When we last left karate expert Masutatsu Oyama (Sonny Chiba) in Karate Bullfighter, he was ripping the horns off a charging bull. With such strong chopsocky powers, whaddaya do for an encore? Ladies and gentlemen, may we present the Toei Company’s immediate sequel, Karate Bearfighter.
From Wolf Guy director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, it plays like two movies in one. In the first half, Oyama does little more than make a sake-and-meat soup, whore himself out for some freelance bodyguard work, ignore the woman who loves him and anger some karate students. But when some of his closest friends are killed, he’s thirsting for revenge.
Onto the second half, where Oyama befriends a little boy who steals his suitcase. The boy, Rintaro — Japanese for “runt,” I assume — lives with a boozehound father. As Oyama teaches the tot the skill of catching fish with one’s fists of fury, news arrives that Rintaro’s dad has been smashed by a falling tree, and without a costly operation, will die.
Someone agrees to pay for the operation, so long as Oyama can kill a bear with his bare hands — hence the title. (Try this tactic with the next spam call you receive: “Yes, I’ll sign up for your auto warranty service … if you slay a grizzly in return.”) Thus begins Karate Bearfighter’s best scene: Oyama battling to the death with a live bear. Or, as is painfully obvious even with the animal obscured by weeds and whanot, a guy in a bad bear suit.
Where does a Chiba movie go from there? Having him kill some dudes who come at him flinging chains and spears, that’s where. Oh, and poking a guy’s eyes out for dessert. —Rod Lott