Plot:
Some of the names I couldn't seem to pick up on in the movie.
In a prison, Jojo (or sound s suspiciously like "Jojo") has killed 7 men. The guards make a Bruce Lee comment or two about him as they escort a Buddhist
priest with them. The prisoner is going through a martial arts kata. He refuses to see the Buddhist priest (Sonny Chiba). Jojo recognizes a hand gesture that Sonny
makes as that of a karate expert. The guards leave the room after handcuffing him. Jojo would love to have a death-match with Sonny. They do fight some
fairly evenly matched. Sonny manages to give him a blow that will allow Jojo to pass out from a lack of oxygen to simulate death before he is executed. Apparently,
the blow has a time delay factor. The prisoner has to stay conscious for about ten minutes. Well, Sonny leaves.
The guards take Jojo to the gallows. By this time, he is pretty unsteady on his feet. Jojo is blindfolded and as the rope is about to be place around his neck when
he collapses. The prison officials debate what to do. The warden decides they must call an ambulance for Jojo. As the ambulance is leaving the prison, a man is
walking in the road preventing the ambulance from getting to the hospital. They stop, and the man manages to unleash some kung fu on them and steals the
ambulance with the comatose Jojo as Sonny Chiba arrives.
In Tokyo, we see Sonny is watching a news report of the disappearance of the prisoner. The next story is about the death of the wealthy Mr. Abbot who owns
an oil company. His daughter inherited it and is worth an outrageous amount of money. Could that be foreshadowing? I think it might be. Well, Jojo's little brother
and sister want to see Jojo before they pay Terry the rest of what they owe him. It turns out they don't have any more money to pay Sonny. Sonny agrees to give
them some more time if he gets some collateral; starts kissing Jojo's sister. Sonny figures he could get the balance by selling the sister into prostitution. Little
brother takes offense at this and starts fighting Sonny who is toying with him. Sister starts fighting Sonny who pushes her away. Little brother is preparing a
powerful kick which Sonny sees a mile away and ducks. Little brother goes through the window and falls out of the high rise to his death.
We see a group of guys at a karate school: practicing katas and breaking boards and bricks. The oil heiress, Ms. Abbot, is understandably upset by the
news of the death of her father.
Some business man is talking with Sonny who actually sold Jojo's sister into prostitution. Get a totally unnecessary scene of her being dragged into a
room. She's fighting as hard as she can. But, it's hard to fight when 4 guys are pinning you down and then drug you. Business guy gives Sonny his money. He
has another deal for the Street Fighter. The prospective clients want Sonny to kidnap Ms. Abbot who is heavily guarded for 6 million yen. The Charming Mr. Chiba
refuses and politely asks for 60 million yen. These customers don't want to pay up front. As Sonny leaves, one of them is angry that he knows their plans. Sonny
learns they are actually part of the Yakuza. Which is more puzzling is they are described as a Hong Kong assassination league. Chiba walks out of the meeting
disgusted. The customers decided that Chiba must be eliminated.
Sonny is working out in his apartment. At least, this action star does exercise. A group of guys break into the apartment. It is the traditional one man
attacks while the rest watch. Sonny wipes the floor with the rest of them. Has one of the guys send a message to the Yakuza how he is no longer their friend. The
Yakuza shoot the messenger after they get the message. Now, they want a professional from Hong Kong to solve their Sonny Chiba problem.
Sonny and his sidekick, Ratnose, head for the karate school to find Ms. Abbot. It doesn't take long for Chiba to find her. The karate school has Sonny
cornered who has Ms. Abbot. Sonny challenges her uncle, the head of the school, to a match. Well, a few guys fight Sonny first as a warm-up for the uncle who
has a kind of Sammo Hung vibe.
The fight between uncle and Sonny starts. You can tell their sizing each other up. And the uncle unleashes some serious Kung Fu on Chiba. It turns out
that he knew Chiba's father who was trying to mix various martial arts together to create the ultimate fighting style. Flashback when Sonny was a little boy. His
father was executed for treason. And as it happened Sonny remembered all those things a father says to his son to make him a better man. Trust no one. Never
be beaten.
Sonny has gotten his second wind. It's starting to go in more of his favor. Pretty much ends in a draw. Sonny explains how the Yakuza want to kidnap
Abbot. It turns out Sonny hates punks, wants to destroy the mob, and join their side. Sonny wants to be hired. Well, Abbot's uncle thinks having Sonny Chiba on
their side would be a good idea. Could it ever be a bad idea? By the way, this is a great job interview.
