Pour One Out - Sonny Chiba To Retire
It’s a sad day in TV in Japan land.
One of the world’s greatest action heroes (and inspiration for young actors/filmmakers everywhere) Sonny Chiba (aka Chiba Shinichi) has decided to call it a day.
The world-famous Japanese action superstar, now 67, has been suffering health problems as of late and will be retiring by the end of the year. Veteran of over 125 movies (including The Street Fighter, Doberman Cop and, more recently, Kill Bill) the man oozes awesomeness in ways that Chuck Norris could only dream of.
Below are a few clips to watch and ponder what we’ll no longer be seeing. Until he decides to come out of retirement. He’s not dead after all folks.
WARNING: Some SFX-based violence below.
First, the English trailer for Chiba’s first big hit “The Street Fighter”. Of note here the utter lack of sincerity to any of the voices that the Western man tried bestow upon Mr. Chiba.
Then, Sonny takes on the bulls and is totally not down with the running.
And best, and most insanely graphic, Sonny literally rips the balls off somebody.
Seriously, the man is/was a legend. If you’ve got other great Chiba clips drop them in the comments and I’ll update this post as we get more. Let’s show our love for the biggest badass ever to grace the face of the earth.
Let’s not forget his amusing scene in Survive Style 5+ as the aspirin company executive…
July 18th, 2007 at 12:14 am
Ahh, yes the good ol days of Sonny Chiba… Kill Bill also!
July 19th, 2007 at 10:15 am
The bull scene reminds me of Mas Oyama, founder of kyokushinkai karate, who killed bulls for exhibition.
July 19th, 2007 at 2:34 pm
He didn’t need to kill the bull!! and luckily the girl’s dress was already red, so she didn’t have to worry about getting blood on it.
July 21st, 2007 at 12:43 am
LWishney — there’s a good reason for that! That clip is from “Kenka karate kyokushinken” and Chiba plays Oyama in the film. There were two more films made, check out the trailer for part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHorQvXc7Mg
July 21st, 2007 at 10:38 am
Thanks Feitclub! That makes sense, but when I looked on IMDB, there was no mention that I could see.
My next question is: is the fighting bear in that clip what inspired the bear character in Tekken?
July 21st, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Chiba ended his career with his last role completed in Fuurin Kazan, a serial history drama on NHK.
His swords play in the earlier episodes were amazing for a 60 + years old.
July 29th, 2007 at 8:12 am