A little bit about Bruceploitation before I start this -
When Bruce Lee died in 1973 leaving only a small filmography and a huge fanbase, opportunist Asian filmmakers started making films trading on the Bruce Lee name - the mean't we got an whole host of imitators including but not limited to Bruce Li, Bruce Le and Dragon Lee (notice the pattern when it comes to name), we also got a number of films that where mean't to be biographies (though in fairness Dragon - The Bruce Lee Story would be as about as accurate) , we also got a couple of films attempting to do Game Of Death (this is before Game Of Death) and the story Bruce Lee might have intended, there was "sequels" - so we got Big Boss 2, Fist Of Fury 2 etc. and there's also films that put "Bruce Lee" in sometimes odd adventures (but I won't spoil any of them in case I want to cover them)...
So to be honest why am I mentioning Bruceploitation in a film starring Sonny Chiba - because he was awesome in his own right and nothing to do with these cash-ins (that I love) it's because of the marketing of the film - it's often called Soul Of Bruce Lee but as nothing to do with him, so yeah I take the marketing of the Bruce Lee name to sell the film as Bruceploitation - this is Bruceploitation at it's loosest term - but it still counts.
This was an enjoyable entry into the Bruceploitation genre or Sonny Chiba oeuvre - whichever way you want to look at it - the dubbed version I watched was suited to the film at hand and even had a bit of an Abbott and Costello routine in it - not sure intentionally - the guy he is searching for to avenge is master's death sounds similar to Someone - so you'd get him asking "I'm looking for someone" - which to me just added to the charm of the film.
Overall, if you love old kung fu movies of the 70's you'll find enjoyment in this. For me the Bruceploitation element maybe to a minimum but the Sonny Chiba awesome-ness is here and in tact.
This was an enjoyable entry into the Bruceploitation genre or Sonny Chiba oeuvre - whichever way you want to look at it - the dubbed version I watched was suited to the film at hand and even had a bit of an Abbott and Costello routine in it - not sure intentionally - the guy he is searching for to avenge is master's death sounds similar to Someone - so you'd get him asking "I'm looking for someone" - which to me just added to the charm of the film.
Overall, if you love old kung fu movies of the 70's you'll find enjoyment in this. For me the Bruceploitation element maybe to a minimum but the Sonny Chiba awesome-ness is here and in tact.
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