In 1974 Sonny Chiba made the first of his classic martial arts movies, and here, only 4 years later in 1977, he made his last. Don't get me wrong, he still had many entertaining Action and Samurai movies yet to come, but they would no longer be martial arts oriented.
"Karate For Life" is also the third in the trilogy loosely based on the career of real life martial arts master Mas Oyama, however in this case the connection is really only made in order to take advantage of name recognition at the box office, rather than including any events that actually occurred in Oyama's life. In the same way that the third instalment of the Streetfighter trilogy has less connection with the previous editions, as the black clad nihilist of the first two films becomes more of a Japanese James Bond style character, who even dons a tuxedo at one point. However that is not a criticism, as we are all here to see Chiba kick some ass, not get a history lesson.
The good news is that this movie kicks off with the greatest extended fight sequence of Sonny's career, bar none, where he takes on a whole dojo full of opponents single handed (Fist Of Fury style), before a final face-off with the Sensei. Part of the massed battle involves slippery oil on the floor, which may have served as the inspiration for a memorable action sequence in Jason Statham's movie "The Transporter". Outstanding!
The bad news is that we are immediately faced with the usual amoral dilemma, that contradiction we must confront in most Sonny Chiba movies, namely the fact that his character is often just a senseless school yard bully who does not deserve to be respected and is hard to root for. Often in old school martial arts movies it seems we are expected to admire the protagonist purely because he is tough and a skilled fighter, even if he is a selfish childish basket. However Sonny's characters often learn as they go along so we'll see if he does this time...
So the dojo members are going through their drills, bothering non-one, when Sonny makes his entrance, looking super cool in a long coat with the collar up. We have been told he has been working as a bouncer for the local Yakuza (disappointing), but still likes to keep his Karate skills sharp, which he does by going around challenging local martial arts teachers to single combat. These being people who are just minding their own business, not criminals, but men teaching others the skills or martial arts and hopefully the underlying philosophy that goes with it i.e. That martial arts should be seen as an expression of valour, chivalry, and self-sacrifice. Philosophy which stresses that people should live in peace and harmony. However Sonny seems to have missed out on that part, maybe he was sick that day? The Sensei tries to explain this too him, but gets only childish abuse in return. He foolishly orders his class to teach Sonny a lesson and they proceed to get dismantled in detail. Eventually the Sensei is forced to face Chiba alone and ends up losing an eye (Yay?).
Next Sonny and his gangster friends turn up at a local bar. They bully patrons out of their seats to make way for them, and push the staff around when reminded that they haven't paid their large tab... (Yay?) Sonny then gets an offer from a dodgy character with cotton wool up one nostril to go and fight professionally in Okinawa, which, of course, he takes. He is then teamed with two other fighters to go up against various professional wrestlers for the entertainment of American troops stationed there. (Apparently these were actual pro-wrestlers of the time, which the movie audience would have recognised) However what they haven't told him is that he is supposed to lose, which, being Sonny, he can't bring himself to do. The local Yakuza are displeased with the result and Sonny and co are invited to get out of town and return to the mainland.
Then, while wondering aimlessly around town, Sonny has his money and belongings stolen by street urchins, and later while hanging around a graveyard, he prevents a girl from committing suicide and comes to know and care about her. At this point the movie starts to follow the plot of "Killing Machine". The girl has become a prostitute out of necessity rather than inclination, and later it turns out the urchin who stole Sonny's stuff is her little brother. This is revealed after Sonny gets a second shot at chasing the street kid, following a separate bag snatch which he happens to witness. These sequences show us a more human side of Sonny's character (Sonny the actor has a charisma which can be as warm as it can be fearsome), he befriends the homeless orphan kids and joins their gang in a paternal way, tries to bring the sister and brother back together and then cares for the sister who has advanced pneumonia and needs penicillin. However that is in short supply and expensive in post war Japan. (Things are looking up then.)
So Sonny goes to the Yakuza and obtains forgiveness, agreeing to throw fights in return for enough money to get the penicillin, in order to save the girl. (Yay Sonny!) But, being Sonny, he can't help himself, wins the fight instead and goes on the run. The Yakuza torture and kill the girl trying to find him, then torture the boy and do find him, then one of Sonny's pals dies during the resulting mayhem, after which Sonny finds out about how the girl died and vows to exact empty revenge. (But does he ever recognise that her death etc. Is all his own selfish fault?)
Sonny buries the girl, in sand on the top of a large rocky outcrop at a beach she told him about ,and then he and his remaining friend attack the villain's lair for the climactic battle royal, which includes the return of the one eyed Sensei from the first act, after his own revenge, and a confrontation in a "hall of mirrors" scene, lifted from "Enter The Dragon".
A fitting screen farewell to an always ambiguous martial arts legend
NB IMO the classic Sonny Chiba period covers Streetfighter 1, 2, 3, The Executioner 1 (1974), Killing Machine, Champion of Death, Karate Bear Fighter (1975), Karate Warriors (1976), Karate For Life (1977) and perhaps The Bodyguard TV series (1974)
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
