When Cocaine Bear ran at an Alamo Drafthouse theater, there was a 30-minute preshow video that included vintage weirdness involving Bears and cocaine. Sonny Chiba (The Street Fighter and Kill Bill) appeared amongst madness with him battling a bear. This was a real movie called Karate Bearfighter. As much as I enjoyed Cocaine Bear, I wanted to see Sonny Chiba and the bear go hand to paw. I was disappointed that there was no Blu-ray of this or his other film in the series Karate Bullfighter where he fights a bull. This summer you will be amazed when Eureka! releases Beast Fighter that has both films on Blu-ray. You’ll be seeing the claws, horns and fists flying across the screen. The boxset is scheduled for June 25th. Here’s a preview from Eureka!:
The mighty Sonny Chiba (Bodyguard Kiba) stars in two spectacular martial arts movies based upon the real life of Masutatsu “Mas” Ōyama – the fabled bull-slaying karate master who trained none other than Chiba himself.
In Karate Bullfighter (or Champion of Death), a karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Ōyama (Chiba), who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Ōyama’s entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences, and soon he is fighting for far more than sporting victory. Then, in Karate Bearfighter, Ōyama is expelled from the karate community for refusing to pull his punches. With no where else to turn, he takes a job with the yakuza after running into Kimura (Hideo Murota), who Ōyama once knew as a fellow member of the Imperial Japanese Air Service before he turned to a life of crime. Ultimately, though, Ōyama has no more respect for his superiors on the streets than he did in the dojo…
Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Sister Street Fighter), Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter were adapted from the popular manga series Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which ran from 1971 to 1977 and chronicled the life and legend of Mas Ōyama. Eureka Classics is proud to present both films for the first time ever on Blu-ray from brand new restorations of the original film elements by Toei.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by JJ Harrison
- 1080p presentations of both films across two Blu-ray discs, from new restorations of the original film elements by Toei
- Original Japanese mono audio
- Brand new feature length audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
- In Search of the Ultimate Truth – Brand new video essay by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
- Original theatrical trailers
- Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Eddie Falvey
https://youtu.be/dCActYwmFOw?si=6kMoTJ9ICsMNq9Jb
