Available from Eureka Entertainment as a 2-disc set with Beast Fighter: Karate Bearfighter.
Inspired by the life of Choi Bae-dal who was later known as Masutatsu Oyama, a Korean martial artist who founded Kyokushin Karate in Japan.
Also known as Kenka karate kyokushinken, Beast Fighter: Karate Bullfighter was written by Norifumi Suzuki, based on the manga by Ikki Kajiwara, Jirô Tsunoda, and Jôya Kagemaru, and directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, this adaptation is one that won’t appeal to everyone, but fans of 1970s martial arts and Sonny Chiba should really enjoy it. The story is both simple and all over the place, leading to needing to rewind here and there when the action takes all the attention or just not worry too much about it, the story makes sense even with a few lapses in attention to the dialogue. The story here would need more finessing on the script side if it were released today, but it’s fun and the fights are something else here and there. Warning to those sensitive to these things, there are real bulls involved here.
The cast here is a bit uneven, but overall works decently well for the story. The main attraction here is Sonny Chiba, credited as Shin’ichi Chiba in the lead of Sensei Masutatsu Oyama. He is his usual charismatic self here, giving a good performance, and kicking some bull butts. The rest of the cast will be less familiar to most viewers with a few more familiar faces to martial arts super fans. The supporting cast here is meant to let Chiba shine, and they do their job quite well, stealing the occasional scene here and there.
The fights here are one of the main things folks will want to see the film for and being that this is based on the life of Sensei Masutatsu Oyama who not only was a master of his art, but also trained Chiba, it makes them something to behold. Chiba is clearly putting his all in these films and making them shine with his skills and capacities. The fights here are carefully choreographed and the fighters’ skills are fantastic to watch.
The new release for Eureka Entertainment looks good on Blu, giving the film a solid, yet aged look from new restorations with original materials from TOEI. The image here is clear with some signs of aging and the sound works in its original Japanese mono format. The release has good extras with the most interesting ones being the new video essay In Search of the Ultimate Truth by Jonathan Clements. The films each get feature length audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema, action cinema experts.