Sanada is a black belt in Kyokushin Karate and a protégé of Chiba. Chiba was the fight choreographer for Roaring Fire and also appears in the film as Mr. Magic, a cheesy stage magician who turns out to be an undercover Karate expert. Another Chiba protégé and Karateka, Etsuko Shihomi, plays the blind master. Both Sanada’s and Shihomi’s fight scenes are good. Sanada was quite the kicker in his day and manages some long single shot takes that are clearly him fighting and doing stunts.
Sanada’s character is an awkward Jackie Chan knockoff, however, complete with the long hair, wide collar with plunging neckline, and hip vest. There are moments that border on humor, like when he’s being accused of being a pervert by a harem of bikini clad gals because his monkey stole a bikini top (the slow-mo of the bikini-less gal running towards the camera is an attention grabber early in the film). While Sanada might be a revelation to Western audiences now, Roaring Fire is a reminder that he’s paid his dues with over a hundred roles going back to the mid-1960s, and some, like any martial star, were pretty cheesy.
Black Belt Jones (1974)
The epitome of Blaxploitation, Black Belt Jones is the bastard child of Enter the Dragon (1973) and Live and Let Die (1973). Jones is played by Jim Kelly (1946-2013), who was Williams in Enter the Dragon, and a highly decorated Karate champion in real life. The film was directed by Robert Clouse, whose previous directorial effort was Enter the Dragon, and whose next film was Golden Needles (1974), also starring Kelly. Black Belt Jones liberally lifts from Enter the Dragon with Kelly’s Bruce Lee-esque fighting vocalizations, the whipcrack striking sounds and some choreographic techniques like the overuse of back fists.
The other standout actor is Gloria Hendry, a student of Shorinryu Karate and many other martial arts. A groundbreaking actress and stuntwoman, Hendry also played Rosie Carver, the first Black Bond girl to kiss James in Live and Let Die. Earl Jolly Brown is also in the film playing another henchman, like when he was Whisper in Live and Let Die. And just for laughs, Scatman Crothers plays the character he always does, who is completely unconvincing as a Karate master.
Black Belt Jones is packed with N words and set to a funky groovy soundtrack. Kelly can’t keep his shirt on, but with his chiseled physique, can you blame him? He moves well, and both he and Hendry exhibit solid Karate foundations. They each manage some impressive long fight takes. The film would’ve been so much better if it was written as a prequel to Enter the Dragon. Kelly’s Jones is essentially the same cat as Williams, right down his hip ‘70s attire. Kelly reprised Jones for Hot Potato (1976).
Karate Bullfighter (1975)
Everyone cites The Street Fighter as Chiba’s main film, but this was his masterpiece. Also known as Champion of Death, the film is based on a manga, Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which was inspired by the life of Chiba’s master, Mas Oyama.
Chiba really shows his Kyokushin Karate mastery here. Oyama is portrayed as another reprehensible character with a psychotic quest to be the best Karate man in Japan. He rapes an innocent woman, Chiako (Yumi Takigawa), who becomes his love interest later. It’s a complicated tale of many acts, and beyond his exemplary fight scenes, Chiba gives a decent emotional performance, albeit a heavy-handed one. And not to spoil it, but Oyama does kill his first bull.
Karate Bullfighter is the first installment of Chiba’s Oyama Trilogy, all based on that manga. In Karate Bear Fighter (1975), Oyama continues his campaign to kick Karate ass as Chiako pines for him. His dueling quest and unrequited lover echo themes from Toshiro Mifune’s Samurai trilogy (1954-1956) about Miyamoto Musashi. And again, not to spoil it, Oyama fights a bear. It’s a dude in a bear suit which totally fails to be convincing. However, during the opening credits, the real Mas Oyama appears in a cameo, demonstrating his Kyokushin Karate.
