Fans of martial arts cinema are in for a special treat with New Line's new laser disc edition of 'The Street Fighter'. No, not that piece of crap based on the video game. This one is from 1975 and stars martial arts legend, Sonny Chiba.
New Line and Image have teamed up to put together an amazingly good laser edition of this film. We get the original, uncut, unrated version of the film transferred at the proper 2.35:1 aspect ratio. Looking at some of the action scenes here, I can't imagine a cropped and scanned transfer of this movie even worth watching. The entire width of the Actionscope frame is used throughout the film. The condition of the film elements is suprisingly good and the transfer takes full advantage of this. Colors are relatively strong with oly a slight shift or flicker here and there. Sharpness and detail are very good, as are brightness and contrast. Some may find a few scenes somewhat dark, but shadow detail is good and I didn't feel I was missing any of the action. There is a bit of grain visible in a few scenes but generally, the image is smooth and clear.
'The Street Fighter' is a Japanese production and the original Japanese mono soundtrack is available on the analog tracks. Most, however, will be more interested in the English dubbed soundtrack on the digital tracks. New Line actually went to the trouble and expense to have Chase create a stereo surround soundtrack and the result is pretty not bad. Though there is only minimal use of the surround channel, there is a nice openness to the sound and most of the high frequency hiss has been eliminated. The dubbing is pretty decent, as these things go, with the dialog closely matching the lip movements. One might also speculate that some of the dubbed voices may well be the original actors as they are often heavily accented and sometimes difficult to understand.
One will find a small discrepancy in the running time as stated on the jacket and the disc label. While the label states 88 minutes, the jacket has the correct running time of 91 minutes. The disc contains 22 chapters and the side break is well placed. No trailer or other extras is included. List price is $39.95. No one can consider themself a martial arts fan and not own 'The Street Fighter'. Recommended.
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