Woodyanders Review of Karate Warriors

Karate Warriors (1976)

A prime piece of rousing Sonny Chiba martial arts trash

[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.