Black Belt Cinema: THE STREET FIGHTER (1974)

After an important businessman dies, leaving billions to his daughter Sarai, the Mafia and Yakuza try to hire Terry to kidnap her for ransom. Refusing to pay his expensive fee, Terry decides to offer Sarai his protection instead. The mobsters attempt to K*ll him to cover up their devious plans and Sarai is swept away in the process, forcing Terry to embark on a mission of pain to rescue the woman he’s sworn to protect.

Before you knew him as HATTORI HANZŌ in Quentin Taraninto’s K*ll BILL, SHINICHI “SONNY” CHIBA thrilled audiences with his mean-spirited portrayal of Terry Tsurugi in THE STREET FIGHTER, the first film to ever receive an X-rating for violence in the US upon its release in 1974. Featuring some of the martial arts genre’s most extreme brutality, THE STREET FIGHTER and it’s two sequels cemented Sonny as an International martial arts icon and actor amassing more than 120 movies and TV credits to his name before tragically succumbing to complications from COVID-19 in August of 2021 at age 82. - BRANDON LIM

THE STREET FIGHTER

JAPAN | 1974 | 91 minutes | R

Directed by: Shigehiro Ozawa

Starring: Shin'ichi Chiba, Goichi Yamada, Yutaka Nakajima, Etsuko Shihomi

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