Beast Fighter: Karate Bullfighter & Karate Bearfighter | Blu-ray (Eureka)
RELEASE DATE: June 25, 2024
On June 25, 2024, Eureka is releasing the Blu-ray (Region A) for Beast Fighter, which will include the 1975 martial arts films, Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter.
The mighty Sonny Chiba (Bodyguard Kiba) stars in two spectacular martial arts movies based upon the real life of Masutatsu “Mas” Ōyama – the fabled bull-slaying karate master who trained none other than Chiba himself.
In Karate Bullfighter (or Champion of Death), a karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Ōyama (Chiba), who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Ōyama’s entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences, and soon he is fighting for far more than sporting victory. Then, in Karate Bearfighter, Ōyama is expelled from the karate community for refusing to pull his punches. With no where else to turn, he takes a job with the yakuza after running into Kimura (Hideo Murota), who Ōyama once knew as a fellow member of the Imperial Japanese Air Service before he turned to a life of crime. Ultimately, though, Ōyama has no more respect for his superiors on the streets than he did in the dojo…
Directed by Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Sister Street Fighter), Karate Bullfighter and Karate Bearfighter were adapted from the popular manga series Karate Baka Ichidai by Ikki Kajiwara, which ran from 1971 to 1977 and chronicled the life and legend of Mas Ōyama. Eureka Classics is proud to present both films for the first time ever on Blu-ray from brand new restorations of the original film elements by Toei.
Features:
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Limited edition O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by JJ Harrison
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1080p presentations of both films across two Blu-ray discs, from new restorations of the original film elements by Toei
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Original Japanese mono audio
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Brand new feature length audio commentaries on both films by action cinema experts Mike Leeder & Arne Venema
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In Search of the Ultimate Truth – Brand new video essay by Jonathan Clements, author of A Brief History of the Martial Arts
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Original theatrical trailers
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Limited edition collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Eddie Falvey
This title will soon be available at The Goodie Emporium, a U.S.-based online store that currently has many Import Shaw Brothers/Golden Harvest/martial arts DVD/Blu-ray movies in-stock – with New titles being added regularly!
I didn’t see any mention of English dubbing for the films so I guess you can only watch with Japanese audio? I’d greatly appreciate any more info regarding that.
Jeff, that’s a good question. Will try and find out.
I’m glad you’re not talking to yourself!
Thanks JJ. Sorry to get off topic here but whatever happened to those plans of a Bluray release for Gordon Liu’s Shaolin & Wutang? It’s one of my favorites and I was really looking forward to owning that and yet there’s been no update on that for a year now.
(Andrew! lol – no, not talking to myself, at least not on here.
Re: Shaolin Vs Wu Tang – Long story short, it is not being released.
I have contacted Eureka about the dubbing (for Beast Fighter); haven’t received a response.
I am thinking the same thing. I mean I want this Beast Fighter Collection, but we were promised the Shaolin vs. Wu tang movie
Jeff, from Eureka:
“We are looking into the possibility of including an English Dub. But this is still to be confirmed, which is why it currently hasn’t been listed as an extra. So hopefully 🤞”
Thanks again JJ! Any news on anymore upcoming Shaw Brothers releases? Some remaining ones I want that haven’t been released yet are: Four Riders, Kung Fu Instructor, Boxer From The Temple, and Marco Polo.
Arrow is rumored to be working on a Shaw Vol 3, but who knows? Other than Shout’s release frenzy, I haven’t heard much. I’m pretty sure all of Shout’s recent Shaw releases had other labels (Arrow and 88 Films) pressing the stop button on any plans (make sense). Whatever we know, we always try to keep you up to date as best as we can. =)
The one I’m still waiting for is Master Of The Flying Guillotine. I have both One Armed Boxer and The Chinese Boxer and still my favorite Jimmy Wang Yu film is still without a release.
Kinda like Bloodfist II, they released Bloodfist and Future Kick, but nada on the best Dragon Don effort. Hell, gimme Bloodfist III while you’re at it.
I want this
Jeff, you are speaking my language. Those are exactly the same movies I want as well.
I definitely want Marco Polo, Boxer from the temple, the Kung fu instructor and four riders. Marco Polo and The Boxer from the Temple are the two I want the most. Just for good measure let’s put in the boxer rebellion men from the monastery
I’ve never seen The Boxer Rebellion but from watching the trailer I’m sure it’s awesome. Sometimes these bluray sets give me a film I have never seen before as was the case with Chinatown Kid. I was pleasantly surprised watching that for the first time. All my exposure to Shaw Bros has been from watching the El Rey Network.
I loved the films so much that I bought most of them. In fact I was so devoted to completing my collection that even though these Arrow & Shout Factory sets are largely double dipping for me, I felt it was worth it just to get two new films on some of these collections. It’s a shame that they seem to have stopped with singular releases but I guess I’ll just have to settle with the large box sets even if most of the films have been released previously such as the old Dragon Dynasty and Tokyo Shock dvds.
Just to be clear I still want this