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+---- Thread: Sonny China’s Oyama trilogy (/showthread.php?tid=8298)
Sonny China’s Oyama trilogy - Drunk Monk - 02-07-2025
Karate Bullfighter (1975) aka Champion of Death
Like Fighter in the Wind ( http://brotherhoodofdoom.com/doomForum/showthread.php?tid=8294 ) this is based on a manga Karate Baka Ichidai which is based on the life of a Mas Oyama, the founder of Kyokushin Karate who killed over 50 bulls in unarmed combat, 3 of which were slain with a single blow.
Chiba was a direct pupil of Oyama and he really shows off his stuff here. His Karate is sharp and strong. It’s a strangely told story in ? acts. Act 1 Oyama challenges the status quo of Karate calling its tournaments just dance. He wins the national championship but the destroys the trophy in disgust. Then he rapes a virgin English translator who later becomes his life love outside of karate (and she’s down with it). Act 2 Oyama takes on a pupil who goes bonkers and attacks a dojo, gets jailed, breaks out of jail, and then when surrounded by cops, gets shot to death, leaving Oyama to question the meaning of karate. Act 3 Oyama kills a rampaging bull in the street. I didn’t know blood spurted like that when you chop off a bull’s horn. Act 4 Oyama kills a gangster in self defense, but ridden with guilt, he helps the gangster’s widow and son farm. Act 5 Oyama goes back to the dojo that offended him and kicks everyone’s ass. There’s more but I won’t belabor the point.
Despite the rape courtship and the innocent bull killing and the gangster family forgiving Oyama for killing their man right after he finished serving time, it’s a watchable film. Chiba gives a decent emotional performance albeit a heavy handed one. It’s shot well and the sets and costumes are sufficient. Overall it moves along at a steady pace, parsed with some decent karate fights for the 70s.
I’m eager to see the next two installments.
Seen on the Internet Archive https://archive.org
RE: Sonny China’s Oyama trilogy - Drunk Monk - 02-08-2025
Karate Bearfighter (1975)
The second installment loses its way a bit. It opens with scenes of the real Mas Oyama in the front credits. Then it’s back to Oyama challenging dojos and kicking everyone’s ass. He gets kicked out of the karate federation and becomes a henchman for an old Air Force buddy who is now a crime boss. He meets an Oyama impersonator selling body building herbs on the street. After befriended him and his fiancé, the fiancé dies trying to escape a rape and the impersonator does trying to take revenge on the rapist.
Then in act 2, Oyama is taking the couple’s to bury them where they dreamed of relocating and a kid steals it when Oyama is peeing. The kid has an abusive alcoholic father and Oyama scolds them when reclaiming the ashes. The dad has a sudden change of heart and takes a job as a tree cutter but then is injured and need a doctor but they have no money. Oyama agrees to fight a bear for the money.
The bear fight is ridiculous. Unlike the bull fight in the previous movie which used a real bull, the bear is a guy in a bear suit. Jiggly shadowy camerawork attempts to disguise that but it’s the mid 70s and the start of bear suits is unconvincing.
Chiaki - Oyama’s love interest continues to pine for him. It struck me how that relationship is akin to Musashi & Otsu in Mifune’s Samurai Trilogy - a devoted beauty whose loyalty is unrequited as the master can’t be distracted from his quest to be the best. Oyama is doing the same thing, same quest, different style. This feels highly derivative. The difference is Oyama wins over Chiaki by raping her. That’s disturbingly believable, but it plays out like an innocent romance afterward and that doesn’t feel right at all.
There’s a sword fight. Some hired assassins with katanas. Oyama gets a katana from one of his would be killers and swordplay ensues, but it’s not very good. Oyama blocks a cut and then closes in to kick or punch his opponent - that’s how most of the exchanges play out.
Rather disappointed that this film couldn’t sustain the momentum of the first. We shall see if it sticks the landing.
Part 2 isn’t D00M recommended even though it might have more fights. Seen on the Internet Archive.
RE: Sonny China’s Oyama trilogy - Drunk Monk - 02-10-2025
Karate for Life (1977)
The Japanese title is Karate Baka Ichidai which is the title of the book that this trilogy is based on. This installment has the best fights but the sloppiest story. It starts with Oyama challenging a dojo and having to fight all 100 students before getting to the head sensei. The dojo greases the floor with oil and then everyone steps in a kitty litter box (at least that’s what it looks like) to get traction. Oyama slips about for a bit until he figures out that he should walk in the bodies of his fallen victims which was exactly what I would’ve done. Then he makes sandals out of some black belts and pokes the sensei’s eye out. A good opening.
Then it loses its way as Oyama enters the world of big time wrasslin in Okinawa. There’s a lot of US soldiers occupying the area and they are the bad guys. He teams up with a judoka and a Japanese wrestler and they compete against huge dudes and masked dudes. It’s silly and it’s contrary to everything that has been established for the character of Oyama in the previous two films. But Oyama can’t throw bouts and winds up upsetting the gang controlling the fights. So the three split and go on the run.
Then another group of kids steal Oyama’s bag. You’d think he’d learn from the last film. He eventually finds the kids, a gang of orphans, and befriends them. Then a gal comes in, getting beat by gangsters, then getting drunk and takes out a straight razor to slit her wrists but Oyama stops her and she collapses in a rainy graveyard. Of course, she’s the sister of one of the kids. The brother watched her get raped in the mud by a US soldier.
Then Oyama reconnects with his wrasslin bros who are out of work and dreaming of going to the US to start fresh. The sister comes back and nearly pukes on Oyama, but she’s got TB and US penicillin costs $500 so Oyama agrees to wrassle again and take a dive for medicine money. But he doesn’t. He KOs his opponent and the three make a run for it. The wrassler gets shot.
The shot wrassler is brought to the orphan hideout but the gang finds them there and another fight ensues. The wrassler is shot again and dies. Oyama gets a gun and starts shooting everywhere to chase out the gang.
Then the gang catches the sister and tortured her by hanging her by her arms and electrocuting her. That scene goes on way too long. They dump her and she’s brought to the orphan’s hideout where she finds her brother then promptly dies.
Then the judoka reunites with Oyama and they attack the gang’s mansion. The two bang their way in, fighting off dozens of gangsters. The judoka beats his opponents by locking up their wrist or arm, snapping something and they collapse. When the gangsters dwindle, Oyama goes for the bad guys’ boss who throws darts that look like golden chopsticks. He pursues him into a hall of mirrors - An homage or a rip off of Enter the Dragon’s massive mirrored bathroom. It’s a stupid fight so I say it’s the latter.
Then it ends.
So disappointing. The promise of the first film is left unfulfilled. The films drop in quality each time, although the fights in 3 are the best of the series, and when it gets right down to it, that’s what happens a lot. The first was good. The second was meh. The third left me flat.
Not D00M recommended. Seen on internet archive