Reel Bad Cinema: Soul of Chiba (1977) review

SOUL OF CHIBA 1977 GEKISATSU! JARO KEN (VIOLENT DEATH! WAY OF THE EVIL FIST) aka SOUL OF BRUCE LEE

Sonny Chiba (The Man With No Name), Yasuyoshi Shikamura (Someone/Sam Wan?), Tadashi Yamashita (Sho Kam), That Uncredited Guy (Tai Kam), Etsuko Shihomi (Lee Fa), Bolo Yueng (Ni Pol), Liu Ya Ying (That Diamond lovin' Lady), Fang Yuan (Jen Sheng Kam)

Directed by Yukio Noda (a Chan Tung Man is given sole directorial credit here)

"I cooked supper! It's a lovely dish...it's a grilled parrot!"

The Short Version: You'd probably never expect to hear Abbott & Costello and Sonny Chiba in the same sentence, but this movie is a grab bag of snickers derived from what could be described as some long lost routine for the "Who's On First?" comedy duo. Chiba plays a drug addicted kung fu man on a mission to find "Someone", the murderer of his master. Bronson Lee, himself is an undercover cop who features in the films other plotline. Overall it's an absolute bonkers movie that features Chiba doing an Electric Jig in spandex and a fishnet top and bottom, battling spiritual boxers possessed by monkey's and battling the most grossly underfunded drug cartel lorded over by a balding Thai guy who loves to laugh...a lot. If you ever wanted to see Chiba do a HK style kung fu'er, this is it, unfortunately.


A kung fu student wanders Thailand in search of his master's killer who was murdered by one of his pupils. The determined and now drug addicted warrior aligns himself with an undercover narcotics agent (how's that for irony!) to uncover the truth behind the kung fu instructors death which has ties to a Thai drug cartel.


More welcome, if blatant bootleggery from the folks at Rarescope and BCI comes this fruit loop miasma of martial malcontentment allegedly produced by both Sonny Chiba and Tadashi Yamashita. If the thought of a Japanese-Hong Kong co-production set in Thailand wasn't insane enough, we get a VHS print with Italian credits and a German onscreen title. The Japanese version on the DVD, while subtitled, is missing the damn Japanese credits! Instead we get the ENGLISH CREDITS and ENGLISH DIALOG inserted into the movie! This is truly an international production, in every way. SOUL OF BRUCE LEE, or whatever the hell you want to call it, is quite simply the single most playfully demented Sonny Chiba movie ever made and that's saying something considering his name and the word crazy often share a symbiotic relationship.

If only the Cobra Kai had seen this movie, THE KARATE KID (1984) might have had a different ending.

The plot is typical student avenges the death of his master spiel, only this time, there's a major sting at the end that both makes absolutely no sense and flies in the face of about a couple thousand other kung fu flicks that had erupted before and since. The morality and irony of the final scenes are about the only truly capital moments in this hopelessly below average fist and kick fest. The finish also manages to seriously cripple the mood by showing Chiba having suddenly sprouted a mustache in a matter of seconds before his face returns to a clean, smooth surface again. While the credits are little help, it's safe to assume there was no continuity person on the set.

Now THIS is how you take over a drug syndicate--with ease. The Corleone's and Tony Montana's of the world could learn a lot from this guy.

In between the Chiba storyline, there's this other plot about an undercover cop working for a sleazy drug trafficker who laughs more than the average Asian villain in these movies. An aspiring villain-to-be named Tai Kam arrives post credits and in a matter of seconds, takes over the "organ-eye-zation". It's never made clear if Tai Kam is a real bad guy or not, but we do learn he's Sho Kam's (Yamashita) missing brother. He's not in the movie long enough to care aside from wondering why in the hell he's there in the first place. Making both the Chiba and Yamashita characters long lost brothers makes more sense than introducing someone (no, not THAT Someone, but someone else) then discarding them some fifteen minutes later. But then nothing makes sense in this movie. The script has far too many characters with far too many backstory's for the filmmakers to juggle between kung fu fights. Amidst all the insanity, there's actually some good things in the script which would have made a better mini series than movie.

WORDS OF WISDOM FROM THE SOUL OF CHIBA

Master Jen Kam: "When a man concentrates his life force, his body becomes a machine of incredible power!"

Sonny Chiba: "But how do I become like that?"

Master Kam: "By thinking of nothing. Because nothing will become of nothing!"


