Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.5

Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 6, 2024

The Game of Clones: Bruceploitation Collection Vol. 1, the recent compendium from Severin, offered such an abundance of gonzo delights that it's probably hard to pick just one, but seeing Bruce Leung kinda sorta fight a bull in Challenge of the Tiger might qualify as at least one singular prime example of nuttiness. Challenge of the Tiger came out in 1980, and may owe at least as much to the two Sonny Chiba films in this collection from Eureka! Entertainment, at least insofar as they include any scenes of a martial artist taking on not just a bull but a bear, as it does to any Bruce Lee enterprise. Admittedly tangentially (especially considering the broad outlines of so-called Brucesploitation), but like at least some of the Brucesploitation efforts that sought to document the real Bruce Lee's life, both Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter attempt to provide a supposed biography of real life karate expert Mas Oyama (Sonny Chiba), though the fact that these films sprang from a manga called Karate Baka Ichidai (A Karate Crazy Life) may indicate that there's a certain, well, cartoonish aspect to both of these films, as evidenced by the films' very "bestial" conceit(s). That said, the historical record actually supports the fact that Oyama was evidently adept at tackling creatures like bulls in order to prove his fighting skills.

For reviews of the films in this set, please click on the following links:

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray review

Karate Bearfighter Blu-ray review

Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally the keepcase has a reversible sleeve and encloses a well appointed insert booklet with a nice biographical essay on Chiba by Eddie Falvey. Packaging features a slipcover.

Beast Fighter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

How can you go wrong with Sonny Chiba taking on a bull and/or a bear, even with some perceived animal cruelty in the first instance and the completely wacked out sight of an obvious fake bear in the second? As fans will know, there's a third film in the series called Karate for Life that looks like it's included in Shout! Factory's The Sonny Chiba Collection: Volume 2 release, for "rabid completists". These films probably will have some decidedly problematic elements for modern day sensibilities, but Oyama's story, however fictionalized it is here, is fascinating. Technical merits are generally solid, and the supplements very enjoyable. With caveats noted, Recommended.