in action. Her first fight is against a few rude men in a restaurant and it is not much to watch. She continues her search for Sonny at a topless bar. She has another fight then is off to various martial arts schools. The fighting styles are demonstrated along with helpful captions. (Yes, that was sarcasm.) The fights do improve as the movie continues though.

Sonny Chiba organized a group of martial artist/stunt/actor people as his Japan Action Club. This was because it's always better to do fights with people whom you have experience and become comfortable. Etsuko Shihomi was one of the club and had prior martial arts training in kenjutsu and shorinji kempo. In high school she competed in track and field sports just like Sonny. Her first roles were in action television series with Sonny as the lead. Her performing career ended in 1987 with her marriage as was typical in Asian culture at that time.

This movie was extensively cut for violence at the time of its theatrical and various DVD releases. Since then uncut versions have been released. I am not sure of the run time of the complete uncut movie. My copy ran one hour and twenty five minutes and did not have any obvious cuts in the action. It included an evisceration and a guy getting his head twisted 180 degrees around. Based on that I think the version was uncut.

Overall I rate it just a tad above average for the year and genre. The quantity of action and the use of various weapons and styles contributes to that rating.

"These wigs are going to make us very rich"

[hwg1957-102-265704 · 6/10 · 24 September 2022]

Tina goes looking for her brother in Tokyo where he has been imprisoned and doped up by the local evil drug baron. Fortunately Tina is a whiz at martial arts and with a little help from some friends kills off every one of the colourful villains who get in their way. Tina is played by Etsuko Shihomi and she is charmingly cute until she starts to fight, then she becomes a whirlwind of violence pretty awesome to see. The story is only an excuse for a lot of action scenes but there is nothing wrong with them, particularly when the great Sonny Chiba joins in now and then. It is similar to the Street Fighter films with Mr. Chiba with the same kind of entertaining intensity from the lead character. If you like this kind of non-stop fighting movie it will please all the way.

This must be the third film I've seen where Sonny Chiba fights Masashi Ishibashi, called 'Hammerhead' in this film. And great fights they are too. Oh, the wigs will make the drug dealers rich because they are impregnated with cocaine. Hope that didn't give anyone bad ideas!

A worthwhile addition to the action genre with a cliche storyline but some fun action scenes

[kevin_robbins · 6/10 · 18 August 2023]

Sister Street Fighter (1974) is a movie that I recently rewatched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a female martial artist whose brother has been kidnapped. Shortly after finalizing a training with the legendary street fighter himself, she sets out to rescue her brother.

This movie is directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Karate Warriors) and stars Shihomi Etsuko (Legend of the Eight Samurai), Sonny Chiba (Street Fighter), Kenji Ôba (Kill Bill) and Asao Uchida (Tora! Tora! Tora!).

This has a cliche and straightforward storyline to kickoff the Sister Street Fighter films. Sonny Chiba's cameos were great, I just wish there were more of them. The action scenes were entertaining, but not as intense as the Street Fighter film. I did thoroughly enjoy the second half of the film with Chiba joining the final mission and we watch a climatic battle royale. Again, a few more intense fight and kill scenes, maybe in the rain, and this would have been awesome.

Overall, this is a worthwhile addition to the action genre with a cliche storyline but some fun action scenes. I would score this a 5.5-6/10 and recommend seeing it once.

Fast-Fisted Supervixen Chops Her Way Through A Cavalcade of Thugs!

[pcernea-1 · 9/10 · 4 April 2010]

I don't understand people who give a movie like this a low rating because of a few plot holes, or because it's not the paragon of realism. If total realism and an airtight plot were the goals, these movies would lose a lot of their charm and just become the unremarkable action flicks you see so much of nowadays. This movie is a fantasy. And it eclipses many films of its martial genre precisely because it has so many and such creative fantasy elements. And hot chicks, did I mention the pretty girls?

OK, if realism were the goal of this movie, the gangsters could all pull out guns and plug sweet Etsuko full of lead. Instead, we get something much more entertaining. We get a mohawked assassin who shoots darts into people's necks, a defrocked priest who shoots armor-piercing arrows out of a gun, seven Thai-boxing amazons with hairy armpits, a police agent who works as an exotic dancer and has a tattoo of a rose on her inner thigh, a karate school that chants its philosophy of mixing power and love to us for a while, and more... And did I mention the most sadistic of all villains? A hedonistic drug lord who sports a Vega-style claw on his hand, tortures Li Long by continually giving him more heroin, tortures Tina by having a gorgeous femme fatale whip her, all the while maintaining a bevy of bathing beauties that let him fondle them at will. It's not cheese, because all the fights are cool, the villains are really truly evil and sadistic. All the exaggerations are done with purpose, like in a painting of Dali.

The movie maintains suspense with plenty of plot twists. In a run-of-the mill flick, Tina Long might kill Hammerhead right off the bat. Instead, he overpowers her, and kicks her off a bridge. Some of the dramatic scenes are truly poignant, right out of a Shakespeare play with terser dialogue--the brutal scene in which the old man is forced to betray his own niece, the suffering of Li Long as his sister rescues him!

Not the least of what makes this movie great is the abundance of hot girls. Just when you think there's enough to keep you happy, they keep adding more. First there's Tina Long herself. Then there's the exotic dancer--right at the get-go, what more can you ask for? Then there's Emmy. Sometimes the girls even play-fight each other, and then end up hugging. All in all, I think it's safe to generalize that it's much more appealing for straight men to see hot girls kick butt, than brawny guys, and this is something that Quentin Tarantino realizes and capitalizes on.

