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S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka 'Sora-te baka ichidai" or "Karate baka ichidai " or "Karate For Life')

directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Japan 1977

 

  The final chapter of the trilogy based on the life of Sonny Chiba's mentor, martial arts master Masutatsu Oyama (also founder of Kyokushin Karate in Japan)

 

The Karate Socitety of japan begins to ostracize Masutatsu Oyama after fighting both a bull and a bear. Being well known all over Japan Masutatsu Oyama is approached by a promoter looking for talent for an exhibition game. Accompanied by Fujita, a judo expert, Oyama goes to Okinawa to do a demonstration of his mighty skills at the exhibition. When  the two fighters are asked to fight in a pre-arranged game where the opponents play dirty, Oyama loses all self-control..

 

For Chiba fans this is another classic. Great genre appeal -  action sequences are not as over-the-top and there is more character development. out of     

Gary W. Tooze

Theatrical Release: May 14th, 1977 - Japan - Premiere

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Recommended Reading for Martial Arts/Samurai Genre Fans (CLICK COVERS or TITLES for more information)

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DVD Review: Ventura (The Sonny China Collection) - Region 1 - NTSC

DVD Box Cover

   

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Distribution Ventura Distribution - Region 1 - NTSC
Runtime 1:30:03
Video 2.40:1 Aspect Ratio
Average Bitrate: 6.1 mb/s
NTSC 720x480 29.97 f/s  

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.

Bitrate:

Audio Japanese (Dolby Digital 2.0 Dolby)
Subtitles English, None
Features

Release Information:
Studio: Ventura Distribution

Aspect Ratio:
 2.40:1

Edition Details:

• Widescreen 16X9 Trailers for 8 other Sonny China / Ventura DVD releases

- Karate Bearfighter (3:04)

- Killing Machine (3:02)

- Karate Bullfighter (2:51)

- Karate For Life (2:52)

- Shogun's Samurai (3:06)

- G.I. Samurai (3;19)

- Ninja Wars (1:52)

- Legend of the Eight Samurai (2:13)

DVD Release Date:
January 18th, 2005
Transparent Keep Case
Chapters: 12

 

 

Comments:

The box said liner notes, but my copy had none. Unlike Karate Bearfighter, this is not HD sourced. It exhibits very bad combing in weave mode - even noticeable on a television tube. Once I put my DVD player out of "smart mode" and into "Video mode" it was fine. the image is not as stellar obviously as Karate Bearfighter but it is not bad. There is a shade of ghosting from being a non-progressive (each h frame transferred individually) source, but colors are okay and subtitles are well done. I love the super widescreen!. No audio 5.1 bump as in some of the Sonny Chiba Collection but the original 2.0is adequate.  out of   

Gary W. Tooze

 





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DVD Box Cover

   

CLICK to order from:

Distribution Ventura Distribution - Region 1 - NTSC



 

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Gary Tooze