Sanada is a black belt in Kyokushin Karate and a protégé of Chiba. Chiba was the battle choreographer for Roaring Fireplace and in addition seems within the movie as Mr. Magic, a tacky stage magician who seems to be an undercover Karate skilled. One other Chiba protégé and Karateka, Etsuko Shihomi, performs the blind grasp. Each Sanada’s and Shihomi’s battle scenes are good. Sanada was fairly the kicker in his day and manages some lengthy single shot takes which can be clearly him combating and doing stunts.
Sanada’s character is a clumsy Jackie Chan knockoff, nonetheless, full with the lengthy hair, vast collar with plunging neckline, and hip vest. There are moments that border on humor, like when he’s being accused of being a pervert by a harem of bikini clad gals as a result of his monkey stole a bikini high (the slow-mo of the bikini-less gal operating in the direction of the digital camera is an consideration grabber early within the movie). Whereas Sanada could be a revelation to Western audiences now, Roaring Fireplace is a reminder that he’s paid his dues with over 100 roles going again to the mid-Nineteen Sixties, and a few, like several martial star, had been fairly tacky.
Black Belt Jones (1974)
The epitome of Blaxploitation, Black Belt Jones is the bastard baby of Enter the Dragon (1973) and Dwell and Let Die (1973). Jones is performed by Jim Kelly (1946-2013), who was Williams in Enter the Dragon, and a extremely adorned Karate champion in actual life. The movie was directed by Robert Clouse, whose earlier directorial effort was Enter the Dragon, and whose subsequent movie was Golden Needles (1974), additionally starring Kelly. Black Belt Jones liberally lifts from Enter the Dragon with Kelly’s Bruce Lee-esque combating vocalizations, the whipcrack putting sounds and a few choreographic methods just like the overuse of again fists.
The opposite standout actor is Gloria Hendry, a scholar of Shorinryu Karate and plenty of different martial arts. A groundbreaking actress and stuntwoman, Hendry additionally performed Rosie Carver, the primary Black Bond lady to kiss James in Dwell and Let Die. Earl Jolly Brown can also be within the movie taking part in one other henchman, like when he was Whisper in Dwell and Let Die. And only for laughs, Scatman Crothers performs the character he at all times does, who is totally unconvincing as a Karate grasp.
Black Belt Jones is filled with N phrases and set to a cool groovy soundtrack. Kelly can’t preserve his shirt on, however together with his chiseled physique, are you able to blame him? He strikes properly, and each he and Hendry exhibit strong Karate foundations. They every handle some spectacular lengthy battle takes. The movie would’ve been so significantly better if it was written as a prequel to Enter the Dragon. Kelly’s Jones is basically the identical cat as Williams, proper down his hip ‘70s apparel. Kelly reprised Jones for Scorching Potato (1976).
Karate Bullfighter (1975)
Everybody cites The Avenue Fighter as Chiba’s principal movie, however this was his masterpiece. Also called Champion of Demise, the movie relies on a manga, Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which was impressed by the lifetime of Chiba’s grasp, Mas Oyama.
Chiba actually reveals his Kyokushin Karate mastery right here. Oyama is portrayed as one other reprehensible character with a psychotic quest to be one of the best Karate man in Japan. He rapes an harmless lady, Chiako (Yumi Takigawa), who turns into his love curiosity later. It’s a sophisticated story of many acts, and past his exemplary battle scenes, Chiba offers an honest emotional efficiency, albeit a heavy-handed one. And to not spoil it, however Oyama does kill his first bull.
Karate Bullfighter is the primary installment of Chiba’s Oyama Trilogy, all based mostly on that manga. In Karate Bear Fighter (1975), Oyama continues his marketing campaign to kick Karate ass as Chiako pines for him. His dueling quest and unrequited lover echo themes from Toshiro Mifune’s Samurai trilogy (1954-1956) about Miyamoto Musashi. And once more, to not spoil it, Oyama fights a bear. It’s a dude in a bear go well with which completely fails to be convincing. Nevertheless, through the opening credit, the actual Mas Oyama seems in a cameo, demonstrating his Kyokushin Karate.
