Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.5
Overall		3.0

Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf March 16, 2017

2011’s “Karate Girl” was marketed as a celebration of true fighting prowess, even repeatedly declaring in its trailer that the picture was made without the use of CGI. Bravo to the producers for attempting to restore some organic aggression into their action endeavor, but did the package as a whole have to be so dull? Spending time on martial arts choreography but not on sets, locations, and actors, “Karate Girl” is a fairly banal feature, doing shockingly little with its revenge scenario and magical treasures.

Rina Takeda and Hina Tobimatsu star as sisters divided years ago by the villain, who desires their father’s all-powerful black belt, hoping to take possession of his karate mastery, killing him in the process. The siblings are eventually reunited, as enemies first, with the Takeda’s heroine forced to call down the thunder and flatten enforcers, goons, and a fearsome henchman known as…Keith. “Karate Girl” has the desire to deliver a touching statement on family ties while still mangling bodies with punches and kicks (the effort remains weirdly bloodless), but it’s a hopelessly static picture (largely shot inside a concrete warehouse), spending as much time on heated encounters as it does on pre-battle staring contests, with director Yoshikatsu Kimura padding his endeavor with useless posing from blank actors.

Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio) presentation arrives with a bit of a disadvantage, as there's very little in the movie that could be classifies as visually stimulating. Sharpness is acceptable for a crudely HD-shot effort, doing fine with pore-heavy close-ups and textured costuming, and backgrounds are easily surveyed, especially when the film decides to get out of concrete environments. Colors are agreeable, but there's little here that shows off the power of hues. Delineation threatens solidification at times. Mild compression issues are encountered, but nothing distracting.

Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 LPCM sound mix is focused primarily on dialogue exchanges, and they retain their limited emotional range and echoed origin, as production microphones are often competing with hard walls and high ceilings. Sound effects are also a priority, securing thickly designed punches, crunches, and kicks. It's cartoonish, but the point is made. Scoring cues are inherently thin, becoming more about white noise during fight sequences than true accompaniment.

Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Movie Highlights (8:13, HD) is hilarious, as it features clips from "Karate Girl." That's it, just an abridged version of the movie. It's perfect for those with no attention span, and perhaps the ideal way to watch the film.

• "Ready Steady Go" (4:02, SD) is a promo video that follows Rina Takeda around the set and Japan as she shoots and promotes "Karate Girl."

• And a Trailer (1:39, SD) is included.

Karate Girl Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Perhaps martial arts enthusiasts will find more to love with "Karate Girl," as the film does periodically work up a sweat when locked in combat. It's a shame there isn't more substance and cinematic craftsmanship to enjoy, keeping the feature almost amateurish as it unenthusiastically snoozes through the loosest definition of a plot.