In Hong Kong, a group of guys are discussing how to handle Sonny. In the bar downstairs, a guy bumps into a blind man who automatically has a
sword-cane and slashes his leg. The guy realizing the better part of valor gets out of the bar and is killed by a knife throwing man who darts into the bar and
hides. The cops bust in looking for the murderer. They question Jojo who smacks some of them around. One of the men discussing Sonny upstairs gets rid of the
cops. He is the local crime lord and talks with Jojo. They go to where the crime lord has his new prostitutes. Jojo can't believe his sister is there. A fast touching
reunion. Jojo learns that Sonny killed his little brother. Sister wants Jojo to avenge them. The crime lord offers Jojo the freedom of his sister if he kills Sonny.
Plane lands. A man is talking with Ms. Abbot. They drive off together. Sonny and Ratnose follow in another car. They are quickly blocked and can't see
Abbot's car. A crane picks up Sonny's car and drops it off a bridge. A couple of guys want to make sure they see Sonny's bloody body. Chiba finishes them
off. And, we get the most infamous scene of the movie. The X-Ray punch to the skull. And, then we are treated to the first scene in the movie where Sonny
shows any concern for anyone. He makes sure Ratnose is ok.
Needless to say, Chiba wants revenge. He fights a large vaguely Asian looking Yul Brenner. Granted the guy looks cool. But looking cool doesn't insure
you'll have a prolonged fight or survive a fight with Sonny. The longest fight against one guy he had was against the fat Sammo Hung looking uncle. Sonny wants
to question the business guy who paid him earlier. Surprise, he's not there. But, Jojo and his sister are in the room. Jojo wants to settle everything right now. Sonny
pulls a sai on Jojo's sister. Apparently, sister doesn't care about living as long as Sonny dies. Chiba jumps out the window and lands in the back of the truck Ratnose
is driving. They go after Ms. Abbot.
Ms. Abbot drives off with her bodyguards. The blind swordsman is in the road. The bodyguards stop the car and try to get him out of the road. The
knife-throwing guy is there, too. In the process of killing the bodyguards, one of the bodyguards kills the knife-thrower. As Ms. Abbot tries to run away, a group
of men capture her.
Sonny and Ratnose are in the river. Ms. Abbot spots them from her window. She gets their attention. As they land the boat and scale the cliff the house is
on, one of the bad guys tries to rape her. Fortunately, Sonny shows up in time fights the guy. He believes the best way to prevent the would-be-rapist from doing
anything would to remove the source of the problem. Let’s just say, if the guy survives, he would make decent castrati. Ms. Abbot embraces Sonny. She's
confused by everything. Sonny has a second moment of tenderness. Sonny, Ratnose, and Ms. Abbot escape. Sonny decides to take care of the guys following him
and leaves Ms. Abbot in the capable hands of Ratnose.
Chiba fights a bunch of guys. The Hong Kong Crime lord shows up. He wants some of Sonny's Kung Fu. They fight. The Yakuza want to know where
Abbot is. Crime lord leaves disgusted he couldn't finish the fight. Ratnose is going to find Sonny. Yakuza are interrogating Chiba. Ratnose finds him. Lady
Yakuza plays Russian roulette with a gun to Sonny's head to make Ratnose talk. Chiba tells him to not tell them where Abbot is. And, Ratnose does. Sonny is
disgusted by Ratnose. Sonny is thrown off a cliff falls into a river. Ratnose finds Sonny.
Sonny wants nothing to do with Ratnose. It is sad to see Ratnose pleading and crying at Chiba's feet for another chance. In Kobe, on a ship, Lady Yakuza
has Ms. Abbot. Sonny is there and has a fight with the Blind swordsman. In the middle of the fight, a motorcycle drives through the fight. Swordsman slashes the
rider. Chiba kills the Swordsman. He checks on the rider. It is his sidekick, Ratnose. After Ratnose dies, Sonny sheds a tear for him.
On the ship, Princess Sarai, Abbot is being held hostage. They want her to sign total control of the oil company to the Yakuza. She discovers her father didn't
die of natural causes. Lady Yakuza and the Crime Lord discuss Chiba; Crime Lord will give his businesses to Jojo if he kills Chiba. They keep trying to force
Abbot to sign the contract. Good thing, they don't think of torturing her.
Chiba gets aboard. He begins a stealth campaign. It continually escalates into as the box describes "violent and gory action." I don't want to ruin these
scenes. They must be seen to truly be appreciated. Imagine a cross between Hard core Kung Fu and splatterstick.
Chiba is finally wounded. It turns out the Ms. Abbot's uncle was evil so Sonny dispatches him. Crime Lord wants Jojo to fight Chiba.
Jojo versus Sonny. The Final Round. On the rainy deck of the ship, this fight will end. Words don't really do this fight justice.
Hopefully seeing on the screen at the end of the movie watch for "Return of Street Fighter" won't spoil the ending...
