Karate Fighter

Karate Fighter is a 1983 martial arts film directed by Giorgos Spanos and starring, , , , and. The film is about a martial artist named Shinichi (Chiba) who is visiting his friend Barbara in. On arrival, Shinichi learns that his friend is being harassed by wealthy oilman Richard Daniels (Quinn). Daniels' plans are thwarted by Shinichi with his martial arts skills, leading him to hire his own karate-ka (Estevez).

The film was originally intended to be directed by Dimos Mardas, Spanos' brother-in-law, and star. Before production was set to begin, Mardas was replaced by Spanos, but stayed on the production as a second unit director, and Inosanto was replaced by Chiba due to him lacking acting ability, but stayed on as a fighting consultant and fight choreographer.

Plot
Shinichi Azuma, a former and veteran of the, returns to his native  for a karate training exercise led by sensei Kanemaru. He then goes to visit family friend Barbara Eversley and her husband Gregory, who have leased a collective farm in from the government. He then finds out the Eversleys are being harassed by Richard Daniels, the wealthy owner of The Daniels Companies, who wants to buy the lease from the Hungarian government so he can tap into the oil deposit underneath.

Cast

 * as Shinichi Azuma
 * as Barbara Eversley
 * as Thomas Andrews
 * as Richard Daniels
 * as Gregory Eversley
 * as Kanemaru
 * as Malcolm
 * as George "Titan" Schwartz
 * as "Snake"
 * as "Tiny"
 * as Hiroshi
 * as Mr. Winters
 * as Laszlo
 * as Gyorgy
 * as Richard
 * as "Billy"
 * Moses Thompson as "Davy"

Production
Principal photography began on April 1, 1982 in, now with Spanos directing and as the star. Principal photography concluded on May 20.

Most of the film was shot silent, with voices and sound effects added in post-production. While, , , and  provided their own overdubs, Sonny Chiba was dubbed over by , while  was dubbed over by Christopher Berger.

The film's score by Tassos Karras and Loukas Spanos (the latter credited as Lucas Spanos) was recorded in by the.