Sonny Chiba may have smoked the dope as an undercover cop in YAKUZA DEKA (1970), but here, he's addicted to some sort of "secret potion" he takes when he gets the shakes. You could also say that everyone involved in this movie was smoking something during the shoot. Outside of the kinetic and brutal fight sequences, it's apparent the crew was clueless as to how to tell this story. It's not surprising considering Yukio Noda is often tagged with directing this mess even though the only director credited is a Chan Tung Man. Incidentally, Noda and Chiba teamed up again the same year to produce the more focused GOLGO 13: KOWLOON ASSIGNMENT. Going back to Chiba's onscreen drug problem, it's not revealed what the drug is he's addicted to, just only that the undisclosed years of tracking his master's murderer has turned him into a drug addict who does his health no favors by hooking himself up to a machine that sends high voltage through his body. Adding to the chaos of the production, Chiba's character isn't even given a name.

I wonder if MACGYVER ever thought of this?

Speaking of names, the dubbed version is a wealth of comedy in that it features a running gag that inadvertently emulates the famous Abbott & Costello "Who's On First?" routine. Former Shaw Brothers bit player and choreographer, Yasuyoshi Shikamura--aside from being one of the least imposing lead villains in martial arts cinema--plays this guy named Someone.--Of course he does, who is he? Someone. I know that, but who does he play? He plays Someone. Sonny Chiba is looking for him. Looking for who? He's looking for Someone. I know that, but who is the guy he's looking for? That guy, Someone.--This leads to a number of hilarious lines of dialog such as when Chiba asks his dying master who stabbed him and his teacher says, "...It was...someone..." Some of the other great lines are listed below...

Chiba: "Do any of you know this man? His name is Someone."

Chiba: "Someone! I'm gonna kill you!"

Chiba: "I can't win! I'm never gonna beat Someone!"

Chiba: "Tell me quickly! Where is Someone?!"

I suppose it's possible the guy's name could be "Sam Wan", but the dubbing sounds like "Someone".--Who does it sound like? Someone, the guy in the movie. You don't know his name? Yeah, someone. So you don't know his name? Yeah, someone. Who?!?!? Someone, the guy in the movie.--See where this is going? Even funnier, on the Japanese track everybody says it like, "Samu-one". Whatever the case, I thank the scriptwriter (if they even had one) for concocting such a kooky name for Sonny Chiba's nemesis.

For all the female Asian action fans out there, if you were ever curious about Chiba's stash...

But seriously, this is one of Chiba's least impressive performances despite the unusual character traits and the impressive fight sequences. If not for the frequent action, this movie would have little outside of the hilarious dubbing to make it mildly watchable. The term 'Chopsocky' offends me especially when it's applied to good martial arts films. But there's a clutch of films that personify that terminology and this is one of them. Reportedly Sonny Chiba and Bruce Lee had been in discussion to do a film together earlier in the decade, but the 'Little Dragons' death in 1973 ended that dream project. Whether that proposed project would have looked anything like this is debatable, yet a modicum of the spirit of Lee hovers over this movie especially when Chiba is seen training with a Shock Therapy device while wearing his fishnet top from THE EXECUTIONER (1974) and spandex shorts, his buttocks covered by a pair of fishnet breeches of all things.

"There's no more time for talk. Let's just say I don't want you to die. I fear for you...I'm worried about you..."--Tadashi Yamashita reveals some man-love in SOUL OF CHIBA.

Tadashi Yamashita (SHINOBI, SWORD OF HEAVEN, BRONSON LEE CHAMPION, AMERICAN NINJA) embarrasses himself when he's not kicking ass onscreen. Thankfully, he does a lot more of the latter than the former. If nothing else, it's refreshing to see two iconic martial arts stars sharing the screen together as well as being protagonists. It allows them both ample opportunities to show off their skills in a string of kung fu/karate fights--the one area where the film never missteps. Yamashita had his own KARATE trilogy the first of which was released in the US in an edited form under the wonderfully titled BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION (1974) directed by none other than that Nipponese madcap Yukio Noda. Yamashita is still one of the most highly respected martial artists on the planet owning dojo's all over the world as well as being President of both a Karate and Kobudo Association in Japan and America.

Bolo's character had his tongue cut out, but miraculously it's grown back

Bolo left his 'No Look' style back in Hong Kong and unlike his hometown movies, he gets a nicely vicious fight sequence here.

