Eureka Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: A double bill of Japanese martial arts mayhem starring action superstar Sonny Chiba! Based upon the manga by celebrated writer Ikki Kajiwara, Bodyguard Kiba follows the eponymous karate master and professional bodyguard (Chiba) as he is hired to protect the mysterious Reiko (Mari Atsumi), a woman embroiled in the world of organised crime. Kiba’s involvement with Reiko brings him into conflict with the yakuza, leading to a final bloody showdown. Then, in Bodyguard Kiba 2, Kiba is released from prison after taking revenge on the rival martial artists who blinded his sister Maki (Etsuko Shihomi). Back on the streets, he takes a job working for shady nightclub owner Akamatsu (Shoki Fukae), once again forcing him to take on Japan’s criminal underworld. Two riotously entertaining tales of betrayal and bloodshed from director Ryuichi Takamori, Bodyguard Kiba and Bodyguard Kiba 2 were released just a year before Sonny Chiba would find international success with his breakout hit The Street Fighter. Eureka Classics is proud to present both films for the first time ever in the UK from new restorations. (176 Mins)

 

Vintage US DVD Synopsis (The Bodyguard): Karate master and anti-drug vigilante Chiba returns to Japan, where he holds a press conference announcing his intention to wipe out the nation's drug industry. He also offers his services as a bodyguard to anyone willing to come forward and provide information about the drug lord's activities. He is approached by a mysterious woman claiming to have important information and asking for Chiba's protection. She seems to be legitimate, but is she really what she appears to be? (88 Mins)

 

Views: Also known as The Bodyguard, Kiba The Bodyguard, Karate Kiba and Viva Chiba! The Bodyguard, action-thriller Bodyguard Kiba was released just 7 or 8 months before his famed Street Fighter movie – although still holds its own as a Chiba classic that's still worth seeing. Based on a manga strip by Ikki Kajiwara, the first Bodyguard Kiba stars the great-late Sonny Chiba as Kiba, a karate fighter who sets out to take on the mob and land a deadly blow to any drug dealer that crosses his path. To do so, Kiba becomes a bodyguard and a law unto himself and soon finds himself working for a mysterious woman who may be even more involved with the very people he intends to bring down!

 

While it has never been hailed as one of Chiba's finer moments, the film still stands as an important stepping stone for the star – and more-so it's sequel – towards the aforementioned Street Fighter cult classic that went onto make Sonny Chiba a household name with martial-arts movie fans around the world. That success, in turn, would then see Bodyguard Kiba gain a US release under the title of The Bodyguard in 1976 – delivering a version that would see a new opening with martial-arts actors Bill Louie and Aaron Banks, as well as feature a new quotation that would later be reworked for Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The US edit would also have some scenes removed that had appeared in the original Japanese version.

 

While neither version is particularly better than the other, with the Japanese version offering a bit more context on karate and Sonny Chiba's real-life master Masutatsu Oyama and the US version stripping it back and reworking Chiba's character to play himself as Sonny Chiba the crime-fighting actor, both still deliver the same ultra-violent action and fight scenes combined with plenty of unintentional laughs, comic book style cinematography, and choppy editing. This would be down to director Ryuichi Takamori who had been working with Chiba for the past number of years on films such as the Game Of Chance Trilogy, Tale Of Kawachi Chivalry, North Sea Chivalry, The Assassin, Yakuza Deka 1 & 2, Yakuza Wolf, and others before directing Bodyguard Kiba and it's slightly better sequel, also known as Karate Killer, later the same year.

 

In Bodyguard Kiba 2, the film picks up where the first left off and sees Chiba having fell from grace and imprisoned for his crimes. Once out, Chiba begins working as a bodyguard once again – this time at a nightclub that is over-run with the very gangsters he was once against, eventually adding vengeance to his mission to find those who blinded his sister. Although he quite obviously plays the titular character once again, Chiba often comes across as a secondary player until things come together in a violently satisfying climax.

 

This time, Chiba is joined by the wonderful Sue Etsuko Shiomi making her debut role in a feature film as Sonny's kick-ass little sister. Self confessed Chiba fangirl and graduate of his Action School, Shiomi was only 17 when she appeared here, going on to become an action star in her own right with the fantastic Sister Street Fighter series and sharing the screen with Chiba many times over the next decade in both the aforementioned Sister Street Fighter and Street Fighter films, Shadow Warriors, Legend Of The Eight Samurai, Roaring Fire, and more – eventually retiring from the industry far earlier than fans wanted. Fan favourite and Chiba's own karate senior, Masashi Ishibashi, also makes his debut as the antagonist of the piece, quickly going onto star alongside Chiba once again in The Street Fighter the following year where he would impress as an actor, martial artist and choreographer – following that with an appearance in its sequel Return Of The Street Fighter as well as films like Sister Street Fighter, Karate Bullfighter, Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread, Dragon Princess, Return Of The Sister Street Fighter, Shadow Warriors, Roaring Fire, and many more.

 

While the highly proclaimed Takashi Miike would later release 3 new Kiba films around the start of his career in the early to mid-90s, it's fair to say that they definitely highlight a very different tone to that of the originals. And although Bodyguard Kiba 1 & 2 have been hailed by many critics as enjoyable but forgettable time-wasters, true Chiba fans will still find something to love about both chapters and relish these roles of the late action star for many years to come and have never looked better thanks to these new restorations from Eureka Video!

 

Overall: These pre-Street Fighter action roles of the beloved action star may not be perfect, but Bodyguard Kiba 1 & 2 both entertain and are worth catching once!

 

Eureka Video Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Mike Leeder & Arne Venema, The Bodyguard US Version, Interview with Kenji Tanigaki, Interview with Tom Mes & Jasper Sharp, Trailers

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Watch my unboxing video for this Eureka Video release HERE

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