Rating: **
Alternate Titles: "Karate Kiba", "The Bodyguard" (1976)
Cast: Sonny Chiba, cameo by Yayoi Watanabe
After twarting an airplane hijacking, karate master Naoto Kiba (Sonny Chiba) uses the media opportunity to open a bodyguard business and restore honor to his school's name. Within minutes, a woman comes to him for help and he protects her from the numerous threats that she encounters. It's a dangerous job and several parties want her dead, including the Seven Assassins of The Yellow Mafia, a Japanese crime lord, and a group of three brothers who run a bar at an American army base. Kind of light on the action side, but Chiba's burning intensity and flair for gruesomely dispatching his foes keeps you entertained. A friend of mine commented that Sonny Chiba is the Japanese equivalent of Charles Bronson, which has a certain ring to it. Unfortunately, the production values aren't great and the shaky handheld camera work is infuriating. The fight scenes are overly chaotic and often shot in the dark, so it's hard to tell what's going on.
The American version, released as "The Bodyguard" (1976), ditches the plot about the woman's connections to the New York mob, and Kiba's motivations are far more altruistic: he wants to take down a large drug syndicate rather than shamelessly and selfishly promote his karate school. The film also replaces the opening mob assassination with a completely bizarre scene at a New York City karate dojo where two guys are practicing various fighting styles and carrying on a debate about who the baddest fighter: Bruce Lee or Sonny Chiba? Another bizarre feature of the American version is the repeated chanting of "Viva Chiba!" at the beginning, making me wonder if this was going to be a Mexican film. Very strange.