The Street Fighter (1974)

Intro
While pouring back through all the Tarantino films recently I realized a couple things:
1) There's not that many of them. I mean he's only one guy and he pretty much only works off of his own material that he wrote... which takes time, and thus this is very understandable.
2) His films make reference other movies constantly. Now call it what you want homage, reference or just plain theft but I'm thinking that a lot of people don't catch the majority of these references to other films because frankly, we don't have the film same exposure as a young Tarantino did going to the grindhouse theater constantly in his youth or working in a video rental store. However, hypothetically with the vastness of the internet and Amazon, Netflix etc. these films should be easier to get a hold of today, if you know what you're looking for that is.

So I figured there's probably more people out there, like me, who crave more Tarantino constantly and I could showcase some films that I'd consider essential viewing for Tarantino fans. And thus the 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans was born. Now let me warn you this is in no way a comprehensive list and there's no particular order to these either. There's probably hundreds of films that Tarantino references in his own films, and I found enough films I could write about to probably do this series again but that will have to wait until next time there's another big Tarantino release.

DAY 9: The Street Fighter (1974)

Quentin Tarantino loves The Street Fighter so much that he wrote it into the background of his first script, True Romance (1993) where the main character talks at length about how cool Sonny Chiba is in it after going to a Street Fighter marathon. Years later he also gave Sonny Chiba a really cool part in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) as the legendary sword maker Hatori Hanzo. Also in Kill Bill: Volume 1, the "Crazy 88 fight sequence" seems to be inspired by the fight on the ship in this film, in both the leads go on a killing rampage killing a ton of people with different weapons, in a ton of different ways and there's even a part where the Bride is running up stairs as she's fighting just like Terry. Tarantino also lists this film in his top 20 favorite grindhouse films (thanks to The Quentin Tarantino Archives).

"I hate punks worse than anything, and I would love to see the mob destroyed."

The Street Fighter (1974) is the dubbed version of 激突！殺人拳 [Clash, Killer Fist!] a violent Japanese martial arts film. This film is technically an unofficial follow up to ボディガード牙 [Karate Kiba] (1973) which was recut and released as The Bodyguard (1976) in the U.S. but other than also starring Sonny Chiba, this film is unrelated. This film follows Terry Tsurugi an assassin for hire who follows no school or code except his own.

[This film will focus on the English-dubbed version that was released in the U.S.]

This film has a really good opening sequence, it draws you into the film and is very cool and also sets up the character of Terry right off from the begining. All the fight scenes in this film are pretty clever and unique, it doesn't ever seem like it gets old and with each fight they just keep finding new and creative ways to kill people!

The story in this film is pretty decent too, (SPOILERS:) every time I see this film I'm surprised that they kill off "Ratnose", Terry's humorous sidekick. This is such an Eastern thing, because a Western story would never do this, and yet it really adds a lot to the story, this affects Terry it actually gives meaning to how much more fierce he gets in the last part of the film. This is exactly how Quentin Tarantino could have given the "Crazy 88 fight sequence" in Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) more story rather than just a mindless action sequence!

As with most of these types of films from the dub is quite bad, the voice actors are trying way too hard to put more into the performance and match the lips.

This film seems pretty dated when watched today, and the fights go on longer than they need to (admittedly a martial arts-ism). The villains of this film are very flat and one-dimensional, and I think the plot could have been tied together better. I also never understood why there's this part in the end where the antagonist's sister grabs Terry and tells her brother to finish him, then he stabs her through the back to stab terry! This seems completely unnecessary, he's fast but not so fast that you have to kill your own sister to get to him!

It's no surprise that this is the film that turned Sonny Chiba into an international star. His character is really interesting, a school-less, martial arts assassin dressed in black. And he's not invincible: he gets beaten, beat up and captured throughout this film which somehow only seems to make him cooler! Chiba's acting is really great too very intense but always with a bit of humor too.

The Street Fighter (1974) is an action packed martial arts film with a surprisingly good story, starring the amazing Sonny Chiba. 4/5 Stars.

Happy watching!





This film is part of my month-long Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012) and his 20-year career. If you've missed any of my reviews so far, be sure to check out his filmography and click on any film you've missed.

The 10 must-see films for Tarantino fans countdown concludes tomorrow, so be sure to check back!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film through these links:

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

"Revenge is never a straight line..."

