Sonny Chiba: Masutatsu Oyama Trilogy - BCI Eclipse

This 3-disc set includes movies based on the life of Sonny Chiba’s mentor, martial arts master Masutatsu Oyama (aka Choi Bae-dal), the founder of Kyokushin Karate in Japan. Region 1, NTSC, anamorphic widescreen. Japanese audio with English subtitles.

In Karate Bull Fighter (Kenka Karate Kyokushinken, 1975), Oyama (Sonny Chiba) kills a gang leader in the midst of a bar fight and decides to give up on martial arts to work on a farm. However, the draw of his old life is too strong and he decides to return. Unfortunately he now has enemies that are hellbent on stopping him from ever entering the world of martial arts again and it’s going to take all his skills to put a stop to them. [Watch trailer]

In Karate Bear Fighter (Kyokuskin Kenka Karate Burai Ken, 1977), Oyama wins the All-Japan Karate tournament and becomes famous for his accomplishment. His peers are tremendously jealous, and try to alienate him from the karate world, but he could care less what they think. He later meets a boy named Rinato whose father has been stricken with cancer. In order to raise the funds to pay for the man’s medical expenses, Oyama arranges to fight a bear in front of a transfixed crowd of spectators. [Watch trailer]

In Karate For Life (Karate Baka Ichidai, 1977), The Karate Society of Japan shuns Oyama for his recent highly publicized fights with a bear. Due to his newfound fame, Oyama is approached with an opportunity to fight in a karate exhibition in Osaka along with a judo expert named Fujita. However, when their predetermined opponents start to fight dirty Oyama goes ballistic. [Watch trailer]

Available at the following retailer(s) on June 26, 2007:

• Amazon.com
• Amazon.ca
• YesAsia
• HKFlix