Return of the Street Fighter

1974 "The incredible Sonny Chiba is back! And he's meaner than ever!"
6.3| 1h23m| NA| en| More Info
Released: 27 April 1974 Released
Producted By: Toei Company
Country: Japan
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Martial artist Takuma Tsurugi returns to take on a Yakuza family that may be embezzling money from charities to finance their own operations. Both the police and the Yakuza find themselves battling Tsurugi, but Tsurugi's fight ultimately is with the mob, and he concentrates on them.

Genre

Action

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Director

Shigehiro Ozawa

Production Companies

Toei Company

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Return of the Street Fighter Audience Reviews

Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation
SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."
ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.
Leofwine_draca This immediate sequel to the cult and violent classic from the same year doesn't bother changing the formula in any way, shape or form. Instead director Shigehiro Ozawa gives us exactly the same kind of movie as before in mood, look and plot. The plot itself is the weakest aspect of the film, and seems like a weak rerun of the original movie's storyline. Indeed many of the same things happen to the characters. Another annoyance is the inclusion of some unwanted long flashback scenes, made to pad out the already short running time. Ignore these grievances and you'll find yourself watching another good old ultra-violent tale of action, revenge and much ass-kicking. Another welcome return is the funky score, complete with a highly memorable theme tune which grows on you every time you hear it.Sonny Chiba is back as Terry Tsurugi, once again on top form and seemingly enjoying himself in the multiple action stakes. Once the action begins properly (after the first half hour or so) it doesn't let up, as Chiba takes on assassin after assassin before finally deciding to attack the bad guys himself, with the film culminating in an exciting massacre that very nearly equals the legendary finale of the first movie. There are some nicely varied locations – the fight on the ski slopes is great, and the attack in the bedroom is a fun touch. The script and dubbing are sub-par but the effects are negligible. As well as the returning Chiba, chief villain Junjo (the sickly-looking guy) also comes back, minus vocal chords but with a brand spanking new electronic voice box, leading to a couple of cool showdowns between the two larger-than-life characters.What of the old ultra-violence you may ask? Well, it has been toned down here, but only slightly. Plenty of bones are broken, a guy has his throat destroyed by two fingers alone and in the gory – but slightly cheesy highlight – a guy's eyeballs burst out of his skull after a powerful crack from Chiba's tough hand. Also expect to see lots of bloody shootings, impalements, and a touch of pathos here and there as minor characters are killed and Chiba is forced to emote a little before getting back to his job, killing many villains. Don't let the lapses in logic and interest dissuade you – this is still a fantastic action film at a comic book level, highly watchable and 95% engaging. Lovers of the first film check it out.
SnakesOnAnAfricanPlain Return of the Street Fighter avoids the trap of many sequels, by actually simplifying procedures. The plot is much easier to follow and there are less characters to concern yourself with. Return of the Street Fighter is completely filled with action sequences, the plot is laid out early on to give us 80 minutes of ferocious action. It's all really well shot and Chiba brings his inescapable talents to the role. There are some stranger aspects to the film, such as outrageous examples of super strength and agility. Chiba can now hit people so hard that their eyes pop out. He even stabs people with guns. It's more tongue in cheek than the original. The twists are really unexpected, but sometimes reintroduce characters for no reason, other than yet another fight scene. The film also uses two fight scenes from the original as flashbacks. However, they are the ENTIRE scenes. It's not as though this film was lacking action scenes.
InjunNose This sequel to one of the most notoriously violent films in cinematic history is funnier, less gory, and more sloppily filmed than the original "The Streetfighter"...but don't worry, because it's still loaded with punches, kicks, and broken bodies. If you're a fan of this series, "Return of the Streetfighter" does not disappoint. Shinichi 'Sonny' Chiba is back as Terry Tsurugi (misspelled 'Tsugury' in the closing credits). Once again, Tsurugi accepts an assignment from the mob and, once again, his scruples get the better of him when the job requires him to kill Masaoka (Masafumi Suzuki, the virtuous karate instructor from the first film). There's something of a subplot involving a disgraced cop who helps Tsurugi and Masaoka take on the mob's seemingly endless supply of minions, but for the most part, this sequel is far more exaggerated and cartoonish than the film that preceded it. The direction, acting, and dubbing are sloppy as all hell, but that's easy to forgive in a movie like this; it's so much fun that you can't dislike it! Ratnose died in the last film, so Tsurugi's sidekick this time around is a really annoying young woman who dresses in pseudo-hippie fashion and says "cat" and "daddy-o" a lot (as it turns out, she's also working for the bad guys, but her scruples get the better of her, too). You thought Ratnose was a pain in the ass, but this chick is something else again and it's hard to muster any sympathy for her when she dies. The most enjoyable thing about "Return of the Streetfighter" is that they bring back Junjo (Milton Ishibashi, the villain from the original film) with synthetic vocal cords to replace the ones Tsurugi had ripped out! In keeping with the sequel's more cartoony feel, Junjo is not the vengeance-obsessed character he was in the original, but more like an emotionless, part-robotic supervillain. The lead baddie, a mustachioed, shaggy-haired Mafia don who looks like a fugitive from Three Dog Night or the Doobie Brothers, is the most ludicrously exaggerated Occidental villain in the history of Asian cinema. Every time he opens his mouth, it's to gripe about "the whole lousy Yellow hemisphere". Given the don's raging prejudice, you'd think his Japanese henchmen wouldn't be so eager to defend him from Tsurugi, but hey...this is a ridiculous film. What can I say? You either love this kind of movie or hate it, and I love it!
Zarathos-5 A very entertaining, and funny Sonny Chiba-flick, which is the sequel to his legendary movie "Street Fighter", where he played the hitman Terry Tsuguri. The first one was the only movie rated 'X' from violence at the time. Sadly, this sequel doesn't contain as much gore and guts as the first one, but it still has some nice Karate-scenes. Sadly, when the movie has begun, we will have to wait over 40 minutes that the fighting starts, but soon the storms will rise, and bones will crack! The legendary villain, who supposedly died, from the first movie, is back...with a vengeance! Has some funny scenes (the scene in the sauna), some dramatic scenes (the b&w flashbacks from Terry's childhood), some very good fight-scenes (the scene in the alpes, the fínal battle), some groovy martial arts weapon-scenes (the training in the Karate-school), and the theme is a classic! I rate it **½ from ****. Be sure to watch it in it's full widescreen ratio.