REVIEW
This American remix of Karate Kiba originally released in 1974 features Sonny Chiba in another bloody and poorly executed exploitation film which features U.S. karate champions Aaron Banks and Bill Louie.

A brief, early scene added to the original film with Banks and Louie showing off their skills only causes confusion as the next scene has Chiba on a plane bound for Japan, supposedly after a stay in New York. Its never clearly explained what Chiba was doing there other than becoming familiar with the drug trade. By using Chiba's name in the film and having him referred to as a TV star, either the dubbing or original script implies that Chiba is essentially playing himself.

After a failed attempt by the Mafia to kill Chiba on the plane, he publicly vows to stamp out the drug trade in Japan by offering his services as a bodyguard to anyone with information that might lead to the capture or death of the remaining drug traffickers. To make his point, Chiba harnesses his ki energy to chop off the neck from a Coke bottle. His offer is taken up by a woman played by Judy Lee who hires him to safeguard her from these same criminals. Chiba is somewhat suspicious but agrees in the hopes that she'll lead him to the source of the incoming drugs. After a series of near fatal run-ins with various criminal organizations, Chiba discovers that the woman has a large stash of cocaine herself which she hopes to sell off. Instead of turning her in, Chiba lets her make the sale in order to catch the crooks. When the buyers attempt to steal the drugs, a friend of the woman kills them off as the mafia closes in to get the drugs. A couple of pimps kill off the mafia boys and end up trying to get the drugs themselves. Eventually the woman's so-called friend proves to be her undoing as Chiba does what he can to save her.

This is your typical exploitation fare and viewers generally love it or hate it. Although Chiba plays a more subdued character than the one that made him famous in The Street Fighter (1974), you can still expect to see severed limbs, women treated as objects, and plenty of grisly acts of violence. Chiba exhibits plenty of charisma but his role is basically limited to beating up or starring down anyone who threatens Judy Lee. The film itself is shot in sloppy fashion with lots of unsteady camerawork and too many overly cropped close-ups within confined quarters, especially during fight sequences. The fighting here is the kill-or-be-killed sort of street violence that generally ends quickly and never looks pretty, unlike much of Hong Kong's rhythmic battle scenes.

Like many of Chiba's other exploitation-era films, The Bodyguard does not age well. At the time of its release, it would have been considered cutting edge for its level of violence and raw intensity. Today, the film is more notable for its influences on cult filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino. The plot, which involves a series of double-crosses all based around a "McGuffin," or plot device also brings to mind Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). While often poorly executed and further mistreated in this badly dubbed American version, the film features some memorable images, while Sonny Chiba gives it his best effort.