Ninja la furia umana

Good old Sam Firstenberg..The man who embraced graphic violence into martial arts films 80's deserves accolades for his entry of total cheese into the b-grade annals of this periods hokum.

Before Michael Dudikoff picked up a sword,Sho Kosugi was the real deal. Never afraid to defend his honour,even before he knew what he was fighting for and not afraid to take a beating for his earnings,Takes up the role here as a sacred ninja forced to flee to America for a new life after the slaying of his family in Osaka.(The Grandmother should have been the FIRST one slayed for her acting ability)

Ninja's are like alcoholics as far as i am concerned.They always conced that their past is forged without reason to continue other than violence and dismay.More slaughter is abound due to a poor drug running effort on part of Kosugi's friend Braden who settles Sho's life in the US unbeknowenst he's being used as the front for such materials.When Kosugi's family is caught up in the slaughter that arises from the rival gang falling out, you have to think to yourslef. A:Why is the Blonde woman even part of the story and why does she not wear underwear during practice! B: Why does Kane remain defeated by afformentioned Hypnotised Blonde and not by huge Japanese Captive C: Were most of Kane's onscreen backflips poorly choreographed. and D: Why Keith Vitali's fearless cop role was rubbed short in a matter of seconds by the evil ninja man when he spent the whole film defeating guys with hatchets and guns.

The Answer is : WHO CARES when in fact this film should be appreciated for the fact that nothing else today with Jet Li or Seagal can emulate it..This is classic 80's garb at it's best.Appreciate it for what it is and dont pick it to bits.After all,The Cannon Group were in a league of their own,and as far as the league they set out to be goes,They were the experts.This is 80's predecessing martial arts mayhem and gore (and ham also) at it's best :)

Martial Arts movies have always sacrificed acting and dialogue in favor of keeping the action constant and entertaining. Revenge of the Ninja is no exception. The fight scenes are amusing and the dialogue is absolutely hilarious, and yet this movie has enough charm to be a cult classic.

Sho Kusagi plays Cho, a doll collector(!) living in Japan. For centuries he and his family have followed the way of the ninja. However, one day a group of ninjas massacres his family. Only his grandmother and infant son survive. Following the advise of his friend, he moves to America to sell his doll collection. Little does he know that he is a pawn in a Japanese drug-smuggling ring...

The plot aside, Revenge of the Ninja acts out like a parody of ninja clichés. You got the evil ninja that manages to change into his ninja suit in the blink of an eye, a grandmother that can do backflips, and over-the-top villains that look like they just came back from a Halloween party. The film's final fight scene occurs on a Los Angeles rooftop, where the evil ninja pulls out decoys, sticks, and shrunikens; none of which he had at the start of the scene.

There are a lot of bad martial-arts out there. Some are pure trash. Others, like this one, are good for a few laughs.

After seeing "Enter The Ninja" in the movie theater that I worked at in the early 80's, I cringed of the thought of having to watch another American made martial arts movie when my boss notified me that "Revenge..." would be our next attraction. When the movie opened in 1983 and I watched the opening scene, I was drawn in and hooked!

Everything about this movie seemed perfect (except the acting). The locations were great. The colors and lighting in the film were great. And the fight scenes were fantastic.

I just purchased the DVD to see how well this has held up through the years, and I must say it has held up quite well. I didn't even remember this movie being so bloody and violent (I had to quickly usher the "under 10" crowd away from the TV). Even by today's standards, this movie holds on tight to its "R" rating for violence. There is very little profanity and very little sex in this film.

It's funny that a movie with such good production values would have such bad acting. I mean some of the lines in this movie are delivered so badly I had to laugh out loud. And the "thugs" in the park look like the Village People!

Honestly though, this is, in my opinion, a great action movie. And the characters, in spite of bad acting, are quite likeable (or hateful, whichever appropriate for the character).

I also thought the music track was excellent, and doesn't really sound dated now like a lot of early 80's movies.

I recommend this movie with eight out of ten stars.

I can't say I remember too much about the film except it has all the normal ninja stereotypes in it with lots of blood. If that is what you want that is what you'll get. Don't get me wrong, when I watch a ninja movie I'm not looking for Shakespeare. I'm looking for sword slashing, shrunken throwing and bear claws to the face fun. And maybe a few heads getting lopped off. It is what it is.

The cool thing is how movies can bring back memories and I remember going to the movies with my mom and older brother and somehow convincing her that this particular movie was the one we were going to see. I'm not sure why she agreed to it and I'm sure she regretted it afterward as she is a conservative Christian woman. I was only 10 at the time and whining like crazy for us to see it. LOL I guess she thought, "It's about ninjas, how bad could it be!?" WRONG! This was the first rated R movie I saw in fact. All I have to say this movie is part of my life narrative now. Thanks Mom. I still remember the ending, but I won't spoil it for you.

I'm probably one of the few people who actually saw this in a theater.

Sho Kosugi stars as a ninja who had his whole family wiped out by a rival clan (We even witness his son take an arrow to the back) and when his entire family is killed, except for his mother and youngest son he decides to hang his jammies up and live out his life as a businessman however when his partner runs drugs and Kosugi's son witnesses it, Kosugi must protect his son and take on his equally proficient pal in the art of ninjitsu. Revenge Of The Ninja is quite possibly the best ninja movie ever made. (Ironically the best and worst ninja movies have Sho Kosugi. Worst one being 9 Deaths of The Ninja) In it we witness everything that makes a ninja movie so appealing, lots of cheesy zen philosophy, tons of fight sequences, lots of carnage and just tons of cheese in general. Revenge Of The Ninja also remains probably the best movie to date from Sho Kosugi and indeed it is just unfortunate he had his son also partake in what could have been even better without the kid. Still Revenge Of The Ninja is a very enjoyable movie and that is not even including the granny ninja.

* * * out of 4-(Good)