Beast Fighter Collection w/Sonny Chiba (Eureka! June 25th, 2024)

[DukeTogo84]

Figured I'd make a topic for these as I love these films. It was bugging me that Shout only released the third film, but now we know what stopped them from the first two as Eureka! had them!

These are classic Chiba films, full of brutal combat and classic Toei actors. Long time coming for Blu-ray. Check out the trailer for these!

Pre-order from MVD https://mvdshop.com/products/beast-f...ighter-blu-ray
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BEAST FIGHTER (KARATE BULLFIGHTER & KARATE BEARFIGHTER) (Eureka Classics) New & Exclusive Trailer - YouTube

[grim_tales]

Interesting, never seen these movies before.
Does he literally fight a bear and bull?

[Stanis]

Duke, stop tempting me! I already ordered Chiba V1 this week, and this looks amazing.

[drush9999]

Originally Posted by Stanis

Duke, stop tempting me! I already ordered Chiba V1 this week, and this looks amazing.

The third film in the series is in Chiba V2

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Interesting, never seen these movies before.
Does he literally fight a bear and bull?

He fights a man in a bear suit that's supposed to be a bear, but he really does fight a bull which is the main reason it's not getting a release in the UK.

If you like Chiba these are some of the most Chiba films out there. Chiba plays Mas Oyama who was his real life teacher of martial arts. These are two very classic Toei films and have a huge cast of Toei regulars.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by Stanis

Duke, stop tempting me! I already ordered Chiba V1 this week, and this looks amazing.

You gotta get this and then Chiba volume 2 which actually has the third film of this series in it. Plus some great Chiba yakuza performances.

[dwk]

Originally Posted by grim_tales

Interesting, never seen these movies before.
Does he literally fight a bear and bull?

Yes....well a bull and a guy in a crappy bear costume.

[starsteam]

Always up for more Chiba. Would like if Yellow Fangs got a US Blu soon now. Directed by Chiba but not starring, but still, Chiba and bears.

[DukeTogo84]

Originally Posted by starsteam

Always up for more Chiba. Would like if Yellow Fangs got a US Blu soon now. Directed by Chiba but not starring, but still, Chiba and bears.

I'd buy it. It does have Hiroyuki Sanada who is pretty hot right now because of Shogun, but I don't remember the film being very good, but it's been like 20 years since it came out on DVD so I might enjoy it more now.

[DukeTogo84]

Up at Amazon.

I'm sure price will go down closer to release date.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYVY7WXD...rzEeJKk_azAlFD

[drush9999]

Available at Movies Unlimited and if you're quick the MU24MAR code gets you 20% off

[Takuma]

Holy shit! Real life karate bearfighter found!


- https://www.theguardian.com/world/20...ber-of-attacks

[Rutger Lundgren]

Anyone got it yet? Is it region free?

[MifuneFan]

Eureka fixed The Beast Fighter cover art! I had reached out to artist JJ Harrison to let him know about the concerns of the original art looking like it spelled Seinny Chiba, and that seemed to get the ball rolling, as a little bit after Eureka let me know they were in the process of fixing it. Kudos to both Eureka, and Harrison for addressing this.

Eureka's official unboxing:

BEAST FIGHTER (Eureka Classics) Unboxing Video - YouTube

[DukeTogo84]

Once again, expect this review to show up in a few spots. Had a Toei weekend, with Sympathy for the Underdog followed by the Beast Fighter Collection from Eureka.

Having watched Karate For Life which is the third film in this series not so long ago, it's interesting to see how subdued and "mostly" realistic these films play compared to that one. The third was basically Enter the Dragon, the Sonny Chiba version. These actually feel more human as we see a man who is a really good at martial artists try to change the fundamental traditions of Karate in Japan.

Sonny Chiba is the "hero" of these films, despite doing some questionable acts early on. The character does grow and learn from his mistakes, but it takes a few cracked skulls along the way. Sonny Chiba was the master of the fight scene in Japanese cinema, and we are very fortunate to have gotten so many of his films recently. (Still waiting on GI Samurai though...)

The specs were all great. Picture looked good, and some features on the first disc, but nothing on the second. Not many of the people who worked on these films are still with us, which is a shame.

Still, hopefully we continue to get more Chiba films from Eureka as well as more films from Toei.

[crikan]

Originally Posted by MifuneFan

Eureka fixed The Beast Fighter cover art! I had reached out to artist JJ Harrison to let him know about the concerns of the original art looking like it spelled Seinny Chiba, and that seemed to get the ball rolling, as a little bit after Eureka let me know they were in the process of fixing it. Kudos to both Eureka, and Harrison for addressing this.

[Show spoiler]

Eureka's official unboxing:

BEAST FIGHTER (Eureka Classics) Unboxing Video - YouTube

Its funny how I never notice stuff like that. It seemed like Core Red had obvious typos of half their releases back in the day and even when they are pointed out I still don't notice unless I go looking.

[KUNG FU BOB]

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

If you like Chiba these are some of the most Chiba films out there.

That would make a great quote for the set!

Originally Posted by starsteam

Always up for more Chiba. Would like if Yellow Fangs got a US Blu soon now. Directed by Chiba but not starring, but still, Chiba and bears.