Bolo Yeung--who does about as much as he did in ENTER THE DRAGON--plays this character whom the dubber pronounces Ni Pol (Nepal?). In a flashback we learn that Bolo had been captured by Laughing Drug Ring Guy (no name is given to him, either) who commands his tongue be cut out. By the end, his tongue must have grown back as Bolo sticks it out a few times during his ferocious fight with Yamashita. Oddly, Bolo's "No Look Style" is not seen here at all. I waited breathlessly for a shot of Bolo blocking and attacking while simultaneously turning his head away from the action, but it was never to be.


Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi is as fiesty and beautiful as ever in a role that's all in a flashback where she plays a Thai girl that nurses Chiba back to health after he's quickly trounced by Someone.--Who is it that beats up Chiba? The guy in the movie. Yeah, who is it, what's his name? Someone, the main villain. Well who does Chiba play? I don't know, he plays somebody.--Shihomi's moves in her couple of moments to shine (sparring with Chiba in one and battling the Thai version of the Village People in the other) are as impressive as the main stars. It's a shame she doesn't get a better fight with the scrawny lead villain whose name shall go unmentioned from here on out.


The Thailand locales are attractive and add some production value to this wacky movie and one or two stunt shots are impressive including one where a guy leaps from one hotel level to the next. Laughing Drug Ring Guy's gang is the most impoverished bunch this side of The Orphans, the lower level street gang seen in the uber classic THE WARRIORS (1979). For a drug syndicate, the mob that attacks our heroes at the end seem financially burdened as only about three guys have a gun, a few more carry a knife or sword while the bulk of the jeans and T shirt bunch get nothing.



The music (whomever the composer happened to be) is really good even though outside of some whistling, the same theme is heard over and over. The main theme heard during the beginning when Chiba embarks on his quest drinking and drugging his way across Thailand captures a mood that the rest of the movie fails to capitalize on. Japanese action movies can generally always be counted on to create some great cues with their unmistakable marriage of a horn section with an Ella Dell'Orso imitator. While I would surely label this as the worst Sonny Chiba movie ever (even though the man still has a slew of work that remains unreleased on DVD), it's not without some (de)merits as utterly ridiculous and unintentionally goofy as they may be. The entertainment world can only be a better place with more Chiba in the marketplace.

This review is representative of the Rarescope/BCI DVD

The Bodyguard (1973) review

THE BODYGUARD 1973 aka BODYGUARD KIBA

Sonny Chiba (Sonny Chiba/Kiba), Eiji Go (Toro), Mari Atsumi, Ryohei Uchida (Takami), Tsunehiko Watase (Yakuza thug with axe), Yayoi Watanabe (Maki)

Directed by Tatsuichi Takamori

"Whadaya know, the Karate fighter from TV!"

The Short Version: Yet another Sonny Chiba movie that's based on a popular Japanese comic book and one of the superstars least popular movies. Despite its faults, THE BODYGUARD ([1973] released here in 1976) is one of the most important martial arts film imports and in its original Japanese release, precipitates the violent fury unleashed the following year in the actors seminal THE STREETFIGHTER. While it possesses some choice, if goofy exploitational vibrancy and being thematically important for a few reasons, its languid pace keeps it from attaining semi classic status and makes one pine for the release of the Japanese original.

***WARNING! This review contains images of nudity***

All movie stars should hold press conferences announcing they are becoming crime fighters.

Movie star, Sonny Chiba--upon returning to Tokyo after a stay in New York--holds a major press conference announcing his campaign to wage a one man war against drug dealers and the mob in an effort to clean up the streets of Japan. He hires himself out as a personal bodyguard to anyone in need of protection. A mysterious woman, the Japanese mistress for the now dead Italian gangster Salvattore Rocco, has been targeted by the both the Cosa Nostro and the Yakuza. She asks for the bodyguard's aid and through several dangerous altercations, Chiba realizes this woman is hiding pertinent information and may or may not be all that she appears to be.


BODYGUARD KIBA is one of many Sonny Chiba movies that was based on a popular manga or anime, this one adapted from the comic of the same name from creator, Ikki Kajiwara. While this recut American version is dubbed in such a way to disassociate itself with its comic source, it also has a jaw droppingly hilarious opening sequence shot specifically for the US market. This opening is worth checking the film out all on its own, even if the film in its entirety isn't the best picture to feature Chiba, an impressive actor with a magnetic demeanor. Taken into context, both versions (the Japanese original is not available on DVD) are vitally important for different reasons.

