Karate Warriors (1976) User Reviews

Revenge of the man with no name

[AwesomeWolf · 7/10 · 2 February 2005]

Version: English dub

Like nearly every other martial-arts movie made in the 70s, and presented on a $10 "Master's of Martial Arts" DVD, it is nearly impossible to watch 'Karate Warriors' and actually understand what is happening. For example, in the first scene, you can nearly make out some yakuza trashing a pornography shop. I say nearly, but this movie is presented in the total opposite of widescreen, I like to call it "super-compressed screen". I blame this on both bad cinematography and a cheap DVD authoring job. Neither of which are factors when Sonny Chiba is involved.

Sonny Chiba arrives in a town where two gangs are fighting each other. After someone is hurt in the showdown in the porno-shop, Sonny Chiba takes him to a doctor. This doctor seems to know everything about both gangs, telling Sonny everything he needs to know about the evil-doers before this doctor disappears for the rest of the movie, which ends up Sonny v. every gang member in town v. a wandering samurai (I thought wandering, sword-carrying samurai had kinda disappeared before the 1970s, but I guess I was wrong), as Sonny takes on the two gangs by playing them against each other.

Think that sounds familiar? It should, as 'Karate Warriors' is another remake of Akira Kurosawa's 'Yojimbo'. It isn't as good as 'Yojimbo', or the Sergio Leone remake 'A Fistful of Dollars', but it is entertaining. Any plot is substituted for fights, fights, and more fights. For example, any scene that shows either someone in sunglasses or a group of at least 3 men, you can be assured that someone is going to be beaten up very shortly.

On the negative side, the camera is very shaky, which makes it hard to see if there is a fight on the screen or just a couple of guys playing one of those primary-school clapping games. When we finally get to see a clear fight, it is in slow-motion, then a speed-up when a strike connects, and back to slow-motion. And everyone thought 'the Matrix' was original.

'Karate Warriors' makes a good introductory lesson on Japanese movies from the 70s: Anyone wearing sunglasses and refuses to take them off is generally a bad guy, women are always secondary characters, nothing makes a better plot-device than a good old fashioned random brawl, an any apparent emotional ending is really a phony-ending just to tie up all loose ends before Sonny kills the remaining bad-guys in the real ending - 7/10

one of Chiba's best

[Nate-9 · 8/10 · 4 May 1999]

Out of the 8 or so Sonny Chiba movies I've seen this ranks 2nd only to The Streetfighter. Amazing action, awesome slow motion editing (that speeds up on impact at times), and drama too. Sonny gives one of his best performances.

A prime piece of rousing Sonny Chiba martial arts trash

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 29 August 2007]

A tough rogue mercenary (the almighty Sonny Chiba) arrives in a town where two rival gangs are engaged in a harsh turf war over who's got exclusive dibs on an expensive stash of heroin. Chiba pits both gangs against each other for his own personal gain. Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi maintains a fast, unflagging pace throughout, stages the copious fight scenes with excitingly bloody'n'brutal gusto, and even sprinkles a generous amount of gratuitous female nudity. The snazzy cinematography makes inspired use of split screen, freeze frames, and strikingly stylized strenuous slow motion. Moreover, the use of a shaky hand-held camera during the savage fight scenes adds an extra thrilling raw energy to the already lively proceedings. The groovy fuzztone guitar-burning score likewise hits the funky spot. With his hard-boiled charisma and surly screen presence, Chiba makes for a perfect blithely amoral and cynical anti-hero. He gets to show a more soft and sensitive side when his character befriends a little boy; this surprisingly touching subplot has an especially sweet and moving payoff. Of course, Chiba truly shines with his ever vicious and unbridled displays of poke-your-eyes-out nasty and ferocious martial arts. A solid and satisfying chopsocky outing that's well worth checking out.

Incoherent, amoral, and furious: THE WINNING COMBINATION!

