Champion of Death

Original title: Kenka karate kyokushin ken

1975
R
1h 25m

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

503

YOUR RATING

Shin'ichi Chiba in Champion of Death (1975)

Japanese Action Biography Drama

A karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Oyama, who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Oyama's entrance into the world of... Read allA karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Oyama, who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Oyama's entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences.A karate tournament is crashed by an enigmatic martial artist calling himself Oyama, who arrives in tattered rags and beats all who dare challenge him. But Oyama's entrance into the world of karate has unforeseen consequences.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.6/10

503

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Biography

Mahershala Ali and Alex R. Hibbert in Moonlight (2016)

Drama

Storyline

Did you know

Trivia
This movie is based on the true life story of a Korean fighter named Choi Bae-dal (who later changed his name to Masutatsu Oyama), the founder of Kyokushin Karate in Japan. Choi was born in South Korea in 1923, immigrated to Japan in 1938, and founded the Kyokushin Karate organization in 1953. Currently, Kyokushin Karate is practiced by more than 12 million practicioners in over 120 countries around the world.

Alternate versions
US "Champion of Death" version is cut by roughly 5 minutes. This mainly includes the "Gardening With Oyama" montage around the hour mark, as well as a few snippets when Oyama is told to return to Tokyo and continue his Karate training. However, there was also one brief cut in the finale to avoid an X rating, when Oyama pierces a henchman's head through his mouth with a bo staff. Despite the cut, due to a mastering error, the audio of the deleted shot can still be heard as Oyama disarms a gunfighter.