The COKE BOTTLE CONNECTION

Martial arts movies will never attain the near god-like status they acquired during the 1970s following the huge box office takings of FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH (1972), a retitling of the Shaw production, KING BOXER. The big screen emergence of Bruce Lee cemented martial dominance throughout the remainder of the decade till big budget fantasy and special effects pushed kung fu (along with the western) out of the picture and onto television. To understand the popularity of a movie like THE BODYGUARD (especially considering its mostly a mediocre affair) is to understand just how much martial arts in general had permeated the American lexicon at that time. Kung Fu and Karate paraphernalia was everywhere. There were magazines about the arts and other periodicals often contained several ads for various styles both "lethal" and dubious. Schools were cropping up left, right and center and guys like Sonny Chiba and the Five Venoms were quickly becoming iconic among the ever growing American Kung Fu cognoscenti.

Notice the picture hanging in the background of Chiba's real life master, Masutatsu Oyama, the possessor of...the God Hand!!!!

The US dubbed version--released in 1976 through the legendary trash peddlers at Aquarius Releasing lorded over by his morbid majesty Terry Levene--is an important footnote in the annals of (imported) American exploitation cinema. Arguably the most famous bit of notoriety among fan circles is the biblical excerpt that scrolls up the screen at the beginning. This passage is also famously heard from Samuel L. Jackson in PULP FICTION (1994). The difference in THE BODYGUARD is that the words have been sacrilegiously and emphatically altered to give the impression of Chiba as god! This then leads us to the bizarre opening where we see karate schools practicing in the woods while the hypnotic utterance of "Viiiiva, Chiiiiba!" mesmerizes the viewer into believing that the Cheebster rules all and knows all. This opening also retains shots of Chiba's master, Masutatsu Oyama and his students practicing in the woods.


From here, we're whisked away to New York City onto the fabled 42nd Street when it represented a true and bonafide concrete jungle complete with every pleasure and pain imaginable. We follow the POV of the camera down the busy streets ogling the various peepshow stalls and porn shops until we come across a Karate Academy to which we follow the camera inside where hilarity awaits. We meet two famous components of American martial arts--Chinese American Goju Ryu Karate founder Bill Louie and Grandmaster Aaron Banks. Both enter into a conversation about who was better, Bruce Lee or Sonny Chiba. This starts off with the great line, "Pretty good...but that's not the way Sonny Chiba did it."

"Can Sonny Chiba do something like that?"--Bill Louie asks after cutting loose with his nunchucks. Apparently he never saw THE EXECUTIONER (1974).

Both show off their skills--Bill doing a Bruce shtick that rivals Evan Kim's spiel from the 'A Fistful Of Yen' segment in THE KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE (1977); only that one was intentionally funny. Banks does his best impression of the Chiba Nut-Ripper style showcased in THE STREETFIGHTER (1974). Incidentally, some in camera edits in the film are noticeable to give the impression of speed. The funniest moment occurs when Banks attempts to flip an overweight karate student. The annoyance of this sort of camera trick would permeate Chinese kung fu movies on the indy front around this time. After watching Banks's display, Bill states, "Yeah, but Bruce had more speed...and science", and follows that up with "By the way, where is Sonny Chiba?" From there the actual movie begins.

Yayoi Watanabe was no stranger to Nippon exploitation having appeared in CONVENT OF THE HOLY BEAST (1974) and the 70s FEMALE CONVICT SCORPION series.

Religious imagery is rife throughout (it also turned up in Chiba's DRAGON PRINCESS in 1976) and is made all the more bizarre in the US cut especially in light of the biblical passage that begins the film and also the monotonous, monk-like tonality of "Viiiva, Chiiiba!" In the Japanese portion of the movie, Christian symbolism reaches a blasphemous level when Chiba's busty karate trained sister, Maki, is attacked by mob killers. When Chiba finds her, her naked form is transfixed Christ-like in the shadow of a cross with the words 'Cosa Nostra' written in blood on her arm! The mob--as depicted in this wacky movie--aren't your GODFATHER's mafia; they're a mafiosi that you could only get away with in an Asian movie.


