Gekitotsu! Satsujin ken / The Street Fighter (1974) - One of the most brutal martial arts films ever made - 8/10 (22/06/19)

The Street Fighter is a Japanese martial arts film that stands out with its rough fights and graphic brutality. Main character Tsurugi Takuma is a tough guy with quite a temper who is able to rip out his opponent's eyes, testicles and vocal chords. The film also features a few interesting side characters with Tsurugi Takuma's clumsy but resilient partner Zhang Rakuda, charming and determined heiress Sarai Chuayut-Hammett and condemned murderer Shikenbaru Tateki who desperately desires to kill the protagonist.

The story of the movie is vivid but shallow. Tsurugi Takumi is asked to kidnap the daughter of a recently assassinated oil tycoon but refuses when he realizes that the gangsters involved are Yakuza since he wants to remain an independent hitman. The Yakuza don't accept his decision and try to assassinate him since he knows too much about them. Along with his easily scared but remarkably loyal partner Zhang Rakuda, the protagonist now attempts to save the heiress and fight the Japanese Yakuza and their Hong Kong allies.

The film has numerous memorable scenes that have stood the test of time. The first one is already the gloomy opening sequence in a prison when Tsurugi Takuma disguises as a monk in order to free a convicted murder with a clever scheme. The dynamic fight scene between the main character and two siblings in his apartment is also intense. The adventurous plan to free the kidnapped heiress is also quite gripping. The most emotional scene follows a short time after when Zhang Rakuda desperately tries to prove his loyalty to his partner. The highlight however are the last fifteen minutes of the film when Tsurugi Takumi faces off dozens of Yakuza on a ship at night.

There are only two minor flaws for me. First of all, the main character is somewhat unbalanced. He is introduced as pitiless, relentless and selfish character who acts a little bit like an evil version of Bruce Lee. Later on however, the same character deeply cares about his partner, risks his life to save a heiress he barely knows on multiple occasions and is shown to have a troubled past through a flashback. These two sides of the character clash on several occasions and make him look somewhat bipolar. Tsurugi Takumi is as cold as ice in one moment and almost heartbroken in the next sequence. One more thing that bothered me was the ending of the film. Even though the final fifteen minutes are the highlight of the film, it somewhat ends on a cliffhanger with several questions left unanswered. The second and third feature in the series wouldn't resolve these questions either. One gets the impression that the production was running on a low budget and that the final five minutes that should have been there are missing. This movie doesn't have a proper conclusion which is slightly frustrating.

Still, The Street Fighter is a dynamic, entertaining and vicious martial arts film that still entertains almost five decades later. Watch the original Japanese version with subtitles in order to avoid conservative censorship and ridiculous translations in the English version.