User Reviews

Fearsome master karate fighter Masutatsu Oyama (Sonny Chiba in typically intense and intimidating form) finds himself ostracized by the Karate Society of Japan for his past fights with both a bull and a bear. After working as a bodyguard for local thugs, Oyama agrees to battle in the ring against professional wrestlers in fixed games alongside judo expert Fujita. However, Oyama winds up in hot water with the mob when he refuses to lose in the prearranged matches.

Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi gets things off to a cracking start with a fantastically thrilling set piece in which Oyama pulverizes a hundred students and their sensei in a dojo (they try to cheat by pouring oil on the floor, but Oyama outsmarts them by stepping on the battered bodies of his fallen opponents!), maintains a serious tone throughout, and keeps the story moving along at a brisk pace. Masahiro Kakefuda's outrageous script not only has fun taking potshots at the intrinsic cartoonish absurdity of wrestling, but also blatantly lifts the stirring hall of mirrors sequence from "Enter the Dragon" for the rousing climactic confrontation between Oyama and a major crime syndicate kingpin. Moreover, it's a real brutal treat to see Chiba vigorously mix it up with such legendary ring rats as Mr. Chin, Snake Amami, Rip Tyler, and Eddie Sullivan as well as endure assorted savage wrestling moves that include the bear hug, neck hanging, and the airplane spin. Yoko Natsuki contributes an appealing turn as a browbeaten and downtrodden young lass with tuberculosis who Oyama comes to the aid of. Yoshio Nakajima's dynamic widescreen cinematography offers lots of funky whiplash pans and cool occasional use of freeze frames. Essential viewing for Chiba fans.

In 1974 Sonny Chiba made the first of his classic martial arts movies, and here, only 4 years later in 1977, he made his last. Don't get me wrong, he still had many entertaining Action and Samurai movies yet to come, but they would no longer be martial arts oriented.

"Karate For Life" is also the third in the trilogy loosely based on the career of real life martial arts master Mas Oyama, however in this case the connection is really only made in order to take advantage of name recognition at the box office, rather than including any events that actually occurred in Oyama's life. In the same way that the third instalment of the Streetfighter trilogy has less connection with the previous editions, as the black clad nihilist of the first two films becomes more of a Japanese James Bond style character, who even dons a tuxedo at one point. However that is not a criticism, as we are all here to see Chiba kick some ass, not get a history lesson.

The good news is that this movie kicks off with the greatest extended fight sequence of Sonny's career, bar none, where he takes on a whole dojo full of opponents single handed (Fist Of Fury style), before a final face-off with the Sensei. Part of the massed battle involves slippery oil on the floor, which may have served as the inspiration for a memorable action sequence in Jason Statham's movie "The Transporter". Outstanding!

The bad news is that we are immediately faced with the usual amoral dilemma, that contradiction we must confront in most Sonny Chiba movies, namely the fact that his character is often just a senseless school yard bully who does not deserve to be respected and is hard to root for. Often in old school martial arts movies it seems we are expected to admire the protagonist purely because he is tough and a skilled fighter, even if he is a selfish childish basket. However Sonny's characters often learn as they go along so we'll see if he does this time...

So the dojo members are going through their drills, bothering non-one, when Sonny makes his entrance, looking super cool in a long coat with the collar up. We have been told he has been working as a bouncer for the local Yakuza (disappointing), but still likes to keep his Karate skills sharp, which he does by going around challenging local martial arts teachers to single combat. These being people who are just minding their own business, not criminals, but men teaching others the skills or martial arts and hopefully the underlying philosophy that goes with it i.e. That martial arts should be seen as an expression of valour, chivalry, and self-sacrifice. Philosophy which stresses that people should live in peace and harmony. However Sonny seems to have missed out on that part, maybe he was sick that day? The Sensei tries to explain this too him, but gets only childish abuse in return. He foolishly orders his class to teach Sonny a lesson and they proceed to get dismantled in detail. Eventually the Sensei is forced to face Chiba alone and ends up losing an eye (Yay?).

Next Sonny and his gangster friends turn up at a local bar. They bully patrons out of their seats to make way for them, and push the staff around when reminded that they haven't paid their large tab... (Yay?) Sonny then gets an offer from a dodgy character with cotton wool up one nostril to go and fight professionally in Okinawa, which, of course, he takes. He is then teamed with two other fighters to go up against various professional wrestlers for the entertainment of American troops stationed there. (Apparently these were actual pro-wrestlers of the time, which the movie audience would have recognised) However what they haven't told him is that he is supposed to lose, which, being Sonny, he can't bring himself to do. The local Yakuza are displeased with the result and Sonny and co are invited to get out of town and return to the mainland.

