The Streetfighter (1974)
"Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken" (original title)

Terry is a tough, mercenary, master of martial arts. When an important business magnate dies, leaving billions to his daughter, the Mafia and Yakuza try to hire Terry to kidnap the daughter... See full summary »

Director:

Shigehiro Ozawa

Writers:

Kôji Takada, Motohiro Torii

Stars:

Sonny Chiba, Goichi Yamada, Yutaka Nakajima

Cast

Credited cast:
Sonny Chiba	...	Takuma Tsurugi (Terry)
Goichi Yamada	...	Rakuda Zhang
Yutaka Nakajima	...	Sarai Chuayut
Tony Cetera	...	Abdul Jadot
Masafumi Suzuki	...	Kendo Masaoka
Masashi Ishibashi	...	Tateki Shikenbaru
Akira Shioji	...	Liang Dong-Yi
Osman Yusuf	...	Kingstone
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bin Amatsu	...	Môrôkô
Jirô Chiba	...	Gijun Shikenbaru
Tatsuo Endô	...	Bayan
Seizô Fukumoto	...	Mutaguchi's Thug B
Tsutomu Harada	...	Wrestler
Jun'ichi Haruta
Masataka Iwao	...	Mutaguchi's Thug A

Storyline

Terry is a tough, mercenary, master of martial arts. When an important business magnate dies, leaving billions to his daughter, the Mafia and Yakuza try to hire Terry to kidnap the daughter. When they refuse to meet his exorbitant price, then try to kill him to conceal their secret plans, he promptly offers his services to protect her. Much ultra-violent martial-arts fighting action, as expected, ensues. This also includes a subplot of a family's bloodfeud with Terry over a disputed debt.

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | yakuza | fighting | shot in the chest | one man army | 

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Taglines:

If you've got to fight...fight dirty!

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Certificate:

X

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

November 1974 (USA)

Also Known As:

Sudden Attack: The Killing Fist

Filming Locations:

Hong Kong, China

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min 87 min (cut) 75 min (R-rated) 91 min (unrated)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

First film to ever get an X rating for violence.

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Goofs

When the Yakuza attacks "Terry" in his apartment after learning who leads them, one of the Yakuza members drops to his knees before Terry gets to him so he can vault off his back to kick another Yakuza member.

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Quotes

Terry Tsurugi: [after punching Junjou in the back] Soon you'll be unconscious through lack of oxygen; it's an ancient technique.

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Connections

Referenced in The Angry Video Game Nerd: Street Fighter 2010 (2010)

User Reviews

"If you've got to fight, fight dirty!!!"

Sonny Chiba has been described by some as an anti-Bruce Lee and I agree, but to a certain extent. You see, it's not really fair considering that Lee is dead, they both hail from separate nationalities, represent different martial arts ideals (Lee founded Jeet Kune Do, Chiba was a mean karate machine), and Chiba has demonstrated he can more than hold his own against the disposable bad guys sent in his direction. Like Christian Slater's character described in "True Romance" (1993) regarding Chiba's "The Street Fighter" (1974), "he's just a bad motherf**ker, he gets paid by people to f**k guys up." Directed by Shigehiro Ozawa, Sonny Chiba's Terry Tsurugi is that lethal, that ruthless, that dirty a fighter. He's a one-man hit-squad, paid by gangsters to spring a condemned fighter from prison but when his price gets too high on his next assignment - a kidnapping - he's forced to make his hands and feet do the talking. The action in "The Street Fighter" is fairly gruesome, allowing it to become the first film to be rated "X" for violence in the United States. He pokes eyes, kicks feet, slaps around women, rips out tonsils (and other choice body parts), targets the solar plexus, and throws dudes out of top-floor windows. I loved it from start to finish, and it's easy to why it's so beloved to Quentin Tarantino.

10/10