Originally Posted by DukeTogo84

I'd buy it. It does have Hiroyuki Sanada who is pretty hot right now because of Shogun, but I don't remember the film being very good, but it's been like 20 years since it came out on DVD so I might enjoy it more now.

When this came out on DVD I bought it immediately and was ecstatic to finally have it. Sadly, I thought it was just okay. Not very memorable. On the other hand...

Eureka's BEAST FIGHTER two-film, two Blu-ray, collection, which includes the Sonny Chiba karate action classics KARATE BULLFIGHTER and KARATE BEAR FIGHTER is now one of my favorite items in my entire collection.

For those unfamiliar, these films are loosely based on Masutatsu "Mas" Oyama, aka "God Hand", who is of Japanese heritage but born in South Korea, and was the creator of Kyokushin Karate. Oyama wrote a reportedly "heightened" biography, which inspired a further exaggerated version of his life in a manga series called Karate Baka Ichidai (A Karate-Crazy Life) that appeared in a weekly magazine, which was in turn the basis for an animated series, which then led to three live action movies starring Sonny Chiba (who was a student of Oyama). Liberties were taken. But if memory serves me, there is footage of Oyama tangling with bulls (and maybe a bear. Certainly his students do) in the three STRONGEST KARATE documentaries from Japan. Footage from these was edited into the US-released documentary FIGHTING BLACK KINGS (1976). There's also a 2004 South Korean film about Oyama's early life called FIGHTER IN THE WIND (a more artful depiction than the karate exploitation films starring Chiba, which improbably, given some of the story's depictions of him, were supervised by Oyama who was a technical advisor on the trilogy). Oyama was quite a "showman" who knew how to publicize his martial arts with wild stunts, but his extreme, no-nonsense karate style is legitimate and still practiced throughout the world (it's the style Dolph Lundgren practices).

When I initially found the first movie as CHAMPION OF DEATH (its US title) it was an English dubbed, full-screen version that was many generations removed from the original. So, blurry, washed-out colors and around 40% of the action cropped off the sides. But I still loved it. I enjoyed the dub that Peter Hernandez and crew did, the same people responsible for the original English dub on THE STREET FIGHTER- a fave of mine (as many of you know). Mostly, I'm partial to viewing films in their original language with subtitles. Still, there are a few that I also enjoy watching dubbed (according to the mood I'm in) like SHOGUN ASSASSIN (as opposed to the original films it was culled from) and the early Godzilla films. Thanks to Cliff Mac Millan, KARATE BULLFIGHTER, and its sequels KARATE BEAR FIGHTER and KARATE FOR LIFE were finally released on DVD letterboxed, subbed, and uncut with Japanese audio via Adness/BCI Eclipse, and I've happily viewed them that way now for decades. Now, Eureka Entertainment has released the first two films in "The Oyama Trilogy" as the "BEAST FIGHTER" Blu-ray collection (the third film, KARATE FOR LIFE, as mentioned in previous posts, is available on Shout Factory's terrific SONNY CHIBA COLLECTION Vol. 2 Blu-ray set). I was thrilled to see that this film's English dub is included, so for the first time, I got to hear that audio track while seeing it via a beautiful, uncut, widescreen print. Pure joy!

I'm a big fan of the whole movie, but the climactic battle where Chiba's Oyama stalks (like a mad martial arts tiger in human form) and demolishes 60 enemies through the tall grass is a scene I revisit frequently. It never loses its power or indescribable cool.

In addition, Eureka includes the alternate opening credits for the US version, the original Japanese theatrical trailer, the US TV spot/ trailer (love it!), an informative and enjoyable feature called "In Search of the Ultimate Truth" by Jonathan Clements, and a fun audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Arne Venema.

The KARATE BEAR FIGHTER is a strong follow-up with even more action consistently throughout the film. This one is in Japanese with optional English subtitles. BTW, the subs for both films are fantastic and even include translations of song lyrics. I applaud that decision. There isn't an English dub for this one, but I don't think one was ever made. The Japanese theatrical trailer is included. The set also has a booklet with writing by Eddie Falvey (which I haven't had a chance to read yet).

Thanks very much, Eureka and all contributors, this set kicks ass!

[FlexMentallo]

Watched Karate Bullfighter, really enjoyed it. The plot took interesting turns throughout. The many fights were all really great, very kinetic. Peak Chiba was just so good with how he did action. I like stuff set in the postwar era, even if it did look a bit 70s at times. And I guess I get to see another film where Tarantino/RZA lifted music for Kill Bill.

Criticisms - the biggest one was that the rape was really pointless and undermined Chiba’s character and the central relationship. The attitude of the mother and son did a total 180 in the short farm montage sequence. A few times early on the shaky cam in fights went too far and got kinda incomprehensible - I assume it was intentional as not every fight had it. The real bull got punched in the head a bit too much for my liking.

[FlexMentallo]

Karate Bearfighter was also a ton of fun. The story is pretty basic in this compared to the first one, it’s more like a bunch of vignettes. Chiba is being his full on cool, badass self this time around. It’s chock full of really fun and creative fights. The bear fight is silly but they did an OK job editing around it. Super entertaining movie overall.

[grim_tales]

Hey,
Would it be safe/OK to import these considering they probably won't get UK releases? I guess the reason for this would be animal cruelty.