[burpingcat · 9 November 2003]

"Kozure satsujin ken", hereby referred to as "Karate Warriors", opens abruptly with a scene of yakuzas trashing a porno store. As the camera captures the action, zoomed-up and violently shaking, you can't help but ask yourself- "What the hell is going on?". This opening scene neatly summarizes the entire movie's strict three-part formula, which observant viewers can pick up on:

1. Plot scene

2. Female Nudity/Abuse/Sex scene

3. KARATE TIME

All aspiring film-makers take note, because that is the winning combination for a movie. Karate Warriors deals it in spades.

First, vaguely introduce characters by means of a plot scene. Make sure to show the entire character in the frame, so that people can see what he is wearing. Don't worry about introducing women, because as I will show in the next paragraph, they don't matter. If the character is holding something, it's even better. Make these scenes the most tame in the movie. In fact, don't even record audio for them. In Karate Warriors, they turned the microphones off for these parts, because as some old saying goes, Karate Warriors express themselves through their fists. The deaf silence of the lack of audio adds definite dramatic flair. However, don't feel pressured to actually explain any sort of story in these plot scenes. Karate Warriors didn't.

Next, bring in a female character. Karate Warriors had something like 10 female characters, and they all get raped or killed. Sonny Chiba expresses his cunning sexuality by having sex with one of them, immediately after she was abused and beaten by a belt! If they manage to escape the movie's fleeting plot without getting raped or killed, it's because they already showed their skin and made a run for it. In one of the last scenes, one of the women gets impaled by a sword, and the ruthless thugs just stand there with their arms folded, looking tough. In these days of film-making, you aren't going to get any attention from the independent film critics unless you get provocative!

By this time, you can predict that any time there is nudity or female abuse, the next scene will have what can only be called KARATE TIME. KARATE TIME happens when 10 or more thugs storm into a room, and then either Sonny Chiba or the samurai guy appears in the room. Suddenly, the camera zooms in, shakes violently, and people start screaming and moving around chaotically. Quite frankly, you have no idea of what the hell is going on, until you make out either a fist or a sword swinging around and somebody falls over. In some fights, time even slows down and speeds up for dramatic effect, resembling something out of The Matrix, except 30 years earlier. For a movie made in the 70's, this is actually pretty stylish, and very much ahead of it's time. Another plus is that those moments are when you can actually clearly see the action going on. Otherwise, the action scenes can be decently depicted by standing up out of your chair, flailing your fists about wildly as in a sissy fight, and screaming.

And that's about it. The movie follows this pattern to the end. All the scenes are awkwardly edited together, often jumping abruptly from one scene to the next. Who can blame them? It's not easy to smoothly go from plot to woman abuse to all-out chaos. Karate Warriors is highly entertaining. It practically has NO story. The action scenes are strangely cool despite not comprehending more than half of them. And, it's probably the only time you will ever laugh at somebody being abused, thanks to the care-free abusive attitude Japan in the 1970's. This is Karate Warriors: "chop-socky karate action with nary a cop in sight!"

"Karate Warriors" is a somewhat confusing but enjoyable final entry in the "Street Fighter" series

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 13 May 2010]

"The Deadliest Dragon That Ever Smashed the Street Gangs!" "Karate Warriors" is a somewhat confusing but enjoyable final entry in the "Street Fighter" series we all know and love.

The story this time around involves Chico (Chiba) a mysterious man who arrives in a town run by two warring gangs. Chico has to make sure they keep warring because he wants to get the heroin stash and keep the gangs off his back. Meanwhile he develops a friendship with a young boy. Added into this mix is a crazy man who dresses in traditional samurai garb and is chopping people up with a samurai sword. Will Chico use his awesome beat-em-up skills to win the day? The VHS tape under consideration for this review is titled "Karate Warrior". While the on-screen title reads: Karate Warriors. The Karate Warrior print has poor dubbing and it is Pan & Scan. It is hard to tell who is talking on screen. The plot is hard enough to decipher as it is, without having to figure who is talking - Kelso? Or Heega? While the gangs are confused and wondering if Chico is a "Karate Fighter?", Chico has already made his way through some impressive fights. For example, in a brawl with a man that appears to be a lumberjack, he rips Chico's sleeve and it is clobberin' time! These technical flaws are almost forgotten about because the fights are so cool and fun to watch. The fights are slowed down and sped up for maximum impact. Chiba takes no prisoners and it looks like the kicking and punching is full contact. The fights are brutal in true "Street Fighter" tradition and the tempo changes are almost musical.