Then, while wondering aimlessly around town, Sonny has his money and belongings stolen by street urchins, and later while hanging around a graveyard, he prevents a girl from committing suicide and comes to know and care about her. At this point the movie starts to follow the plot of "Killing Machine". The girl has become a prostitute out of necessity rather than inclination, and later it turns out the urchin who stole Sonny's stuff is her little brother. This is revealed after Sonny gets a second shot at chasing the street kid, following a separate bag snatch which he happens to witness. These sequences show us a more human side of Sonny's character (Sonny the actor has a charisma which can be as warm as it can be fearsome), he befriends the homeless orphan kids and joins their gang in a paternal way, tries to bring the sister and brother back together and then cares for the sister who has advanced pneumonia and needs penicillin. However that is in short supply and expensive in post war Japan. (Things are looking up then.)

So Sonny goes to the Yakuza and obtains forgiveness, agreeing to throw fights in return for enough money to get the penicillin, in order to save the girl. (Yay Sonny!) But, being Sonny, he can't help himself, wins the fight instead and goes on the run. The Yakuza torture and kill the girl trying to find him, then torture the boy and do find him, then one of Sonny's pals dies during the resulting mayhem, after which Sonny finds out about how the girl died and vows to exact empty revenge. (But does he ever recognise that her death etc. Is all his own selfish fault?)

Sonny buries the girl, in sand on the top of a large rocky outcrop at a beach she told him about ,and then he and his remaining friend attack the villain's lair for the climactic battle royal, which includes the return of the one eyed Sensei from the first act, after his own revenge, and a confrontation in a "hall of mirrors" scene, lifted from "Enter The Dragon".

A fitting screen farewell to an always ambiguous martial arts legend

NB IMO the classic Sonny Chiba period covers Streetfighter 1, 2, 3, The Executioner 1 (1974), Killing Machine, Champion of Death, Karate Bear Fighter (1975), Karate Warriors (1976), Karate For Life (1977) and perhaps The Bodyguard TV series (1974)

Karate for Life (Karate Baka Ichidai which means A Karate Crazy Life) is the third and final movie in Sonny Chiba and director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi's series of movies about Kyokushin Karate master Mas Oyama. They're based on the Karate Baka Ichidai manga that was drawn by Jiro Tsunoda and Joya Kagemaru and written by Ikki Kajiwara. That comic book and the anime led to a karate boom in Japan and the artwork inspired the Street Fighter series and definitely is why you fight a bull in Karate Champ.

Chiba plays Oyama in all three movies and he has the belief that his martial arts is better than what he calls "dance" kung fu. There are some wild ways the movies prove this, as Chiba battles a bull in Kenka Karate Kyokushinken, which means Fighting Karate Kyokushin Fist. It was released in English speaking countries as Champion of Death and Karate Bullfighter. Not to be outdone, the sequel - Kenka Karate Kyokushin Burai Ken which means Fighting Karate-Brutal Ultimate Truth Fist - has Oyama literally battle a bear. Or a man in a bear costume, but what did you expect? That's why it's called Karate Bearfighter here.

Chiba actually studied for several years under Oyama - who has a cameo in the second movie - and achieved the rank of 4th Dan in the style. You can see his love for his master and the art in this movie, which mythologizes the abilities of Kyokushin Karate to somehow even more superhuman levels than the first two movies, minus the animal versus human battles.

This film is bookended by Oyama battling a karate school that he believes is inferior. He enters the school at the start of the film and battles nearly a hundred of their students, decimating them, before they cover the floor with oil to ruin his balance. It barely matters as he destroys even more of them and then plucks the eye out of the sensei, who follows him for the entire movie, waiting to attack, before Oyama fights him in a hall of mirrors as if this were a Japanese by way of Korean hero Enter the Dragon and climaxes with Oyama launching that man off a cliff.

In between, looking to make money to help street children, Oyama becomes involved with pro wrestling, which is used to entertain U. S. troops occupying post-war Japan. Despite giving up plenty of size, Oyama again obliterates everyone he faces and refuses to throw matches for the Yakuza organized crime figures that run it all. However, after he saves the life of a prostitute named Reiko (Yoko Natsuki) who is planning to kill herself after being assaulted by soldiers. Needing money to save a friend after they become sick, he finds himself coming back to wrestling but now he's in death matches - ala the Tiger Mask manga and anime - that are real battles to one person being killed. Of course, as you expect, he absolutely crushes everyone.

