THE GREAT CHASE is a typical Japanese action flick starring Etsuko "Sue" Shihomi, the actress best known for appearing in the SISTER STREET FIGHTER series movies. This one's very much in the mould of those films, with very slim plotting and Shiomi playing a mistress of disguise seeking to take down the criminal organisation responsible for the death of her father. It's wild, wacky stuff in a very '70s way, with a surprising emphasis on sleaze and depravity at times; the rape scene with a guy in a bear suit makes for very uncomfortable viewing. On the plus side, the action is staged with gusto and a lot of fun, I only wish there was more of it in the second half of the movie. Some great comic book style characters are introduced early on - the female wrestler, the bald mystic with super might, the card thrower, the Native American (!) - only to randomly disappear from the screen later on, which is a shame. Still, the high rise climax makes up for the deficiencies somewhat.

-Possible Spoilers Ahead - Karei Naru Tsuiseki (AKA The Great Chase) is an oddly named movie. Although Shihomi Etsuko plays a Race Car Driver who also lends out her services to the Japanese Secret Service, there really isn't much of a "chase" to be seen (although Shihomi does pursue, a cartel of Drug Runners and Assorted Japanese Yakuza types). The story and plot rehashes much of what has already been seen in other Shihomi Etsuko vehicles of the time (`Onna Hissatsu Ken' [Female Killing Fist AKA Sister Street Fighter] - Toei, 1974; `Giyakushu! Satsujin Ken' [Revenge! Killing Fist AKA Street Fighter's Last Revenge-Toei, 1974], `Onna Hissatsu Ken - Kiki Ippatsu' [Female Killing Fist - Crisis Resolved AKA Return of Sister Street Fighter-Toei, 1974]). While the story is pure 70's Exploitation and Gritty Crime Drama, the best and only reason to see it is for the Martial Arts Action of Shihomi. Shihomi is certainly an enigma in Japanese Action Cinema (a tough as nails female action star who could give Diana Rigg's Emma Peel from the "Avengers" TV Series a run for her money). While the overall film is pretty standard Toei stuff, the action is over-the-top and at times hilarious (i.e. Shihomi battling the lead criminal atop a moving gondolla or Shihomi battling a whip-wielding Catholic Nun). All-in-all a fairly fun film if you're not expecting anything really deep.

The Great Chase is a blast. Etsuko Shihomi - Sister Street Fighter herself - stars in a spy film from Norifumi Suzuki (School of the Holy Beast, Roaring Fire, ten Torakku Yaro movies which are caper films in the world of dekotora, highly decorated trucks) that was exactly what I needed on a winter day filled with post-holiday ennui.

She plays Shinobu, an agent charged with stopping drug smugglers who put their heroin into the bodies of dead girls, a gang connected to her father, who was framed for a similar crime five years ago and died in prison. This mission involves battling bad guys who can smash rocks on their heads, one with killer playing cards, another with a whip and singing female wrestler Mach Fumiake, a real Japanese pro wrestler who was also the Kilara leader in Gamera Super Monster.

Shinobu is also super famous as a race car driver and even has her own fan club, plus she seems to be some kind of Buckaroo Banzai-esque polymath, as she's also a master of disguise and a martial artist. This brings her up against Onozawa, a man who enjoys arrdvarking while dressed in a cat suit as he listens to Mozart under a photo of Hitler and his gang of men dressed as nuns moving drugs though a convent who totally must have been exchanging tips in some kind of drug gang peer group with the baddies in They Call Her Cleopatra Wong.

This movie doesn't want to be normal. And that's why I love it. In my dreams Suzuki made a whole bunch more movies as Shinobu.