Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman July 6, 2024

Note: this film is available on Blu-ray as part of the two disc Beast Fighter set from Eureka! Entertainment.

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, an acolyte of the real life Oyama), 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.

A rather interesting bifurcation in what might be termed any martial arts "use" is outlined in the appealing visual essay by Jonathan Clements on this disc, and Karate Bullfighter offers a Mas Oyama who is not a fan of what he calls "dancing", i.e., karate (in this particular instance) used as "mere exercise", rather than a venerable technique to, well, kick serious butt. This first entry charts a predictable course of an outsider upsetting the "established order", though in other ways Karate Bullfighter offers some completely unexpected behavior from Oyama, including a sexual assault that has some problematic elements even beyond the attack itself. The real life Oyama was involved with this film (and even has a cameo), and so I guess there's a certain imprimatur of "authenticity", which makes this particular plot point a bit disturbing, to say the least. The actual "bullfight" is more a "necessity is the mother of invention" situation than an out and out decision by Oyama to prove his mettle by taking down a horned beast.

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Karate Bullfighter is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Eureka! Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.39:1. Eureka tends not to provide a ton of technical information on their releases, and their insert booklet once again offers only their typical "viewing notes" and calibration advice, with the back cover mentioning a generic "new restorations of the original film elements by Toei" as the sole bit of provenance data. As I've frequently mentioned when confronted with such a lack of specificity, I have to wonder exactly which "original film elements" were utilized. I've scored both the films in this set at 3.5 for video, but this first film has a somewhat dowdier appearance, with a probably more obvious faded skewing toward brown, or even a kind of brown-green that can afflict flesh tones, especially in some interior sequences. Outdoor material, as in the sequence shown in screenshot 3, can pop more authoritatively, but perhaps even a bit of a faded brown quality can be discerned in that screenshot as well. Detail levels are generally commendable, especially in close-ups, but as seems to be unavoidable with some Asian productions, there are occasional anamorphic oddities to be spotted. Clarity and grain thickness can vary, but the overall look of this presentation is nicely organic.

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Karate Bullfighter features LPCM 2.0 Mono tracks in either Japanese or English. Toggling between these reveals general similarities, though the Japanese is slightly louder and less muffled sounding on the high end. As with so many of these Asian productions from this general timeframe, the overall sound can be on the boxy side, especially with regard to effects, but everything is delivered with competent fidelity and clarity. Dialogue is cleanly presented throughout. Optional English subtitles are available.

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Mike Leeder & Arne Venema


• In Search of the Ultimate Truth (HD; 20:34) is a video essay by Jonathan Clements which addresses some really interesting historical context in terms of a post-World War II emphasis in Japan on martial arts as "sports".


• Alternate Opening Credits (HD; 2:14) are from Champion of Death.


• Original Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:54)


• Champion of Death TV Spot (HD; 1:00)

Karate Bullfighter Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If there's such thing as a "gonzo meter" and one accepts some of the Brucesploitation efforts as being at the apex of that particular rating system, Karate Bullfighter isn't even close, and in fact is arguably less "out there" than its follow up, included in this release. There's some appealing action elements here, and Chiba is always a commanding screen presence. The "love story" here is probably going to raise contemporary eyebrows pretty significantly. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements, especially the Clements piece, very enjoyable. Recommended.