Tag Archives: Shin’ichi Chiba

Saigo no Tokkotai (The Last Kamikaze) is set in the final months of World War II, when it was increasingly obvious that Japan was going to lose the war.

The film is dedicated to the souls of flight school graduates killed in WWII. The sky was god for these kids. They dreamed about becoming pilots and applied to flight schools.

This movie is dedicated to desperate young Japanese pilots, during the Second World War.

A squadron of Japanese Self-Defense Force soldiers find themselves transported through time to their country’s warring states era

The film is packed with nice stunts throughout, but the screenplay could be better. After escaping the prison Chiba teams up with a bunch of thugs, who design prison escapes for money. Unfortunately trust and loyalty are unknown concepts to these men who take turns deceiving each other. The endless “who’s-cheating-who” game has been done better in other films, and sometimes the writing is downright sloppy: when a carefully planned escape operation fails, Chiba simply steals a fire engine and drives away without anyone noticing! It also feels that director Kosaku Yamashita, who made his name with yakuza films, was a bit out of his element here. However, even with these weaknesses it’s an entertaining action comedy which compares favourably against some of the later, similar Yasaku Matsuda films like Execution Game (1978) and No Grave for Us (1979). The focus is on stunts and comedy.

An uplifting drama about the bond between a group of high school seniors and their kind-hearted teacher, Mr. Yabuki. Faced with the rigors of growing up in modern times, students often look to Mr. Yabuki for advice and guidance. But when Mr. Yabuki’s career is threatened as a result of a false accusation from the school’s PTA, the students band together to stand up for their beloved teacher and help him to save his good reputation and job.

Hayashida Gisuke is illegal dentist during the day and a burglar by night. One night during the burglary he becomes a witness of derailment. Later some commies were found guilty in this incident, but he know it wasn’t they. He can save innocent people but for that he must confess his own crime.

This trilogy is comprised of Karate Bullfighter, Karate Bear Fighter, and Karate For Life, each one focusing on a different part of the life of Matsutatsu Oyama, a great practitioner and teacher of Kyokushin Karate. He’s played here by Sonny Chiba, himself a student of Oyama’s. Each of the films in question are worth a look, and this set offers a great deal for anyone who is interested in the particular charms of Japanese martial arts films.