Arrow’s SISTER STREET FIGHTER BLU-RAY COLLECTION Spotlight’s New Release Artwork And Key UK Release Details

It’s always interesting to see how distro companies aim to maintain the posterity of classic movies. Toei’s Sister Street Fighter Collection is no exception – I actually bought mine from HKFlix when BCI/Eclipse had theirs released in 2006, and it’s not a bad package either

Going forward, we’ll soon find out what entails the upcoming collection to be released this March as Arrow Video sets out to release its own reprisal of the hit Etsuko Shihomi-led franchise spun-off from action star Sonny Chiba’s inaugural hit Street Fighter series – also from Toei.

In the meantime, Arrow Video has since already rolled out its initial Blu-Ray details via social media late last year. Following up this week, the company is also showcasing brand new commissioned artwork by R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien which can also be spotted at the official website, as well as important details pertaining to a key alteration of the second film of the franchise, Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread, for UK consumers:

We would like to take this opportunity to let UK fans know that our upcoming release of Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread, will be censored (not cut) in one scene. This is due to a potentially indecent image of a minor used as set decoration in the lair of one of the villains – visible in one shot for approximately 31 seconds which the BBFC advised breached the Protection of Children Act 1978.

As this scene features important expository dialogue, instead of cutting it out completely we have decided to zoom into the other half of the frame, cropping out the offending part of the image entirely. Apart from this, all four films in the set will be released for the first time in the UK in all their bloody, bone-snapping uncut glory, including the gore and weapons scenes cut from previous UK releases of the first film! The US edition will be unaffected by these requested cuts.

This series is definitely one of the most exciting and violent, cult acclaimed franchises disc collectors and aficionados can enjoy. To add, for me, Hanging By A Thread is also quite wobbly in terms of cinematography, I’d have to say, but the rest of the franchise has always purely fascinated me.

The fourth film, Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist, in which Shihomi plays a different character, is actually one of my most rewatched DVDs; As it stands, I had a super-serious crush on its co-lead, actress Michi Love, and as I keep writing, all those feelings are coming back to me as we speak… Goodness.

Take note of the artwork below and pre-order your Sister Street Fighter Collection before March 4 via Arrow Video (UK), Amazon (UK), and by March 5 at DiabolikDVD (US).

Genre entertainment of the highest order, the Sister Street Fighter films are a wild ride through some of the best exploitation cinema Japan produced in the 1970s.

After the massive success of The Street Fighter, the Toei Company decided to build a new karate series around a female lead, and cast a young actress who had appeared in a cameo role alongside her mentor Sonny Chiba. Still a teenager at the time, Etsuko Shihomi exploded onscreen in her first leading role and created a new character type: a tough fighter who was fierce, fearless, good-hearted, and decidedly non-sexualised, a departure from Toei’s typical formula.

In 1974’s Sister Street Fighter, Shihomi is the half-Chinese, half-Japanese Li Koryu, who travels to Yokohama to investigate the disappearance of her brother, an undercover cop. Li discovers a smuggling ring run by a drug lord with his own personal army of deadly fighters, and must penetrate his evil lair with the help of a fellow karate master (played by Chiba). Shihomi and director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi (Wolf Guy) made two additional films based on the same character over the next year, Sister Street Fighter: Hanging By A Thread and Return Of The Sister Street Fighter, with a final unrelated follow-up (Sister Street Fighter: Fifth Level Fist) helmed by original Street Fighter director Shigehiro Ozawa appearing in 1976.

Genre entertainment of the highest order, the Sister Street Fighter films are a wild ride through some of the best exploitation cinema Japan produced in the 1970s. Funky and over-the-top, filled with wall-to-wall action, and featuring some of the craziest villains ever depicted onscreen, the series embodies female power in a male-dominated genre and is a magnificent showcase for the physical presence and martial arts skills of its lead star.

SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all four films
• Original uncompressed Japanese mono audio
• Original English dubbed audio for Sister Street Fighter
• New optional English subtitle translation for all four films
• English SDH subtitles for the English dub for Sister Street Fighter
• New video interviews with actor Shinichi “Sonny” Chiba, director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi, and screenwriter Masahiro Kakefuda
• Original Japanese theatrical trailers for all four films
• Original U.S. theatrical trailer for Sister Street Fighter, plus original English opening titles to the film
• Original German theatrical trailer for Sister Street Fighter, plus original German opening titles to the film
• Stills and poster gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Kungfubob O’Brien
• FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated booklet featuring writing on the series by Patrick Macias and a new essay on the U.S. release of Toei’s karate films by Chris Poggiali

R.P. “Kung Fu Bob” O’Brien/Arrow Video

Arrow Video

Lee B. Golden III

filmcombatsyndicate@gmail.com | Web

Native New Yorker. Lover of all things pizza, chocolate, pets, and good friends. Karaoke hero. Left of center. Survivor. Fond supporter of cult, obscure and independent cinema - especially fond of Asian movies and global action cinema. Author of the bi-weekly Hit List. Founder and editor of Film Combat Syndicate. Still, very much, only human.