There's a lot to love here, from a hero that says, "Justice without power is nothing. Power without justice is just violence" which is kind of like Chiba renaming himself JJ Sonny Chiba and the JJ was for Japan Justice to pro wrestling scenes that have the names of each hold dynamically appearing on screen as if they were Shaw Brothers secret techniques, I was on the edge of my seat throughout.

Speaking of pro wrestling, this has Mr. Chin in the cast. According to a biography I found online, Mr. Chin was born Yuichi Deguchi and was a judo style martial artist who started his working life in the Hyogo prefecture's riot police unit before becoming part of the "Pro Judo" International Judo Association that was founded by Tatsukuma Ushijima as a way for judo fighters to make money putting on bouts and touring before the rise of Rikidozan's JWA.

After that, Deguchi joined the All Japan Pro Wrestling Association, an Osaka-based promotion that was the first to air pro wrestling on Japanese television. Mostly American soldiers were used as heels other than a man named P. Y. Chong, AKA Harold Watanabe, AKA Memphis legend Tojo Yamamoto (which makes sense to me finally as to how Phil Hickerson got his Asian name latter in his career, Py Chu Hi).

After being part of JWA's interpromotional Japan Championship Series in October of 1956, Deguchi joined Osaka locals Michiaki "Fireball Kid" Yoshimura, future famous All Japan Pro Wrestling referee Kanji "Joe" Higuchi and Hideyuki Nagasawa in joining the JWA. He became Mr. Chin and dressed in Chinese clothes and became one of the first wrestlers to use the poison mist as well as being one of the first native heels.

Chin feuded with Giant Baba, who took him out of wrestling for two months with one of his big boot kicks. After time in the hospital and encouragement from the nurse who would become his wife, Mr. Chin returned and in one match bit Baba in the chest, giving him a scar that he would carry throughout his career.

After stomach issues, Deguchi did some acting and came back in 1970 for IWE. He traveled to the U. S. for several years on an excursion, reforming his team with Yamamoto and using the name Mr. Kamikaze. He returned in 1976 as a gaijin heel by the name of Mr. Yoto and would later become part of the Independent Gurentai Army with Goro Tsurumi and Katzuso Ooiyama as their managing, taking back his Mr. Chin name. Just before IWE went out of business, he would lose to Hiromichi "Samson" Fuyuki by DQ on the final show at a playground.

As for the IWA, when they went out of business, Masao Inoue, Ashura Hara, Tsurumi and Fuyuki would join AJPW and their biggest star Rusher Kimura would take Isamu Teranishi and Animal Hamaguchi with him to New Japan Pro Wrestling for the first invasion angle in Japanese wrestling history, one that would later inspire the battles with UWFI and the NWO. Meanwhile, IWE founder Isao Yoshihara would become one of NJPW's bookers. As for Goro Tsurumi, he would run a local indy by the name of IWA Kakuto Shijuku, in which he was the only star and battle masked locals and other indy journeymen like Shoji Nakamaki and Yukihide Ueno.

But what about Mr. Chin? After IWE went out of business, he worked all over the world - even the Middle East - he would eventually debut for Frontier Martial Arts Pro Wrestling at the age of sixty in 1993. He was a comedy match character who would open shows, often wrestling young trainees like future ECW star Masato Tanaka. He also feuded with GOSAKU (who I once wrestled in WMF when he used the name Biomonster DNA) who was using the gimmick name of Undertaker Gosaku and Mr. Chin was Jinsei Chinzaki, taking off from Jinsei "Hakushi" Shinzaki. Sadly, Yuichi Deguchi died of chornic renal failure - after a life dealing with diabetes - in 1995.

Speaking of Japanese actors who would be famous and yet unknown to American audiences, Toshiyuki Tsuchiyama is in this. He's better known for the mecha suit he wore as Johnny Sokko.

There was a two-part remake of this film, Shin Karate Baka Ichidai: Kakutosha, directed by Takeshi Miyasaka and released in 2003 and 2004. The second film has pro wrestlers Keiji Mutoh, Masakatsu Funaki and kickboxer and former K-1 referee Nobuaki Kakuda in it.