Spinning off from the massively popular Street Fighter series of films starring our homeboy Sonny Chiba comes the distaff edition; Sister Street Fighter! Featuring four fist and foot a-flyin’ flicks the series ran from 1974 -1976 and featured four films total…all of which appear on this new Blu-ray collection from Arrow Video!
Kicking things off we have:
Sister Street Fighter (1974): Li Mansei (Hiroshi Miyauchi), a Hong Kong drug agent (and Shorinji Kempo champion for good measure), pulls a vanishing act while investigating smuggling involving the totally legit and completely not made-up Central Trader corporation. Heading up the search for Mansei is his sister; the outrageously violence prone martial arts expert Li Koryu (Etsuko Shiomi) who’s journey takes her from seedy nightclubs, to dark back alleys, to martial arts academies and beyond. fortunately for our heroine she doesn’t have to whip everyone’s ass on her own as soon she is joined by Shorinji badasses Seiichi Hibiki (Sonny Chiba) and Emi (Emi Hayakawa) which is good since she has to face down a Mohawk sportin’ blowgun ace (with gaudy shield), basket-headed Goth karate experts, gangsters (one of whom uses wolverine claws), The Amazon Seven (don’t ask), a fat ass sexual deviant with high-waisted pants and Elvis glasses, and so many, many more! How will our heroine make it through and find her brother? With violence…yup, just pure violence…
Action packed, violent as all fuck, artsy, and filled to bursting with over-the-top comic book style villains that plague our heroine at every turn, Kazuhiko Yamaguchi’s film was a revolution in early 70’s Japanese cinema due in no small part to it’s tough as nails, take no bullshit leading lady Etsuko Shiomi who could stand toe to toe with any male action hero of the day (and co-star Emi Hayakawa was no slouch either). This film just bleeds surreal coolness and hard-ass action in equal doses, and it is all the better for those disparate elements mashed-up in a cinematic stew!
Of course along with all that you have another fantastic performance from ass-beater numero-uno (or ichiban as the case may be) Sonny Chiba who continues his normal routine of fantastic action and gruff attitude…always a plus in my beastly book!
Raging our way next is:
Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread (1974): Well, ol’ Li Koryu (Etsuko Shiomi, reprising her role) is up to her eyelids in violence once again! This time our heroine investigates the disappearance of her friend Birei (Hisayo Tanaka) who’s gotten mixed up with some gem smuggling gangsters (who transport their ill-gotten gains by surgically placing the stones in the ass cheeks of prostitutes…as one does)…and she isn’t the only one as Koryu’s sister Li Hakuran (Tamayo Mitsukawa) has been drawn into their sinister circle as well. Soon Koryu is facing off against kung-fu taxi drivers, ninja, a dandy swordsman, gangsters (naturally) and, as before, plenty more in her quest to destroy the bastards that have harmed the ones closest to her!
I wager I’m going to be sounding rather redundant at the end of each of these overviews, but truthfully if you loved the first picture, you are going to love this one. It’s ultra-violent, filled with more of those comic book style villains that make these pictures so enjoyable, features more surreal art direction (the scene where Koryu heads off to the final skirmish across a painted backdrop is particularly gorgeous and strange), and showcases more of Shiomi’s powerhouse presence.
In the negative column, there’s some torture elements present in this entry that may turn off those sensitive to such material…and while the effects are cool, it was a surprise to see graphic torture porn in the middle of my martial arts flick…so viewer beware.
Flashing across the screen next is:
Return of the Sister Street Fighter (1975): Li Koryu (Shiomi) returns (clever title to this one, eh?) and the plot is one that should seem familiar by now. You see, the mother of her friend’s daughter has been kidnapped and forced into servitude at the hands of the local gold smuggling gangster. Koryu begins her standard routine of pounding asses into the pavement, but that crime lord mentioned previous decides to throw a martial arts tournament to find the best fighters to take on our heroine. Koryu proves “best” is subjective and unleashes unholy vengeance on all that get in the way of her mission.
Let’s get something out of the way that will inevitably stick out to all viewers of this flick in the modern age; there is a Japanese dude in this during that tournament mentioned up yonder who plays one of the most offensive native stereotypes I’ve seen in a damn sight. Why? I have no idea, there is a black dude in the same tournament…it’s baffling. That aside, this is pound for pound the leanest, most entertaining entry in the series. The truncated runtime (nearly ten minutes shorter than the previous films) keeps things moving at a breakneck pace (which is aided by an uncomplicated screenplay courtesy of series mainstay Masahiro Kakefuda along with Takeo Kaneko), and the action is as frenzied as the opponents are ludicrous. Another positive is the “torture” elements of this film have been dialed way back from those present in Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread with only a (rather non-graphic) whipping sequence present.
Finally comes:
Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist (1976): Etsuko Shiomi returns, but this time she portrays Kiku Nakakawa, the daughter of a kimono shop owner and practitioner of karate. While not a true Sister Street Fighter sequel, it does feature the omnipresent smuggling (this time drugs in statues and funneled through a movie studio), and Shiomi playing an avenging angel who must deliver justice for her friend Michi’s (Rabu Micchii) “brother” Jim (Ken Wallace) at the hands of those aforementioned rascals.
Unfortunately, this one didn’t really do it for me. Shiomi is excellent as always, but the production is definitely less over-the-top, and it really suffers for it. Gone are the myriad of fighting styles and comic book villains in favor of a more grounded (i.e. boring) approach…but we get some musical numbers…hoo-fuckin’-ray. And that is that.
As for extras, we get: interviews with Chiba, Yamaguchi, and Screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda, a series of isolated score highlights (funky brassy/sassy affairs to be sure) from the first three films in the series, the original theatrical trailers for all the films in the set, a poster and still gallery for the entire series, the 81 minute English language cut of Sister Street Fighter along with the film’s U.S. trailer, German opening titles, and German trailer.
If you love martial arts flicks, ’70’s grindhouse fare, or both (like me!) then the Sister Street Fighter Collection is an absolute must purchase (even with that lesser fourth entry); you get plenty of furious action, surreal villains, and satisfying revenge that will entertain your ass for hours on end!
