Sonny Chiba's Dragon Princess (1976) Hissatsu onna kenshi (original title)

Director:

Yutaka Kohira

Writer:

Hirô Matsuda

Release Date:

31 January 1976 (Japan)

Genre:

Action

Tagline:

Her Father Is A Streetfighter

Plot:

Karate master Kazuma gets severely beaten and crippled by nefarious rival Nikaido. Kazuma trains his loyal daughter Yumi in the martial arts so she can exact a harsh revenge on Nikaido and his band of evil thugs. |

Plot Keywords:

Martial Arts | Kung Fu

Cast

Etsuko Shihomi	...	Yumi Higaki
Sonny Chiba	...	Kazuma Higaki (as Shinichi Chiba)
Yasuaki Kurata	...	Masahiko Okizaki
Jirô Chiba	...	Jiro Chinen
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bin Amatsu	...	Hironobu Nikaido
Masashi Ishibashi	...	Shiroge Oni
Tatsuya Kameyama	...	Baba
Shunsuke Kariya	...	Yokoi
Yoshi Katô	...	Kakuzen
Genji Kawai	...	Robert Okizaki
Hôsei Komatsu	...	Eisaku Ohba
Yûsuke Nagumo	...	Mashiko
Ryojiro Nishimoto	...	Nagashima
Kyôko Okada	...	Mrs. Chinen
Takeshi Omaeda	...	Yasuda
Go Otsuka	...	Li Tie-Gen
Kazuyuki Saito	...	Tabuchi
Gajirô Satô	...	Takataro
Kyôichi Satô	...	Inukai
Kôji Sawada	...	Miyoshi
Gôzô Sôma	...	Oishi
Chû Takatsuki	...	Kuroe
Toyoko Takechi	...	Ojo
Akira Ôizumi	...	Gensuke

Directed by
Yutaka Kohira

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hirô Matsuda

Original Music by
Shunsuke Kikuchi

Cinematography by
Hanjiro Nakada

Production Companies

• Toei Tokyo

Distributors

• Silverstein Films (1980) (USA) (theatrical) (dubbed)
• Diamond Entertainment Group (DEG) (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2004) (USA) (video)
• Showtime DVD (2004) (Australia) (DVD)
• Rainbow Products Limited (2006) (Australia) (DVD)
• Deimos Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Reel Media International (2007) (USA) (all media)

Also Known As:

"Hissatsu onna kenshi" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

81 min | USA:90 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:R

Company:

Toei Tokyo

This movie rocks!

OK. If you are around my age and went to high school back in the late '70s in Florida, then you probably remember a little Saturday afternoon show called "Black Belt Theatre". Every week they showed another badly dubbed, low budget martial arts flick.

And I LOVED it! It was here that I first remember seeing Etsuko "Sue" Shiomi. I can't remember the actual movie but it might have been Sister Streetfighter. In any case, I was a die-hard fan from then on. So when I first saw a copy of Dragon Princess on VHS a few years later at the local Blockbuster, I scarfed it up. Yeah, Sonny Chiba has only a small part in it and the budget is typically minuscule, but if you can get past that then you are in for one fun ride! Sue Shiomi does an excellent job as the revenge seeking daughter of Sonny Chiba's character. The villains though, especially the blind swordsman, in my opinion steal the show. Each fight is unique and entertaining with the violence being, of course, over the top.

A few years ago I found this gem on DVD. If you get the chance, grab it up. Trust me; you'll have a blast!