REVENGE OF THE NINJA (1983) - Sho Kosugi - The Best Movie You Never Saw

Revenge of the Ninja

The video looks back at Revenge of the Ninja as one of Cannon Films’ most entertaining action movies and a showcase for martial-arts star Sho Kosugi. Cannon had already scored a hit with Enter the Ninja, but audiences remembered Kosugi, who played the villain, more than Franco Nero’s hero. For the follow-up, Kosugi got the lead.

Kosugi plays a ninja master whose family is slaughtered in Japan. After taking revenge, he leaves his old life behind and moves to America with his mother and surviving son, Kane, to open an art gallery. Unfortunately, the gallery is being used as a front for a drug-smuggling operation run by an evil ninja. The movie’s guiding principle—“Only a ninja can defeat a ninja”—leads to a big showdown atop a Salt Lake City skyscraper.

The narrator praises Kosugi’s on-screen skills and fight choreography, calling him a rare martial-arts crossover star for Western audiences. Kosugi’s son Kane plays his son in the film and gets his own action moments. The recap also gets a cheeky laugh out of Kane occasionally being caught staring at co-star Ashley Ferrar’s cleavage.

Director Sam Firstenberg is credited with keeping the film brisk and inventive, helped by its synth score. He would go on to direct more Cannon action films, including American Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination. Revenge of the Ninja earned $13 million and became a VHS favorite, despite its hard R rating.

Cannon Films Lightning Round

• Enter the Ninja gets a nod for its final fight, plus a game of spotting when Nero’s blue eyes give way to stunt double Mike Stone’s brown ones.
• American Ninja and American Ninja 2 are praised as fun showcases for Michael Dudikoff, while Avenging Force gets a shout-out as his strongest overall action film.
• Chuck Norris gets praise for Invasion U.S.A., which the narrator jokes feels like a serial-killer movie where Norris is the “good guy”—and the villains are right to be terrified of him. The Delta Force is teased for taking ages to get to the action.
• Charles Bronson’s Death Wish 3 is described as a fever dream in which he kills more than 100 bad guys. The narrator contrasts it with the less-liked Death Wish 2 and Death Wish 4.
• Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Bloodsport is singled out as a Cannon classic, while Cyborg arrived as the studio was collapsing.

Verdict

Revenge of the Ninja may not be perfect, but it’s a lively, inventive slice of ’80s action—and a good entry point into Cannon’s famously scrappy catalogue.

Personalities Mentioned

Sho Kosugi, Kane Kosugi, Shane Kosugi, Sam Firstenberg, Keith Vitali, Franco Nero, Mike Stone, Ashley Ferrar, Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus, Michael Dudikoff, Chuck Norris, Charles Bronson, Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Liam Neeson.