New
Line Home Video | Review by Dan Taylor
I recently lamented that RETURN
OF THE STREETFIGHTER tried valiantly,
but was incapable of recapturing the charm
of the original chapter in the tale of Terry
Surugy. By the time the third film in the
series rolled around, it had become mired
in unknowing self-parody.
For those of you who are unfamiliar
with the series, here's a quick recap. The
original STREETFIGHTER
introduced the world to Terry Surugy, as
played by Sonny Chiba. An uncontrollable
mass of facial ticks, wild hair and a deep-seeded
desire to kick scumbag ass, Surugy hired
himself out to the highest bidder.
After being double-crossed
in STREETFIGHTER, Surugy eschews monetary
gain and goes after the vermin that threaten
his life. Along the way, he does battle
with Junjo (Milton Ishibashi), another killer-for-hire.
Junjo is, perhaps, the most ungrateful slob
in cinematic history. He loathes, despises
and plots to ice Surugy, even after the
Streetfighter breaks him out of prison in
the film's balls-to-the-wall opening. Okay,
so Surugy also kills Junjo's brother and
drives his sister to a life of prostitution...
but these are small problems. Anyway,
STREETFIGHTER climaxes with a fight-to-the-finish
between Surugy and Junjo – it truly
must be seen to be believed.
RETURN mightily attempts to
deliver the same spunk, but ultimately fails.
In what appear to be tries at making Chiba/Surugy
more palatable, he's saddled with a groovy
female sidekick and keeps the facial twitches
to a minimum. Unfortunately, that was part
of the appeal. The plotline mirrors the
original, even bringing Junjo back from
the grave to challenge our anti-hero. Alas,
it's not the equivalent of THE EMPIRE STRIKES
BACK, or even PENITENTIARY II.
Understandably I waded into
THE STREETFIGHTER'S LAST REVENGE with a
certain wariness. The only thing keeping
me going was the sense that odd-numbered
sequels are usually the best in the series,
since they often break new ground after
the mimickry of the initial follow-up. Note
to self: the STREETFIGHTER series blows
that theory out of the water!
The nomadic bad-ass with a
kung-fu grip is gone by this installment,
replaced by a patchwork combination of Bruce
Lee and James Bond, with a bit of pre-dating
DARKMAN tossed in to the mix. (Forgive me
if I make this sound better than it is.)
He lives in an apartment with moving walls
and secret passages, dons masks to get close
to his enemies and still kicks but to make
ends meet. Alas, attempts to give Chiba
mass appeal continue, and his grunts, ticks
and wild hair are all but gone. A bewildering,
almost unwatchable, effort.
Who knows where to lay the
blame for this rapid decline. Shigehiro
Ozawa directed all three installments, and
the story is essentially unchaged throughout
-- hell, one and two are nearly identical.
Perhaps Chiba was under the delusion that
he could be the next Bruce Lee, though he
ends up more like the next George Lazenby.
As for his post-STREETFIGHTER career, only
the star-studded VIRUS and IRON EAGLE 3
merit any mention.
Despite my willingness to
do anything for our dear readers, I will
NOT be renting SISTER STREETFIGHTER, the
fourth entry in the series. And according
to Michael Weldon's The Psychotronic
Video Guide, there was also a STREETFIGHTER
4 – I'll pass.
