Severin Films will release on Blu-ray The Bronson Lee Za Karate Collection. The release is scheduled to arrive on the market during Black Friday.
Description: Following their international success with Sonny Chiba's THE STREET FIGHTER series, Toei Company signed Japanese American 8th-degree black belt karate and kobudo (weapons) champion Tadashi Yamashita for a new action trilogy in which Yamashita's rugged looks and ferocious skills are pitted against a murderer's row of actual competition fighters: In ZA KARATE – also included here in the recut/dubbed U.S. Version released as BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION – Ohio farm boy Yamashita is targeted by mobsters when he dares to compete in Kyoto's World Championship. In ZA KARATE 2, the world's deadliest martial artists are sent to kill Tadashi before he can avenge the theft of a priceless sword. In ZA KARATE 3, Yamashita must learn new fighting styles to defeat a global squad of kung fu assassins. Asian cinema icons including Bolo Yeung (ENTER THE DRAGON), Shingo Yamashiro (13 ASSASSINS) and Shunji Sasaki (SAMURAI WOLF) co-star in these "batsh*t fun" (Trashmen Media) films directed by Yukio Nodo (Toei's DELINQUENT BOSS series), now scanned in 4K from their original camera negatives for the first time ever, with nearly 3 hours of all-new Special Features starring Grandmaster Yamashita himself.
Special Features and Technical Specs:
DISC ONE - ZA KARATE / BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION
NEW 4K RESTORATIONS FROM THE ORIGINAL CAMERA NEGAITVES
Audio Commentary With Star Tadashi Yamashita, Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth And August Ragone, Author Of Eiji Tsuburaya: Master Of Monsters (ZA KARATE Version Only)
Partial Audio Commentary With Cult Cinema Critic Lovely Jon (BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION Version Only)
Bronson Lee, Thespian – Interview With Tadashi Yamashita
Japanese Teaser
Japanese Trailer
U.S. Trailer
DISC TWO - ZA KARATE 2 / ZA KARATE 3
Za Katae 2 Audio Commentary With Star Tadashi Yamashita, Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth And Boxer/Fighter A.J. 'The Rabbit' Richardi
Za Katae 2 Teaser
Za Katae 2 Trailer
Za Katae 3 Audio Commentary With Star Tadashi Yamashita, Actor/Director/Bruceploitation Expert Michael Worth And Fight Choreographer John Gray
The Donnie Williams Show – Interview With Co-Star Donnie Williams
Scene Specific Commentary With Donnie Williams
Trailer
ADDITIONAL TECHNICAL SPECS
Runtime: ZA KARATE (Uncut Japanese Version): 86 mins / BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION (PG U.S. Version): 79 mins / ZA KARATE 2: 86 mins / ZA KARATE 3: 86 mins
Audio: ZA KARATE: Japanese Mono / BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION: English Mono / ZA KARATE 2: Japanese Mono / ZA KARATE 3: Japanese Mono
Subtitles: ZA KARATE: English / BRONSON LEE, CHAMPION: English SDH / KARATE 2: English / ZA KARATE 3: English