Return of the Street Fighter

Return of the Street Fighter (1974) is the Japanese action film you can watch online on iFILM, with Sonny Chiba back as karate-for-hire Terry Tsurugi. Picking up after the cult original, it drops the mercenary into a job that turns dirtier than he bargained for.

A Yakuza family hides behind plans for a new martial-arts hall while skimming money out of charities. Once Tsurugi works out that he's being used to take down honest people, he turns his fists on the men who hired him. Director Shigehiro Ozawa shoots it lean and brutal, all x-ray bone-cracks and Chiba's snarling, animal physicality, the style that made the series a 1970s icon and a Tarantino favorite. It runs a tight 83 minutes and barely stops to breathe. Fans of vintage karate cinema and dialogue-light mayhem will eat it up. Stream Return of the Street Fighter (1974) online on iFILM.