The final battle takes place on a beach and we wonder if Chico is going to find the key to the hidden heroin stash. But before he can get there, there is an all-out melee. Impressively, it is a sword and karate fight at the same time! Chiba does display a sensitive side with the young tot. Insanity is reached with the the crazy Samurai guy in modern day 70's Japan.

Karate Warrior is a tough, no-nonsense fight to the finish! Comeuppance Review by: Ty & Brett For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

Karate Warriors

[seveb-25179 · 7/10 · 1 January 2018]

Where the Street Fighter finally goes soft and learns to care for someone other than himself. The big boss has died, but where did he hide his secret stash of cocaine? The underboss is in jail, leaving two rival brothers to contend for control of the rackets, and each thinks the other knows where the coke is hidden. The former big boss's girlfriend also wants the drugs for herself, and so does karate warrior for hire Sonny Chiba! Complicating things for Sonny is the appearance of an antique ronin Samurai and his young son. Sonny respects the father, as a fellow man on honour, and comes to care about the cute little boy. After much scheming and double crossing (and much ass kicking and graphic limb severing, not to mention sadistic groping and whipping of half naked women!) Sonny discovers where the drugs have been hidden, however the Samurai also turns up to claim it. The two accept the inevitable and have a final showdown, after which the dying Samurai asks Sonny to take his son back to his mother. Sonny does so, but the mother has remarried, had another child and does not want him. The boy runs crying to the beach with a distraught Sonny following and trying to comfort him. Then the underboss and remaining henchmen arrive, so Sonny has to take time out from his moral dilema to kick some more ass. He mops up the last of the villains only to find the boy has been scattering the coke into the sea, thinking it is his fathers ashes. Sonny is angry at first, but eventually the kid melts his stoney heart and they walk off down the beach together. The fashions are the usual 70s outrageous, one guy in particular has a yellow wing collar that spans his shoulders, but Sonny himself gets off lightly in this one, his leather jacket and wastecoat ensemble is relatively tasteful. Many criticise the filming of action scenes in Chiba movies, and I understand it can be frustrating when a competent martial artists technique is somewhat obscured by camera trickery when it's not needed, but on relfection I find the approach in these movies to be more of a plus than a minus. These are inventive action sequences full of movement and impact, far superior to say, a Chuck Norris movie. In fact you could argue they are ahead of their time, as the mix of fast to slow mo technique used here has come into vogue in the 2010s. My favourite line "I love you kid, like a son, but I killed your father, and one day when you grow up, you may want to kill me, and I won't want to be killed, so I don't want you around". Number 3 on my Chiba hit list.

There's really nothing to not like about this movie

[kevin_robbins · 9/10 · 1 June 2023]

Karate Warriors (1976) is a movie that I recently watched for the first time in a long time on Tubi. The storyline follows a man who discovers two rival gangs are at war and one of the gang's leaders has died leaving a huge stash of heroine ripe for the taking. He does his best to keep the gangs feuding so he can steal it. Meanwhile, he makes friends with one of the gang member's sons which may complicate his mission.

This movie is directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Return of the Sister Street Fighter) and stars Sonny Chiba (Street Fighter), Akiko Koyama (Boy), Isao Natsuyagi (The Land of Hope), Eiji Gô (The Yakuza) and Etsuko Shihomi (Sister Street Fighter).