Finally, this movie is clearly anti-drug, or anti-hard-drug, but it clearly rises above propaganda like Reefer Madness, because it portrays the horror of heroin addiction in a quite realistic way. It even weaves this creatively into the film by using heroin as a torture device, a great plot device which I can't recall seeing often in movies.

It's silly, over-the-top, and fun

[Jeremy_Urquhart · 7/10 · 10 June 2023]

The title Sister Street Fighter gives you a pretty good idea of what you're in for before the film even starts, and then even if that doesn't do it, the tone's established pretty early on. It's ridiculous, it's consistently action-packed, and it's messy, but mostly in a way that's very fun. It's the kind of movie where the "we need to rescue someone" premise only goes so far, so random, new, and eccentric bad guys will sometimes get introduced just so there's a little more to do within a film that has to get to feature length.

The quality of the fighting isn't quite at the same level as say Shaw Brothers at its best around the same time, but it makes up for it with the quantity (and for the record, it's considerably better than Shaw Brothers at its worst). I also like how almost every new location exists seemingly just so there can be a fight scene within it. And you also have to love a martial arts/action movie where all the most over-the-top deaths are saved for the particularly despicable villains who deserve it the most.

Etsuko Shihomi is great as the protagonist, and it's always fun to see Sonny Chiba, even if it's just in a supporting role (and I think I like this more than his Street Fighter movie, which I'm guessing this is a spin-off of). Sister Street Fighter does ramp up the ridiculousness more and more as it goes along, but as long as you're okay with that, it's a good time. It's very simple, a little dumb and clunky, but also undeniably entertaining, and the action mostly satisfies when it comes to quality, and certainly satisfies when it comes to quantity.

Koryu's exploding fist vs. unusual humans

[unbrokenmetal · 8/10 · 7 February 2009]

Koryu (Etsuko Shihomi) is sent from Hong Kong to Japan to investigate the disappearance of her brother who was trying to find proof against drug smugglers. She needs to fight against their boss who once says "I like unusual humans and keep them", and assembled all kinds of strange looking fighters therefore, from a guy with a Mohawk and arrows to a jungle women squad. Some of his guards wear a black mask for no reason at all, as they take it off in every fight, anyway.

Koryu's almost only friends are at a Shorinji Kempo school. Sonny Chiba, star of the original "Street Fighter", appears there as well. Shorinji Kempo differs from many other kinds of Martial arts by its strong Buddhist idea of happiness. Many viewers were irritated about the mirrored swastika symbol they use in the movie. Although it is true that such a cross was a symbol of good luck in ancient times, Shorinji Kempo was invented as late as 1947, when the overwhelming majority of people had an entirely different understanding for the symbol, thus it was not clever to use. They must have been told because they changed it meanwhile...

The notorious Norifumi Suzuki wrote on the screenplay for "Sister Street Fighter", but didn't direct in the end. It's still bewildering enough, though! 18 year old Etsuko Shihomi in the title role looks so innocent, but really explodes with energy in the fights. Mind you, nowadays they often cast models for such films who look good in the close-ups, while fast cutting has to hide the fact that they know little about martial arts (check out the lady in Jackie Chan's „New Police Story" for a typical example). In 1974, Etsuko had to do everything for real, hiding the bruises of the battles, and the result is still impressive today. I voted 8/6/8/7 for the 4 "Sister Street Fighter" movies.

great fun for fans of Japanese science fiction TV

[ZoneFighter · 13 January 2004]

Not only is the movie great for martial arts fans but its also fun for fans of tokusatsu (Japanese science fiction) as its full of tokusatsu actors/actresses. Shihomi, Etsuko played Mari in Kikaida-01. Miyauchi, Hiroshi (star of Kamen Rider V3 and Kaiketsu Zubat, the Blue Ranger in Goranger, Big One is JAKQ, mentor in Ohranger, cop in 3 metal heroes series) plays her brother. She beats up on Oba Kenji (Battle Kenya in Battle Fever J and star of Space Sheriff Gavan) who works for Ishibashi, Masashi who was Iron Claw in JAKQ and the 2nd highest ranking villain in Battle Fever J. The music is even by Kamen Rider composer Shunsuke Kikuchi.

Sister Streetfighter! Kickass cutie kicks butt!

[Fazeo · 9/10 · 29 July 1998]

Ahhh a true classic, a cinematic masterpiece of epic proportions. This was part of the Sonny Chiba Street Fighter series from the mid 70s. This one is my favorite because Sonny takes a back seat to Sue Shiomi who plays the main character Sister Streetfighter. Another colorful hypnotic Japanese film full of outrageous dialogue, tons of karate action, and a whole slew of various ancient martial arts weapons are shown in full force throughout. I show this film a lot to friends, it's a rollicking good time and always provides big laughs. All you gotta know about this film is that it has classic dialogue like "Save the wigs!" in it, what more do you want?

The restored version is here!

[jellopuke · 8/10 · 27 May 2019]

Finally the west can see the movie the way it was intended, with all the gore intact! If you're into 70's martial arts movies, this is great, with a funky soundtrack, wacky villains, and loads of blood. It's not gonna win any oscars, nor was it intended to. It's a movie with a bad ass babe fighter kicking ass and with a Sonny Chiba cameo to boot. Get the new blu ray!