The Streetfighter (1974)

1974 | Action | Feature

Plot:

Streetfighter deals with Terry Tsurugi (the great Sonny Chiba), a martial arts master who uses his abundant talents as a mercenary gun-for-hire. Terry is brought in by the Yakuza to kidnap the daughter and sole heir of a recently deceased uber-rich oil tycoon. But when the mafia can't meet the monetary composition that Terry asks for they attempt to keep their plot secret by offing Terry. What a momentous mistake on their part.

Streetfighter (1974) plot:

The Street Fighter was the first film to receive an X rating solely for violence. The film was especially controversial because of a scene in which Tsurugi castrates a rapist with his bare hands; it is this scene (among others) that reputedly gained the film its 'X' rating. A similarly violent scene involves Tsurugi delivering a powerful punch to an henchman's head, followed by a cut to an x-ray shot of the skull being completely shattered and blood gushing from the man's mouth. 16 minutes were later edited from the film in order to get an R-rating. This was the version initially released on home video by MGM/CBS Home Video in 1980. Since then, the film was re-released in its entirety. Consequently, the English dub of the uncut version suffers from inconsistencies to the soundtrack quality, as the restored footage was dubbed by a different studio using different voice actors.