The Street Fighter

Terry Tsurugi is one mean S.O.B. And when I say that, I'm not trying to suggest that Terry is cold or gruff like so many other action movie protagonists often are. Early on in The Street Fighter, when a brother and sister can't pay Terry the money they owe him, he kills the brother and sells the sister into slavery. That's Terry for you, our "hero." As the movie goes on, there are some attempts to humanize Terry, but he remains pretty vicious and unrepentant throughout. The crux of the plot finds Terry taking on the Mob and the Yakuza after they try to kidnap a young heiress. The Street Fighter is a particularly violent movie. When it was released in the US, an early success for New Line Cinema, it received an X rating. The fight scenes are well shot, with great uses of long takes and slow motion. Sonny Chiba gets the full Bruce Lee treatment in his portrayal of Terry, with many loving shots of him training and cruelly dispatching scores of bad guys.

Rating: 73%

(Image from Wikipedia)