Karate Bear Fighter

1975 1h 27m JA

👍

6.8

SOLID

⭐

6.6

IMDB

★6.8TMDB · 13★6.6IMDB · 324

ActionAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Masutatsu Oyama is recruited by his former Army friend to work for a crew of gangsters, but when they kill both his girlfriend and his best friend, Oyama flees away to a small town where he both learns lessons in martial arts philosophy from a wandering master and helps a young boy take on a challenge to fight a ferocious captured bear to win money for the boy's injured father.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Sonny Chiba
Mas Oyama
Yutaka Nakajima
Sumiko
Yumi Takigawa
Chiako
Masashi Ishibashi
Hideo Murota
Eiji Gō
Katsumasa Uchida
Gen
Mikio Narita
Ryuki

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Kazuhiko Yamaguchi
Writers: Masahiro Kakefuda, Nobuaki Nakajima, Ikki Kajiwara
Languages: Japanese
Countries: Japan

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

87 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

51 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Part of the "Masutatsu Oyama Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, shot by Yoshio Nakajima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Osamu Tanaka shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sonny Chiba and Yutaka Nakajima and Yumi Takigawa carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0188799 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Kazuhiko Yamaguchi directs. Yoshio Nakajima behind the camera. Osamu Tanaka cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in Japan. Dialogue in Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

187 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
251 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
3Part of the "Masutatsu Oyama Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Lean credit list — fewer than 30 people officially credited.
5Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, shot by Yoshio Nakajima. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Editor Osamu Tanaka shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Sonny Chiba and Yutaka Nakajima and Yumi Takigawa carry the top of the cast.
8IMDB entry: tt0188799 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 13 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.