Starring the indomitable Etsuko Shihomi and the international martial arts legend Yasuaki Kurata as revenge-seeking bad asses, DRAGON PRINCESS is a martial arts movie lover’s delight and a damn fine piece of grindhouse entertainment all around. Moreover, it’s one of the best kung fu-styled karate movies to ever come out of Japan.

“I never imagined any girl could be so good at karate.”

In 1960s Hong Kong, all eyes were seemingly on Japan when it came to inspiration for, and raising the bar of, genre movies. Shaw Brothers was a leader in this regard by bringing in directors, cinematographers and stuntmen to help craft the polished look of the era’s Mandarin films while leading filmmakers like Chang Cheh drew heavily on Japanese chambara conventions. Ironically, this trend swung in the opposite direction by the mid-1970s as Japanese action filmmakers increasingly looked to Hong Kong’s rapidly evolving martial arts movie industry.

DRAGON PRINCESS draws heavily on popular Hong Kong kung fu movie convention while retaining the unique flavor of Toei action filmmaking in conjunction with the great Sonny Chiba and his JAC crew. The story itself is idiotic nonsense and little more than an excuse to keep the stars fighting, which is just fine.

Chiba makes an extended cameo as Higaki, a karate master confronted with his young daughter by an ambitious karate man named Nikaido (Bin Amatsu) and his three goons. Each of the goons are unique and include a master of sais, a kendo master who distinctly wields his katana blade like a kitchen knife, and STREET FIGHTER veteran Masashi Ishibashi as a blond-haired hippy with thin throwing knifes. Ishibashi has the most colorful baddie role. He’s blinded by one of Chiba’s trademark eye gougings and thereafter becomes a sort of evil Zatoichi by using his heightened sense of hearing to guide his throwing arm. This becomes a key element later on when Shihomi exploits his dependence on sound to gain the upper hand.

In a tradition more common among kung fu movies, Nikaido attacks Higaki so that he can remove his greatest rival and become the number one man in the karate world. Outnumbered, Higaki is overwhelmed. Yet Nikaido opts to spares his life so long as Higaki hits the road.

Now blind in one eye and living in exile in the States, Higaki devotes his life to training his daughter, Yumi (Etsuko Shihomi), for the sole purpose of defeating Nikaido and restoring honor to the karate world. He eventually dies from internal wounds but not before revealing his legacy to Yumi. She ventures back to Japan to challenge Nikaido and bury her father’s ashes.

The rest of the plot could have been written by a child. Some sort of martial arts contest is planned to determine the master of the martial arts world and a handful of international fighters are lined up to compete. Instead of any having kind of organized matches, Nikaido gains the endorsement of a local politician and then sends Ishibashi and his other thugs out to assassinate the fighters. This leaves Yumi alone, save for Masahiko (Yasukai Kurata), a skilled karate fighter and son of a slain police chief who has infiltrated Nikaido’s school.

In a way, the film is just a rehash of RETURN OF THE SISTER STREET FIGHTER with Shihomi and Kurata essentially playing the same roles even though the story and characters are somewhat different. The two seemingly start out at odds and eventually join forces to take on the real bad guys. It may not be very original but it allows for the filmmakers to focus on refining the action and that’s where this movie shines.

The truth is that Chiba and JAC started out with rather crude action choreography by Hong Kong standards. The movies usually had superior production values and direction, except when compared to Shaw Brothers, but the fighting action and the stars themselves took time to mature. DRAGON PRINCESS came out in 1976 which was basically at the tail-end of the karate boom which didn’t last very long in comparison to the kung fu movies of Hong Kong and Taiwan. The improvements in the screen fighting skills of the stars and the overall choreography compared with films only released a couple years prior is substantial.

Shihomi shines in one of the best fighting roles of her career. I’d compare this very favorably to urban fighting female action classics like HAPKIDO and BACK ALLEY PRINCESS. Kurata is brilliant as always. He’s easily one of the best screen fighters to have ever worked extensively in Hong Kong and Japan. The real treat is that both stars go head-to-head in an extended outdoor duel. They’ve fought before in the SISTER STREET FIGHTER films but this one is much more substantial. Fans should not be disappointed.

Yutaka Kohira’s stylized direction and Hanjiro Nakazawa’s crazed camera work complement the action very well. Not only are we treated to extended fight sequences with some awesome moves but they are presented in a vibrant way that Hong Kong movies rarely were capable of matching. Two scenes to watch for that highlight the superb fighting and camera handling include a fantastic double front jump kick performed by Chiba in the opening fight and a flawless power zoom in and out on Kurata as he lays the smackdown on a foe.

Toei’s karate flicks often end with rather short and gimmicky finales. Kohira retains the gimmicks but at least extends the length and depth of the finale showdown which takes place in a wheat field. As main baddie, Bin Amatsu, a TV and film veteran of chambara action is am imposing figure, although not as skilled as the heroes and therefore his fighting time is limited by his colorful subordinates. My main complaint with a number of the action scenes is the poor use of outdoor location footage badly mixed with indoor set footage. The outdoor footage noticeably has stunt doubles used in place of the real stars. An obvious shot of a dude doubling for Shihomi is hilarious. Imagine Danny Trejo putting on a wig and doubling for Lucy Liu during KILL BILL: VOL. 1.

DRAGON PRINCESS requires an acceptance that no character or plot detail is of any importance whatsoever. For instance, there is a short dirty dance between a naked couple that’s set to a funky tune. It has absolutely nothing to do with the rest of the movie and could have come out of some cheap soft porn flick. Just fast forward through this and the “blah blah” exposition that crops up every now and then and enjoy the martial arts action and occasional comedy at face value. This one is a karate classic and definitely a recommended party flick.

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