The Streetfighter

A 1974 Japanese martial arts film directed by Shigehiro Ozawa and starring Sonny Chiba as Takuma Tsurugi, a mercenary karate master. When both the Yakuza and the Mafia plot to kidnap the daughter of a deceased oil magnate, Tsurugi is hired by each side — but when neither will meet his price, he switches sides to protect the heiress. The film was released in the United States by New Line Cinema and became one of the distributor's first commercial successes. It is notable as the first film to receive an X-rating in the US solely for violence, thanks to Chiba's brutally realistic karate techniques. The film spawned multiple sequels and cemented Chiba's status as an international martial arts icon.