The Street Fighter was the first film released in the US to be given an X rating for violence alone.

A martial arts legend, Shinichi ‘Sonny’ Chiba blazed the trail for action films when he starred in the ultra violent Street Fighter movies. Playing the brutal and unscrupulous anti-hero Takuma Tsurugi, Sonny Chiba served up a fresh kind of amoral violence and explosive energy to cinema-goers in the 70s, which has inspired modern filmmakers ever since, most notably Quentin Tarantino.

Martial arts exploitation film The Street Fighter was originally released in cinemas in 1974 and its astounding success brought Japanese born Sonny Chiba worldwide fame.

Shigehiro Ozawa directed Chiba as animal fighting machine Terry Tsurugi who springs a death row inmate from jail disguised as a Buddhist monk. In the violent events that follow there are some truly memorable over the top action sequences; Tsurugi punching a man in the face so hard his teeth fall out, the famous shot of a lethal head blow shown in X ray, and Tsurugi saving a woman from rape by ripping out a man’s testicles and holding them triumphantly in the air!

The Street Fighter films have had a profound influence on action filmmakers, most notably Quentin Tarantino who rates Chiba as “the greatest actor to ever work in martial arts films” and references Chiba’s films in True Romance and Pulp Fiction.

In 2003 Tarantino cast his screen idol in the role of master sword maker Hattori Hanzo in Kill Bill, giving Chiba something of a comeback and showcasing his talent to a whole new generation of fans.

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