Dragon Princess/Karate Warrior

I have been looking forever for a widescreen print of Dragon Princess, and I finally found it! I will talk about the movies below, but first I want to talk about the grindhouse experience this disc offers. Before the double feature starts 2 original Sonny Chiba trailers are shown. After the first movie ends, 2 more trailers are shown right before the second movie begins.

DRAGON PRINCESS-

After Sonny Chiba's daughter witnesses him get beat up in a spectacular fight at the start of the movie, Sonny Chiba trains his daughter (Etsuko Shihomi) to be a karate killing machine. Sonny Chiba's role is basically only a cameo since he dies 20 minutes into the movie. So now his daughter goes to take revenge. She teams up with kung fu movie legend Yusuaki Kurata to take down the killers.

The action is fantastic. Sonny Chiba's fight at the start of the movie is the best fight in the movie, and the other fights are good. Etsuko Shihomi was one of very best Asian martial arts actresses and she reallY gets to show off. Yusuaki Kurata's kicking skills are up there with anybody and he is a very welcome addition to the cast.

Rating- 4/5

The picture quality is very good and looks 100 times better than my 3 previous super full frame versions. And the English dub is remastered to perfection.

KARATE WARRIORS-

Similiar to Streetfighter, Sonny Chiba plays a mercenary killer. There are 2 gangs at war and both are trying to get a big stash of heroin. There is a samurai working for one of the gangs and Chiba knows he will have to fight him one day because they are both after the heroin. The samurai has a son and Chiba and the boy get along very well. Like most Chiba movies, this is very dark and bloody, and the story is a actually told a lot better than most Chiba movies.

The action is awesome and never lets up. They use a really cool camera technique when Chiba kicks soembody. I was glued to the screen from beginning to end.

4.5/5

Picture and sound quality are very good.

The BCI/Eclipse release of Karate Warriors is available at your local Family Dollar Store (for $1.00 +tax). But buyer beware! The video and audio transfer on this release is very, very poor: a fuzzy picture and a nearly inaudible soundtrack.

The (all-too familiar) plot traces the mercenary Chiba pitting two rival gangs against one another. In the process he befriends a young boy whose father is an apt Samurai. Chiba's and the Samurai's paths eventually collide.

Admittedly, there is some fine karate entertainment here. Also, Sonny shows a very believably gentle side to his character in his relation to the young boy. In fact, next to the first two Streetfighter episodes, this is probably my (third) favorite Sonny Chiba film.

Too bad the DVD transfer is so pitiful--bordering on the intolerable, otherwise I would easily have given the film 4 stars.

A KUNG-FU FIGHTER [SONNY CHIBA] BECOMES CAUGHT UP IN A GANG BETWEEN TWO GANGS. THE FIGHT SCENES ARE MOSTLY BORING UNTIL THE MIDDLE OF THE FILM AND THE STORY IS EXTREMELY WEAK. BUT HOPEFULLY, THINGS TEND TO GET A LITTLE BETTER IN THE SECOND HALF. AT LEAST THE MOVIE DOES END ON A GOOD NOTE. THIS IS NOT ONE OF SONNY CHIBA'S BEST MOVIES, BUT IF YOU'RE A DIE-HARD MARTIAL ARTS FAN, YOU'LL PROBABLY LIKE THIS MOVIE.