This is an action genre fan's dream. Almost everything about this movie is awesome. The narration and background music are classic Chiba. The action scenes are stupendous with a nice blend of intense hand-to-hand combat scenes and some use of great weapons. The sound effects for the action scenes are fun too and remind me of early Nintendo video games. There's also suave Chiba picking up stunning ladies and various random sex scenes. There's some perfectly blended in lighthearted moments too whether it involves kids or comedic scenes at a bar.

Overall, there's really nothing to not like about this movie. I would score this a 9/10 and strongly recommend it.

I am not sure if this really was part of the Street Fighter series, but it was entertaining

[planktonrules · 7/10 · 10 April 2008]

I seriously doubt that this was intended as one of the Street Fighter films when it was made, as the character Sonny Chiba played was named 'Chico' in this film--not the same guy in the other films. Now it is possible this was just a mistake made due to bad dubbing. Unlike most of the Chiba films I have watched, this one was dubbed not subtitled. Another reason to doubt the pedigree of this film is the intensity of the film scenes--it was a bit lacking. There were few of the 'killing moves' you'd seen in the earlier gritty movies--though fortunately it was compensated for by the addition of a cute kid that actually helped the plot.

The sloppiness of the camera-work doesn't necessarily mean it's not a Street Fighter film. While the film of the series is definitely the best and had great camera-work, in later films it did go downhill rather quickly and often fights occurred in very tight sets where it was hard to follow Chiba's amazing fighting ability. This was a real shame, as Chiba is one of the greatest martial artists to be on film--but here his abilities aren't that evident until late in the film when he uses the Kitana (Japanese sword). Then, I was truly amazed at his fluidity and grace. These particular fight scenes were excellent.

The plot involves Chiba coming into town and meeting an adorable little boy who he immediately befriends. However, Chiba also needs work and goes to work for one of the local gang bosses. Little does this boss know, though, that Chiba is trying to intensify the feud between gangs in order to make more money as a fixer-upper! Unfortunately, the boy's father is the fixer-upper for the other side and you know they will eventually be fated to fight each other. When this does eventually occur, there's not much surprise about the outcome except that now Chiba feels obligated to see that the boy is taken to live with his long lost mother. This reunion scene and the entire last portion of the movie really was exciting and fully of welcome pathos--and it helped to raise an okay film to the level of being exceptional.

By the way, of all the martial arts films I have seen, this one might seem like the most misogynistic, as many, many women are slapped about and even killed. Because of this, the violence and lots of nudity, this isn't a safe bet for your kids--even if there is a cute little kid in the film!

Much better than expected

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 16 January 2023]

I wasn't expecting much from KARATE WARRIORS, but I have to say that this film really delivered! Judging by the comments it seems to be mixed up with the STREET FIGHTER franchise, but it's a stand-alone thriller loosely based on the YOJIMBO storyline. Chiba plays a karate-fighter who arrives in a seaside town brutalised by a couple of warring yakuza brothers. Dualism is the focus here, as there are two sisters, one of whom is a virgin and the other a prostitute, while our hero's dark side is tempered by his relationship with an innocent little boy. The story is packed with stylish action sequences which innovate in terms of super slow-motion and shaky camerawork, while the human story is oddly affecting come the end. A strong little fight flick at the end of the day.

Street fighter versus samurai

[ckormos1 · 6/10 · 29 March 2020]

Gangs are smashing the pachinko parlor and Sonny Chiba is smoking Tiparellos. He drags an injured man to a talkative doctor who tells us the entire plot of the movie. I am used to that sort of thing watching these movies and tolerate it. One thing I can't tolerate is annoying children in movies. Sonny meets an annoying kid who is fishing.

The story is brother versus brother in the gangster business and Sonny versus samurai in the martial arts business.

The fights are overall above average. My one complaint is the shakey and too close camera technique that was sometimes used. Directors back then really needed a steady hand held camera to get the shots they wanted but it was not invented yet. They still tried to get the shot and the shakes spoiled it.