Starting out as a spinoff from Sonny Chiba’s The Street Fighter (the first film to be rated X in the USA due to its violent content, fact fans), 1974’s Sister Street Fighter bucked the trend for male heroes in martial arts movies by featuring a lady in the leading role. It might have been a bold move at the time, but the gamble paid off, with the film being so well received that two sequels were released the very next year, and a further instalment (which itself was a spinoff of the spinoff) following in 1976. The fine folks at Arrow Video have brought all four films together, transferred them to HD, whipped up a bunch of exclusive extras, and released the lot in this rather smashing box set.
The first three films share so many similarities that we might as well cover them all in one go. In each film, Etsuko Shiomi plays Li Koryu, a young lady whose friends, family members and close acquaintances seem to be incredibly prone to getting kidnapped. Of course, it’s up to Li to save them, by taking out mobs of gangsters in whatever ridiculously over the top (for the time) fashion she can. The final film is a slight departure from the others, being a bit more wordy with extra focus on the story side of things. There’s still plenty of action, but it’s not quite as fun as the others.
Shiomi is fantastic – undeniably pretty, but stoic enough to project an air of “don’t mess with me”, you genuinely believe she’s absolutely tough as nails. The story mostly takes a back seat to the action (in the first three films, at least) – it’s rare that 5 or 6 minutes go by without someone at the very least getting thrown through a window or kicked in the face. Many fight scenes include plenty of visual gags and slapstick prat-falls, and there are some surprisingly nasty bits too – the man with the broken neck who tries to walk down some stairs before he dies is especially haunting. Ropey special effects and visible wires during mid-air rumbles are all part of the appeal with films like this, and SSF really revels in its silliness, coming across like an adults-only comic book brought to life.
It’s difficult not to immediately notice that some of the audio is very peaky, with lots of hiss on some of the “s’s”, but it gets less noticeable as the set wears on. No issues on the video front though, with everything looking remarkably sharp and clear, considering the footage is more than 40 years old. The set includes a few exclusive 10-minute interviews with Sonny Chiba and SSF‘s director and screenwriter, which are all worth a watch and will likely give you a few ideas for things to watch next. We also get a dubbed R-rated version of SSF, included “for posterity”. A cracking set, well worth your time if you’re in the mood for some daft martial arts madness.
Special features:
High Definition digital transfers of all four films, High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations, Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio, Original English dubbed audio for Sister Street Fighter, New optional English subtitle translation for all four films, English SDH subtitles for the English dub for Sister Street Fighter, New video interviews with actor Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, and screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda, Original Japanese theatrical trailers for all four films, Original U.S. theatrical trailer for Sister Street Fighter, plus original English opening titles to the film, Original German theatrical trailer for Sister Street Fighter, plus original German opening titles to the film, Stills and poster gallery, Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Kungfubob O’Brien, FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated booklet featuring writing on the series by Patrick Macias and a new essay on the U.S. release of Toei’s karate films by Chris Poggiali
SISTER STREET FIGHTER COLLECTION / CERT: 18 / DIRECTOR: KAZUHIKO YAMAGUCHI, SHIGEHIRO OZAWA / SCREENPLAY: VARIOUS / STARRING: ETSUKO SHIOMI, SONNY CHIBA, ASAO UCHIDA, TAMAYO MITSUKAWA, AKANE KAWASAKI / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