In the opening moments, we see Salvatore Rocco and his family massacred outside a church in New York at the hands of the Cosa Nostra--only these machine gun toting assassins are Japanese! How or when the Italian mafia began allowing Japanese members into their circle is anyone's guess. In some alternate universe where a popular movie star can moonlight as a crime fighter I suppose there's room for Japanese mafiosi, too. Incidentally the dub refers to them as the " Seven Killers of the Yellow Mafia". Amazingly, there's also Japanese strippers with Afro's!

"Say your prayers, fat man!"--Sonny Chiba takes on gun wielding mafia terrorists aboard a plane.

After Chiba announces his plan to eradicate the mob and their insidious operations, he's now a prime target. They even hijack a plane to get to him even though they're no more a match for Our Man Chiba at 30,000 feet than they would be chasing him around the streets of Japan. Another great scene has these "seven yellow killers" hiding inside some hotel furniture in the room of the woman Chiba's protecting. How they got in there is anyone's guess, but when Chiba attempts to get inside, the gangsters apparently mistake him for a midget as they shoot feverishly at the door nearest the door knob of all places. Lives and limbs are lost before the dwindling array of "yellow killers" make their escape.


The violence is occasionally strong and bloody and there's a heavy dose of nudity and sex that made this sort of thing a lucrative prospect for the overseas market of the day. No doubt BODYGUARD KIBA (1973) was picked by Levene for its strange plot devices, its high exploitation value and general weirdness. Granted, the word bizarre and Sonny Chiba frequently go hand in hand at least in the man's most famous works stateside. BODYGUARD KIBA is subtly reminiscent of THE STREETFIGHTER (1974) even though the action isn't as prominent nor as splatastic. The camerawork is typical of Japanese sleaze pictures of the time--it's often hand held, but looks to have been the work of a cinematographer suffering from ADD. And DP Yoshio Nakajima's manic approach is also stamped all over some of the actors more distinguished works such as THE KILLING MACHINE (1975) and the Oyama trilogy all directed by frequent JAC collaborator Kazuhiko Yamaguchi. The score by Toshiaki Tsushima resonates an Italian western vibe in many of its cues.


In Japan, THE BODYGUARD was released a year before Chiba's iconic portrayal of Takuma Tsurugi in THE STREETFIGHTER, but his role--playing himself in the US release and Kiba in the Japanese version--shows a penchant for the sort of eye-opening (and eye gouging) brutality that would become a staple of Chiba's most popular character. Chiba administers a compound fracture to a nipponese assassin (before his arm is torn away), breaks bones and gouges out another enemy's eyes. There's also some impressive stunt work including Chiba somersaulting over enemies and one amazing bit where his character leaps over a speeding car sliding across the hood narrowly avoiding becoming one with the pavement.

From left: Yayoi Watanabe, Mari Atsumi, Sonny Chiba

Strangely enough, the films title and its plot are uncannily similar to the Kevin Costner hit, THE BODYGUARD from 1992. Did Costner or someone affiliated with the script see Chiba's vastly sleazier version during its theatrical run? It's possible and made a bit more quizzical considering Costner was at one time rumored to be attached to the aborted remake of Daiei's DAIMAJIN (1966) movie. It should also be noted that various online sources cite Etsuko Shihomi among the cast of Chiba's BODYGUARD. She is nowhere to be found in this picture (at least I never spotted her if she's in there somewhere) and her name isn't mentioned on the nearly barren American credit sequence. Said credits also state "introducing Judy Lee". Whoever Judy Lee is supposed to be in THE BODYGUARD (1973), it isn't popular indy kung fu starlet, Chia Ling aka Ka Ling aka Judy Lee who starred in the popular QUEEN BOXER from 1972. Additionally, Takashi Miike helmed two direct to video BODYGUARD KIBA movies in the 1990s. So even though the film isn't a high point in the long and frenetically paced career of Sonny Chiba, it's at least unique for various reasons.

Sonny Chiba (left) and frequent co-star/support player and perennial slimy villain, Eiji Go at right.

There are a lot worse Sonny Chiba movies, but few are as fascinating, or often overlooked as much as THE BODYGUARD is. It's occasionally a banal, badly paced affair and the photography sloppily captures the action much of the time, but the sheer audacity in reveling in the mud of insanity is the one saving grace that makes this goofy endeavor worth watching at least once. Its status within the heritage of imported 70s trash filmmaking will be its most notorious gift to fans of exploitation movies far more than anything else in the film. And that's not counting the loyal disciples that worship at the temple of Tarantino.

This review is representative of the BCI DVD