Karate Warriors (1976)

Overlooking the lousy genre title used for the U.S. release, KARATE WARRIORS is a magnificent martial arts classic with its star Sonny Chiba performing at the very top of his game. Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi takes the best elements of chambara, yakuza and Spaghetti Western movie motifs, adds some of the finest fighting sequences of any generation or industry and wraps it all together in a lean and ultra-stylized package that makes modern action by-products like KILL BILL and THE TRANSPORTER look like extravagant child’s play.

That’s right. I’m calling out Corey Yuen Kwai, Yuen Wo-ping, Quentin Tarantino, and anyone else making top-tier, martial arts-related movies today. They’ve all contributed greatly to genre filmmaking but none of them has ever managed to surpass or even match Yamaguchi’s presentation of Sonny Chiba’s electrifying performance set to pitch-perfect screen fighting in KARATE WARRIORS. The super-slick presentation of action sequences is like witnessing a once-in-a-lifetime celestial event. We’ll never see anything like it again. THE STREET FIGHTER may be Chiba’s most famous film but KARATE WARRIORS is his best.

What I find shocking is how little attention this movie has generated over the years among genre fans and collectors. A big factor may have been its limited availability and poor representation on home video. This is not a movie to watch heavily-cropped to full screen with fourth-generation resolution as witnessed on past unlicensed DVDs. Thankfully, BCI Eclipse has remedied this problem by giving the movie a much improved widescreen release that restores all but the Japanese soundtrack. The English-dub track isn’t bad either.

I’ve been gushing over the action but KARATE WARRIORS has nothing new to offer in its script from Tatsuhiko Kamoi and Nobuaki Nakajima. However, they do steal from the best and make it work as good, if not better than any of Chiba’s previous film plots. The script takes its premise from Akira Kurosawa’s YOJIMBO, adds a MacGuffin element ala Sergio Leone’s THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY and finishes off with a LONE WOLF AND CUB relational scenario between Chiba and a small boy he befriends.

Chiba is a karate scrapper and opportunistic lone wolf who wanders into a modern-day conflict between two brothers both in control of rival yakuza gangs and desperately looking for a single stash of heroin. Chiba befriends a small boy who is the son of a samurai played by Isao Natsuyagi. The two men develop a professional respect for each other but end up at odds when they eventually join opposing factions. Their individual stakes in this situation is to get their hands on the heroin themselves to sell for a tidy profit. Chiba and Natsuyagi both play a dangerous game by fanning the flames of the yakuza conflict, while risking the chance that either boss will eventually view them as expendable assets.

At the center of this conflict is a woman, presumably played by Akane Kawasaki, the former girlfriend of a deceased yakuza boss who originally hid the heroin. She ends up the sexual plaything or punching bag for just about every main player in the story including Chiba. She isn’t too modest either which is something grindhouse audiences of the day no doubt enjoyed. This is in strong contrast to her sister (Yayoi Watanabe), a chaste nurse on the sidelines attempting to keep the boy out of harm’s way.

Unlike a lot of the simplistic plots for karate flicks, this one actually has some depth and a measure of sophistication as each party jockey’s to gain an advantage over their adversary. The exploitive elements of past Chiba films including extreme violence are toned down, although not forgotten. In place is emphasis on the relationship between the boy and Chiba’s character. The two eventually end up on the run together as yakuza close in for what becomes a satisfying conclusion to a balanced action film with just the right amount of action and character development. Some may not care for the sentimentality this relationship presents but I found that it worked quite well, especially towards the end as Chiba struggles to sort out his love for the boy and his deadly rivalry with the boy’s father.

All other aspects of the production are right up there with Toei’s usually high standards. The camera work stands out though. DP Yoshio Nakajima has shot numerous Sonny Chiba films before and all of them possess a crisp and kinetic look that takes full advantage of the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, as we see here.

There are an increased number of slow motion shots and use of stylistic speed variations to enhance Chiba’s movements. It arguably is a little overdone but the angles and perspectives are always varied and it always looks super cool.

The action filming and editing is definitely cutting-edge for its day. Japan’s action cinematography during the 1960s and ’70s was almost always of the highest quality and creativity when compared to any other country including Hong Kong. Even their television production, of which Chiba was also heavily involved in, often looks dynamic by today’s standards. KARATE WARRIORS is a superb example of what modern action filmmakers have been rediscovering and putting to use in new and exciting ways. But without Chiba’s charismatic presence it just isn’t the same.

For a great acting and action performance by Sonny Chiba, look no further than KARATE WARRIORS. He’s never been considered the best screen fighter out there when it comes to technical execution and it’s been understandably argued that his movies have relied more on exploitive sensationalism than pure fighting mastery in comparison to many of the best kung fu movies. With some of his films it’s no doubt true. This one though sees Chiba hard a work delivering a flurry of kicks, flips and staggered punches against multiple foes in long takes requiring a high degree of precision and skill. Chiba pushes his brand of karate action to the limit in this feature and as far as I am concerned it pays off. I used to say if you only watch one Sonny Chiba movie make it THE STREET FIGHTER. I’m changing that to KARATE FIGHTERS. The moderate levels of violence and sexuality will always keep this movie on the fringes of the mainstream but for fight fans this one is very highly recommended.