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Revenge of the Ninja (1983)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
12/14
12/14:
Considered the best film of the ninja genre, Revenge of the Ninja is typical of a Golan-Globus production: low-budget,
tons of action-adventure, and high level of creativity.
Shô Kosugi is definitely the star of the show, and his martial art skills are amazing and realistic. He proves that CGI is
completely unnecessary. Of course, there are certain times it's easy to tell some modifications had to be made. For
instance, when Shô is scaling the wall with his claw hands, notice how it moves too much.
The final fight is an outstanding display of arts in deception and invisibility which is unlike most in other
films. Although some scenes are cartoonish, the violence is surprisingly graphic as people including children are bloodily
killed, even with shurikens on their heads.
Kane Kosugi is pretty good for a child actor with talent in martial arts, and I don't mind him as a replacement for any one of
the terrible kids in 3 Ninjas. I wonder why Sam Firstenberg, given the great start, didn't carry the same level
of quality over to the American Ninja franchise.
All in all, if you have to pick only one ninja picture, make it Revenge of the Ninja.