Rage of Honor

This movie is very 80s. It has agents, ninjas, military, evil druglords, jungle tribes... it reminded me of every action movie from James Bond to Rambo to American Ninja.

It also has bad acting, uninteresting characters and somehow boring flow of story. I can't give a really good rating because I felt a bit bored most of the time. But when the action starts, then it gets good. The action scenes may not be the best possible quality but they have certain coolness, with nice stunts, crazy ninja weapons, and enough explosions. I also liked hard rock/synthwave kind of music which seals the very 80s feel.

So, this is not a movie you watch for the story, but if you have a soft spot for 80s' action movies it has a decent dose of that ridiculousness you probably yearn for.

Rage of Honor (1987)

** (out of 4)

A Narc agent (Shô Kosugi) gives up his job and goes for revenge after his partner is brutally killed and no one seems to care. It gets even more personal when the drug lord kidnaps his girlfriend and the agent decides to take everyone down. RAGE OF HONOR isn't going to win any Oscars and most people are going to hate it with a passion but if you're a fan of the genre then it should at least keep you entertained. Again, if you're looking for some type of high art then this here certainly isn't going to be your cup of tea but genre fans should eat it up. Kosugi was never an actor and his lack-of-acting skills actually makes for some pretty funny moments and especially in the more dramatic moments. The actor simply can't display any sort of dramatic moments and this at least gives some campy humor to the film. What Kosugi can do is kick major a@# and this is apparent during the various action scenes throughout the picture. The best one and the highlight happens on a hotel balcony as Kosugi's girlfriend is dangling from the side about to meet her death and her boyfriend is in the room fighting. The climax to this fight is pure martial arts material and classic. The supporting characters are all pretty much cardboard and none of them are interesting enough to really make the material better. The film also runs on a tad bit too long, which is another reason the film doesn't work better. With that said, there's enough silly action and camp to make it worth viewing for fans of the genre.

A Japanese cop, Shiro (Sho Kosugi), and his partner Ray are after a bunch of drug dealers. But they are betrayed by an insider and Ray is killed. Shiro follows the murderer, a sadistic drug lord, up to Singapore.

This is director Gordon Hessler's follow-up to "Pray for Death" (1985), also starring Sho Kosugi. The general consensus seems to be that the best Hessler-Kosugi team-up was "Pray for Death", but I respectfully disagree. I feel they stepped it up a notch or two for "Rage of Honor", and I really appreciate the James Bond-as-a-ninja theme.

Some people may take issue with Hessler's direction. Cool A** Cinema notes, "Unfortunately, the action sequences suffer the same fate as most American martial arts pictures of the day. There's very few master shots and far too many close ups." That point is well taken, but for those looking for an action film rather than a martial arts film, this may not be easily noticeable. No one should be expecting Bruce Lee.

The Arrow Video blu-ray is not packed with extras, but is far from bare bones and does include a brand new interview with star Sho Kosugi on "Rage of Honor" and the later stages of his film career. We also have an interview with Stelvio Cipriani, the film's composer. The first pressing includes a collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film and an extract from Kosugi's upcoming book. And, of course, you are getting the film in high definition, looking far crisper and cleaner than we ever got in the glory days of VHS -- you can actually see the individual drops of splashing water.

this Shô Kosugi movie is better than his previous movie,Pray for Death.at least i think it is.the acting is better,there's more of a story,and the fight sequences are much better.this one is also faster paced.and there's a bit of intrigue,which Pray for Death didn't have.it doesn't have any slow moments.of course it still has the usual two dimensional characters,and it's still not his best movie,but it's definitely watchable.i would watch it again.it's still a revenge flick at it's core though,as most of Shô Kosugi's movies are.but it should keep you entertained for just over ninety minutes,especially if you're a Shô Kosugi fan.for me,Rage of Honor is a 6/10

Sho Kosugi re-teamed with PRAY FOR DEATH (1985) director Gordon Hessler for this international action flick. Shiro (Kosugi) is a Drug Investigation Bureau (D.I.B.?) agent who seeks revenge after his partner is murdered by drug-lord Havelock (Lewis Van Bergen). He quits the force and flies to Buenos Aires to get his revenge. Oh, I'm sorry, he rages his honor. Shiro is apparently not the smartest cookie as he brings his girlfriend along and she is quickly kidnapped, resulting in a huge chase through the jungles of Argentina. This was Kosugi trying to expand his screen image a bit, resulting in a character that is sort of like James Bond with some ninja tendencies. He doesn't have Bond's instincts though. For example, the "good guys" send a chopper to pick him up and 6 deadly ninjas pop out to kill him. Shiro dispatches of them, yet still follows the instructions of the "good guys" to "take the disc to the abandoned factory" (how he knew which factory is beyond me). The action is very well staged by Hessler, who gives the production a really big budget look. The last half hour is pretty much fighting and shootouts non-stop. The MGM DVD I have have (part of a ninja 3-pack with American NINJA and REVENGE OF THE NINJA) is frustrating in that it starts the film widescreen for the credits and then jumps to 1.85 for the movie. But at least it is better than the full frame single edition release MGM previously put out.