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6.0/10
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After ninjas killed his family, Cho and his son Kane come to America to start a new life. He opens a doll shop but is unwittingly importing heroin in the dolls. When his friend betrays him, ... Read allAfter ninjas killed his family, Cho and his son Kane come to America to start a new life. He opens a doll shop but is unwittingly importing heroin in the dolls. When his friend betrays him, Cho must prepare for the ultimate battle.After ninjas killed his family, Cho and his son Kane come to America to start a new life. He opens a doll shop but is unwittingly importing heroin in the dolls. When his friend betrays him, Cho must prepare for the ultimate battle.
Shô Kosugi
- Cho Osaki
- (as Sho Kosugi)
- …
John LaMotta
- Joe
- (as John La Motta)
Professor Toru Tanaka
- Sumo Servant
- (as Prof. Toru Tanaka)
Don Shanks
- Chief
- (as Dan Shanks)
Donré Sampson
- Shooting Thug
- (as Don Ré Sampson)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
By today's standards, yes. By the standard of fighting movies back then, sho kusugi was considered today's crouching tiger. No movies back then had swordplay or weaponplay or martial arts like this. Before this movie, all the movies of any category with any sort of fighting were all conan the barbarian type or the excalibur type. They took roughly 3 seconds to complete a swing of a sword, moved very slowly, etc. Sho kusugi brought speed and finesse to the screen, although his acting was subpar, his fighting skills were excellent. His martial arts sparring with the good guy cop was about the best martial arts ever produced on the big screen up to that time. The cop was also the only other extra with any real skills. All the other fighters in the movies were just that.....extras. They moved slow like conan movie guys, etc. The good guy cop was actually the guy wearing the bad guy ninja suit for all the fighting scenes if you look at the credits.
Basically, these movies with a true master martial artist like kusugi paved the way for movies you see today.
Revenge of the ninja was the matrix/crouching tiger of its time. Unmatched.
Basically, these movies with a true master martial artist like kusugi paved the way for movies you see today.
Revenge of the ninja was the matrix/crouching tiger of its time. Unmatched.
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 :)
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 :)
Stunning action scenes and stunts particularly the final confrontation between Cho and Braden. Excellent plot and story. The acting was also good, I've always enjoyed American Ninja Part 1 until I saw Revenge of the Ninja which was and still is the best Ninja film yet.
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.
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.
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.
Did you know
- TriviaThe film was originally to be shot in Los Angeles, but the necessary permits, police protection, fire marshals and myriad logistics fees would be taking up a bigger and bigger part of the film's budget. The Utah Film Commission was trying to get Cannon Films to start producing films in their state and a representative promised no permits, location fees or union deals as well as lower salaries for local crews. The commission's assurances persuaded Cannon to switch filming to Salt Lake City.
- GoofsWhen Cho is using the claws to climb up the side of the building, in one scene as he sticks the claws in the concrete you see the wall move slightly. It's more than likely plaster or sheet rock used to simulate the rock of the side of the building.
- Alternate versionsThe Australian Video version (released by Syme Video) has all censored scenes intact. The scene where Cho's son gets a Ninja Star in the head is intact, the cut scenes of violence at the end of the film between Cho and Braden that most versions worldwide don't have are uncut in the Australian Video version.
- ConnectionsFeatured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Ninjas (2014)
- How long is Revenge of the Ninja?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $700,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,168,027
- Gross worldwide
- $13,168,027
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