Overview: The mighty Sonny Chiba (Bodyguard Kiba) stars in two spectacular martial arts movies based upon the real life of Masutatsu Mas Ōyama - the fabled bull-slaying karate master who trained none other than Chiba himself.

In Karate Bullfighter (or Champion of Death), a karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Ōyama (Chiba), who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Ōyama’s entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences, and soon he is fighting for far more than sporting victory.

Then, in Karate Bearfighter, Ōyama is expelled from the karate community for refusing to pull his punches. With no where else to turn, he takes a job with the yakuza after running into Kimura (Hideo Murota), who Ōyama once knew as a fellow member of the Imperial Japanese Air Service before he turned to a life of crime. Ultimately, though, Ōyama has no more respect for his superiors on the streets than he did in the dojo.

Blu-ray Verdict: Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Sister Street Fighter), Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter were adapted from the popular manga series Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which ran from 1971 to 1977 and chronicled the life and legend of Mas Ōyama. Eureka Classics is proud to present both films for the first time ever on Blu-ray from brand new restorations of the original film elements by Toei.

Karate Bullfighter (1975) is based on the true life story of a Korean fighter named Choi Bae-dal (who later changed his name to Masutatsu Ōyama), the founder of Kyokushin Karate in Japan.

The story told here is interesting enough in its very brisk flit through the early life of Ōyama. We see his frustration with the world of karate, his killing in self defense of a man and his subsequent attempts to make it right in regards the man’s widow and young son. There isn’t a lot of drama in the telling though and not a great deal of characterization to gets one teeth into – interesting in the overview to a point but not a gripping story.

This leaves the martial arts action to carry the burden and this it does, to a point. The fights are reasonably enjoyable but they are pretty straight in their delivery with very little in the way of impressive choreography or design to them.

In closing, Sonny Chiba is good, there’s some energetic camerawork, but it also feels a little methodical in places, even though the runtime is less than 90 minutes. It’s good enough for those who really like down-and-dirty martial arts movies though, like me, so I think you will all enjoy it also.

The other movie is Karate Bearfighter (1975) is, once again, based on the true life story of a Korean fighter named Choi Bae-dal (who later changed his name to Masutatsu Ōyama), the founder of Kyokushin Karate in Japan!

Ace karate master Masutatso Ōyama (Sonny Chiba, as fearsome and ferocious as ever) earns the resentment of his peers in the martial arts community after he wins a major tournament using his unorthodox style. After meeting and befriending a lonely little boy named Rinato, Ōyama agrees to fight a bear in order to raise the money to take care of Rinato’s injured father.

Director Kazuhiko Yamaguzhi relates the engrossing story at a snappy pace and maintains a stark serious tone throughout. Naturally, Chiba lays on his trademark no-holds-barred savagery something fierce as he takes out opponents with a single lethal blow and more than holds his own against multiple attackers.

The scenes between Chiba and the little boy are quite moving while the big match between Chiba and the bear (some guy in a pretty decent suit) rates as a real corker. Yumi Takigawa lends able support as Ōyama’s loyal and long-suffering girlfriend Chiyako. The lovely Yutaka Nakujima has a regrettably smallish role as the sweet Sumiko. Yoshio Nakajima’s vibrant cinematography makes neat use of zooms and whiplash pans.

Special Features:
1080p presentations of both films across two Blu-ray discs, from new restorations of the original film elements by Toei
Original Japanese mono audio
Brand new feature length audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
In Search of the Ultimate Truth – Brand new video essay by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
Original theatrical trailers