Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Gripping story with well-crafted characters

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

I watched this on Amazon Prime under the title THE STRONGEST KARATE. It's a simple documentary cashing in on the martial arts craze of the 1970s by depicting participants of a tournament in Japan training and travelling to attend. It's very simplistic stuff, the footage mainly consisting of random people off the street strutting their stuff and occasionally taking part in staged demonstrations.A film like this is only going to be of interest to martial arts aficionados because there's little context to be had and not as much scene-setting as I was hoping for. You do get to see combatants from different disciples showing off their art forms so it's a good introductory piece for anyone wanting to explore different styles and techniques.

As a practitioner of Kyokushin Karate, I found it very interesting to see the roots of my martial art. The fact is that this particular style of Karate has been deemed "The Strongest Karate", known for its pad-less FULL contact sparring: consisting of head kicks, body blows, knees to body and head, and body punches. Just no head punching (or it would be to bloody). this movie is about the very first World Tournament of Kyokushin and it is filled with Hard Core training, cheesy 70's music and crazy spinning back heel kicks to the chin making the opponents jaw resemble a cash resister!, or nasty head kicks blasting opponents on the mat twitching and flexing there toes and fingers like there playing a invisible piano. The story also follows a few American fighters as well as a few from other nations and fighting styles as well. It is as informative as it is entertaining. I had DVR'd it about 3 years ago and had it for most of the time but i changed my cable provider and lost it in transition. If i came across it anywhere I would buy it as fast as I could! if you get the chance to see it take advantage of the rare opportunity. As a MMA fighter and Kyokushin Karate fighter i see both the beauty and the brutality of this GOD HAND KARATE. Osu!!!!

This bizarre documentary keeps popping up on the Black Starz premium channel, no doubt because of its title and the fact that three of the competitors in the film were African-American. If you approach this film expecting a Jim Brown asskick-athon, you're going to be deeply disappointed. It's actually a fairly staid look at an important karate championship held in Japan. The film was produced by Japan's Sankyo Motion Picture Company, which may explain why the (extremely brief) English language segments are so badly synced. A little revenge for years of badly dubbed Japanese films, perhaps? Probably of interest only to the hardest of hardcore martial arts buffs, Fighting Black Kings is definitely one of the odder features to pop up on cable.

As a student of Tae Kwon Do, I found it interesting to observe the fighting styles of so many different individuals, from a wide background of martial arts. It's also fun to notice the 1970's styles, and fighting attitude of the different competitors. Unless you are interested in fighting techniques or a student of martial arts sparring, I don't see why this film would interest you.