Kill Bill (2003) is Quentin Tarantino’s first [well second if you count From Dusk till Dawn (1996)] tribute to the films of a “grindhouse” cinema. This film is a revenge story that’s jam-packed full of references to different films from all across the scope of cinema: different genres, cultures and styles.

The story of Kill Bill: Volume 1 revolves around a (thus far) unnamed assassin known only as “the Bride,” who is killed by other assassins but somehow survives and ends up in a coma. When she wakes up four years later, she has one thing on her mind: revenge on those who turned on her.

Kill Bill is a film that works far better than it really should. If anyone else tried tried to combine, tribute and homage so many different films in one it would not be as successful as this one. I personally think its Tarantino’s own bold and well defined style that makes all these different things work together so well under one roof. Just look at Pulp Fiction (1994), that film is not only a mash-up of 3-4 different stories but also different musical styles and time periods. But Kill Bill makes Pulp Fiction look like child’s play. This film seamlessly drops direct references to American, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, kung-fu & martial arts, anime, samurai, western and action films and even comics all over the place. Some of these are slight little nods [like the Bride's motorcycle jumpsuit that's patterned after Bruce Lee’s jumpsuit in his final and uncompleted film The Game of Death (1972)], others are the way a person gets killed or even just mirroring the way a shot is framed in another film.

I think some of my favorite ways this film uses different styles is the way the amazing soundtrack (almost all hand chosen from different films) combines with the stylish cinematography. You’ll hear western music over two people kung-fu fighting all the while telling it’s own original story. There’s far too many references in this film for me to dwell on it any longer but if you want a treat check out The Quentin Tarantino Archives, they have compiled quite a few references on their site. Its not a complete list because there were a couple things I noticed that they didn’t have listed, but they have a lot of stuff I had no idea was lifted from other films so be sure to go check that out, its a fun read.

Most of the problems with this film stem from the fact that its really only half of a story. The set up is great, but it doesn’t pay off on it’s own and without more answers or a decent conclusion the film seems like a stylish but empty action film. The ending in fact, makes an amazing mid point (revealing her daughter is still alive).

Now this is no problem if you look at the films as two parts to one film, but as it is right now Quentin Tarantino has never given the full film a decent release. If he wants to release Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair in wide release or even just on home video, I will revisit this film as one film. But until that day as it is now, I'm sorry its two films.

I usually don't care for Lucy Liu too much as an actor but I love her in this film because her backstory is told in one of the greatest anime sequences in film or television history. Its absolutely beautiful and very expressive with lots of really stylized action and great shot choices. The anime sequence is produced by Production I.G. the studio responsible for Ghost in the Shell, Neon Genesis Evangelion & FLCL. This is such a great way to incorporate another medium even one as drastically different as anime.

I love the fight choreography and cinematography in this film. The cinematography is made up mostly of homages to other films combined in really interesting and clever ways and Tarantino was smart to hire fight choreographer Yuen Woo-ping, who is well known for his work in the films Wing Chun (1994), Iron Monkey (1993) and Jackie Chan's Drunken Master (1978).

And lastly I gotta mention Sonny Chiba, I personally love Sonny Chiba and apparently Quentin Tarantino really does too. I love the way he uses him in this film as an almost Yoda-esque retired sword-maker. His performance in this film is cool, funny and super memorable all in one, and that's really something because apparently he can speak next to no English!

Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) is probably Quentin Tarantino's most stylish and action packed film to date, but without it’s second half a large part of the film seems like it's just another emotionally hollow action film. 4/5 Stars.

Happy watching!

Check out this original minimalist poster design I did for this film, click through to buy prints/posters etc. OR check out other movie posters I designed here. :)

Want more Tarantino goodness? Check back all month for my Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012).

Go back to Tarantino's first film with Reservoir Dogs (1992), check out the first script he wrote (but didn't direct) True Romance (1993), The smash hit that really put him on the map Pulp Fiction (1994), another film written by him but in the hands of another director From Dusk till Dawn (1996), or his blaxploitation-influenced crime film Jackie Brown (1997). I got films planned all month so be sure to check back!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film (and 8 other Tarantino hits from his 20 year career) in this new set (now on Blu-ray) through these links: