La rage de l'honneur

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.

My review was written in February 1987 after a UA Twin screening in Manhattan.

"Rage of Honor" is a substandard action vehicle for martial arts star Sho Kosugi, who gets the chance to choreograph the fight scenes and introduce gadgety weapons, but is otherwise sunk by pointless writing and limp direction.

Kosugi plays Shira Tanaka, a Phoenix-based U. S. narcotics investigator who gets in a tizzy when his assistant is tortured and murdered. He quits his job, hops a plane to Buenos Aires seeking revenge (improbably taking along his blonde girlfriend) and there ensues a boring series of fights and double crosses until nearly the entire cast is wiped out.

Besides being at least two reels too long, film doesn't work because Kosugi is never in any real danger and all incidents are merely functional devices to get a fight scene going. The ease with which he dispatches at least 100 adversaries robs the fights of excitement. Nadir occurs in the Argentine junle, where indians attack and Kosugi, not content with wiping out baddie, massacres dozens of indians in situational self-defense.

Kosugi's difficulty in delivering English dialog is still a hindrance and the supporting cast here is exceedingly bland. The main villain (character roles are not identified in the credits) seems to be auditioning for a career as Harrison Ford's stunt double. Tech credits are acceptable, but Gordon Hessler's direction seems phoned in.

I must admit that I wasn't harboring much of any grant expectations to this 1987 martial arts action movie. But still, I opted to watch it, as I grew up with movies like this, but oddly enough I actually never had seen "Rage of Honor" before now late in 2022.

Writers Robert Short and Wallace C. Bennett managed to deliver everything stereotypical for a late 1980s martial arts action movie. You have Shô Kosugi in the leading role, playing a police officer that quits his job in order to go on a vigilante murderous rampage in Buenos Aires.

Yeah, there were a lot of things wrong with the storyline here, if you take a step back and look at it with a pair of realism goggles. I mean, for starters, a police officer that quits his job to go on a murderous rampage in a foreign country. How messed up is that? But, hey it is a movie, and is does make for some good old fashioned cheesy 1980s martial art entertainment. And then there were Japanese ninjas for some reason in Buenos Aires. Sure, why not?

The acting performances in "Rage of Honor" were as to be expected from a late 1980s martial arts action movie. But at least you know what you get with a guy such as Shô Kosugi, right?

There is a good amount of action and martial arts in the movie, some of it good, some of it dubious.

If you enjoy the 1980s martial arts movies, then "Rage of Honor" is definitely a movie that you will enjoy. And I think I would have enjoyed that way more back in 1987, when I was 12 years old, more than I did today in 2022 as a 47 year old.

My rating of director Gordon Hessler's 1987 "Rage of Honor" lands on a five out of ten stars.

Please do not confuse this title with RAGE AND HONOR starring Cynthia Rothrock. This martial arts / action film is still not pumped up to the limit, but it did deliver some occasional surprises. Our Asian action man, Tanaka, can fist-fight and use a gun simultaneously. Not only that, he also carries a wide arsenal of weapons including ninja stars and bombs, all of which makes this worth an evening rental. Even more, he does about a couple of cool action stunts that rival (but not as good as) Jackie Chan once in a while. It's a fairly solid 80s actioner because of these features. Let me warn you, though. This movie is kind of lame and it won't hold your interest after one viewing. Solid choreography carries RAGE OF HONOR above the average mark.

Sho Kosugi stars as Tanaka a ninja who when on vacation fights of a group of mercenaries who killed his friend in this terrible chop socky effort which showcases a hero that is just too invincible to be any fun, also Gordon Hessler misdirects the action and the movie never recovers.