OVERALL: R1

The BCI release for the anamorphic transfer.

Note none of the releases offer the original Japanese version.

GENERAL NOTES:
There are two versions in circulation:
- the original Japanese version (~88 minutes);
- the 1976 US version (~88 minutes) titled "The Bodyguard" (or "Viva Chiba: The Bodyguard" onscreen) which starts with a scrolling text and a narrator reading a passage from Ezekiel 25:17 - which directly inspired the Samuel L. Jackson scene in "Pulp Fiction" - with additional establishing shots of New York before the assassination, the replacement of the Japanese version's English-language newspaper headlines identifying the gangster phonetically as "Salbadole Lucco" (he becomes "Salvattore Rocco" in the U.S. version), and an additional scene in a New York karate school with actors Bill Louie and Aaron Banks discussing the merits of Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba.

The character Kiba is transformed into Sonny Chiba himself in the dubbing and the dialogue is rewritten in the press conference scene, replacing Kiba's explanation of his three years in America retracing the footsteps of his mentor Tetsugen Daito - the training flashback sequence of which has been repurposed for the American version's main titles sequence (the Japanese version imposes the credits on freeze frames throughout the hijacking sequence) - with his explanation that he has been fighting drug dealers and has returned to Japan to continue his mission (in the Japanese original he explains his reasoning for fighting the hijackers as promotion for his disrespected fighting school and advertisement of his services as bodyguard).

CUTS:

• R0 America- Brentwood Home Video - No cuts - US version.
• R0 Mark of the Ninja America- TGG Direct - No cuts - US version (87:34 NTSC).
• R1 Grindhouse Double Feature America- BCI Eclipse - No cuts - US version (88:10 NTSC).

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Comparison added by David on 26/03/03
Comparison last updated by Eric_Cotenas on 14/03/24

UPDATE LOG:

19/03/13: Added BCI release.
04/03/17: Added US TGG.
04/12/22: Updated tite, director.