Crappy film

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

OK. If you are around my age and went to high school back in the late '70s in Florida, then you probably remember a little Saturday afternoon show called "Black Belt Theatre". Every week they showed another badly dubbed, low budget martial arts flick.And I LOVED it! It was here that I first remember seeing Etsuko "Sue" Shiomi. I can't remember the actual movie but it might have been Sister Streetfighter. In any case, I was a die-hard fan from then on. So when I first saw a copy of Dragon Princess on VHS a few years later at the local Blockbuster, I scarfed it up. Yeah, Sonny Chiba has only a small part in it and the budget is typically minuscule, but if you can get past that then you are in for one fun ride! Sue Shiomi does an excellent job as the revenge seeking daughter of Sonny Chiba's character. The villains though, especially the blind swordsman, in my opinion steal the show. Each fight is unique and entertaining with the violence being, of course, over the top.A few years ago I found this gem on DVD. If you get the chance, grab it up. Trust me; you'll have a blast!

Actually a pretty descriptive title – the "Princess" is Sue Shiomi, Sonny Chiba's daughter, who he trains to take revenge on the men who crippled him. (Chiba himself is in this movie for all of fifteen minutes or so.) A bit choppy here and there, with some continuity errors, but it's hard to tell if that's in the original print (I saw a dubbed American release). Very loose plot turns into a variation of "your school is better than my school" and the inevitable martial arts tournament, although that's eventually dropped for just a big battle. Shiomi is attractive and seemingly a good actress, the fight choreography is mostly pretty good although there's a tendency to indulge in weirdo camera angles, and there's one great bad guy, a white-haired gentleman who's blind and goes nuts when loud noises hit. Fine of its kind.

Sonny was the next best thing out there besides Bruce. i've seen this movie back in the 80's, and i loved it. sonny is in the movie enough to make an impact. but the problem is when it came out, it was called Dragon Princess, but when you try to find it, it keeps coming up Dragon Princess but it is actually showing you Sister Street Fighter. this makes it very difficult to find to purchase. etsuko style is sooooo sonny's style. it's sad as her father trains her to take revenge on his life because he knows that he will be killed because of who he is. yes, he is very strick and hard on his daughter, but very protective of her also. a very brutal man you would think the way he is training her, but she loves him. everything that she do in her young life is in preparation for her ultimate challenge in life, her father's revenge.

1st watched 9/15/2002 - 4 out of 10(Dir-Yataka Kodaira): Ok karate flick with long-winded final fight scene and shaky camera-work throughout. The camera-work that is done lessons the karate action because it's hard to tell what actual moves are being done and their impact on the intended victim. The plot has been used before(vengeance asked for by the father on his death bed) in films of this genre and there is a fitting ended for those who care enough to stay until the end. If you make it till then, you're a better man than most of us or your interest in the karate action genre is what keeps you close. What you can see of the karate scenes is well-choreographed and this is the reason that I gave this movie a higher rating than what I had originally expected it would receive.