Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 17, 2025

Sam Firstenberg's "Revenge of the Ninja" (1983) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include recent audio commentary by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema; archival audio commentary by Sam Firstenberg, stunt coordinator Steve Lambert, and Code Red's Bill Olsen; behind-the-scenes stills; vintage trailer; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

If you wish to understand why so many films in The Cannon Group catalog are considered cult now, you have to see Revenge of the Ninja. This film is so ridiculously bad that only the 1980s could have tolerated it. Some seriously bad films emerged from the 1970s and 1990s, too, but the people who made them never expected them to be anything else. Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus did not reach out to director Sam Firstenberg with an offer to make a ridiculously bad film. All claims that Revenge of the Ninja was supposed to be precisely that kind of film, which have been around since the VHS era, are pure lies. Revenge of the Ninja was supposed to be a proper genre film about ninjas, and while proper may have meant a lot of different things to Golan and Globus, it definitely did not turn out to be a good film.

In a quiet corner of Tokyo, ninjas kill most of Cho Osaki’s (Sho Kosugi) family. Hours later, Cho’s good friend Braden (Arthur Roberts) convinces him to relocate to America and start a new life. After reluctantly trading his homeland for America, Cho opens a small art gallery displaying hand-crafted Japanese dolls, not realizing that Braden, who has been sponsoring his business, is using them to import heroin. When Cho’s son Kane (Kane Kosugi) accidentally breaks one of the dolls and the heroin spills out, Cathy (Ashley Ferrare), who has been training with Cho but works for Braden, warns her boss that his illegal business is about to be exposed. At exactly the same time, Braden’s relationship with Italian crime boss Caifano (Mario Gallo) begins deteriorating, and when the two fail to mend it, they become enemies. In the ensuing chaos, Cho realizes that Braden has betrayed him and goes on the warpath, further complicating his ongoing battle with Caifano and his thugs.

Firstenberg worked with an original screenplay by James Silke that is unquestionably the source of all serious flaws in Revenge of the Ninja. Here are a few examples of how ridiculous this screenplay must have been:

After the heroin spills out of the broken doll, the little boy becomes a major character and faces several grown-up criminals who attempt to take him out. Later, while being a snitch, Cathy undergoes a massive, utterly unbelievable transformation too, and at the right time, the screenplay exonerates her by revealing that Braden has been hypnotizing her. Also, Cho and Caifano’s clashes with Braden push the narrative in completely different directions.

All of these wild developments are glued together with incredibly bizarre action, too. Some of it features little Kane behaving like Bruce Lee, and some of it has massive bad guys dropping without being hit. Also, some of the action is unusually graphic, so even by 1980s standards Revenge of the Ninja could not have been promoted to kids who may aspire to be like little Kane.

The only effective and legitimately entertaining material is during the final twenty or so minutes, where Cho and Braden enter the same massive building in which Caifano and his thugs are hiding. There is good action here that a proper genre film about ninjas would require. But the buildup to the action is wildly inconsistent and more often than enthusiastically insulting the thinking mind, so the feeling that Revenge of the Ninja is one seriously mismanaged film becomes absolutely impossible to brush aside.

Firstenberg’s director of photography was David Gurfinkel, who lensed Golan’s very ambitious and even more amusing bad musical The Apple.

Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Kino Lorber's release of Revenge of the Ninja is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked".

Please note that some of the screencaptures included with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

Screencaptures #1-27 are taken from the Blu-ray.
Screencaptures #30-39 are taken from the 4K Blu-ray.

The release introduces a new 4K restoration of Revenge of the Ninja sourced from the original camera negative. In native 4K, the 4K restoration can be viewed with Dolby Vision and HDR grades. I chose to view it with HDR. Later, I spent time with its 1080p presentation on the Blu-ray.

I am not a big fan of Revenge of the Ninja, but have kept multiple releases of it, DVD and Blu-ray, in my library. I pulled out Kino Lorber's previous Blu-ray release and did multiple comparisons.

The overall quality of the new 4K restoration is practically identical to that of the new 4K restoration of Enter the Ninja, which is great news. On my system, all visuals, from all parts of the film, looked significantly better and more convincing. They are sharper, better detailed, lusher, and healthier. Also, in native 4K and 1080p, all visuals boast a vastly better dynamic range, which is an improvement that makes it possible to experience the entire film in a brand new way. In many darker areas, where previously many nuances were unconvincing and flatness was prevalent, now there is a lot more to see. Color reproduction and balance are outstanding. I liked everything that I saw on my system. The HDR grade is very carefully done and effective. However, the strength of the 4K restoration is such that the 1080p presentation excels in many similar and identical ways the native 4K presentation does. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. Image stability is excellent. In summary, whether seen in native 4K or 1080p, the 4K restoration is a tremendous upgrade in quality, reviving the film's native appearance in the best way possible.

Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

Kino Lorber's previous Blu-ray release of Revenge of the Ninja had only a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track, so I chose to revisit the film with the DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track.

There is plenty of action material that provides different opportunities for the lossless 5.1 track to impress. The action material from the final third of the film is the most intense, and I think that it is where the 5.1 track becomes most effective. It definitely expands the dynamic field in several areas and strengthens some contrasts. However, there are other areas where it is difficult to highlight meaningful discrepancies. So, once again, I feel that the 5.1 lossless track is good to have as an additional option, but only someone who knows the 2.0 track extremely well will be able to critique properly the efficacy of the former. If two new viewers chose one of the two tracks, without knowing that the other exists, I suspect that their viewing experiences will be equally satisfying.

Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Sam Firstenberg, stunt coordinator Steve Lambert, and Code Red's Bill Olsen. This commentary is one giant trip down memory lane with plenty of interesting comments about when, where, and how various sections of Revenge of the Ninja were shot, the cast that was assembled for the film, the blending of action and comedy, and the film's lasting appeal. It is an honest commentary, too. Firstenberg notes that Revenge of the Ninja was his first action film and admits that various things in it could have been done better.

• Commentary Two - this recent audio commentary was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. This commentary also offers plenty of information about the different locations where parts of Revenge of the Ninja were shot, but adds more about the stylistic identity of the film, ninja history, ninja films during the 1980s, The Cannon Group output, etc. As usual, Leeder and Venema present a lot of information about the work and legacies of the people who made Revenge of the Ninja.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Commentary One - this archival audio commentary was recorded by Sam Firstenberg, stunt coordinator Steve Lambert, and Code Red's Bill Olsen. This commentary is one giant trip down memory lane with plenty of interesting comments about when, where, and how various sections of Revenge of the Ninja were shot, the cast that was assembled for the film, the blending of action and comedy, and the film's lasting appeal. It is an honest commentary, too. Firstenberg notes that Revenge of the Ninja was his first action film and admits that various things in it could have been done better.

• Commentary Two - this recent audio commentary was recorded by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema. This commentary also offers plenty of information about the different locations where parts of Revenge of the Ninja were shot, but adds more about the stylistic identity of the film, ninja history, ninja films during the 1980s, The Cannon Group output, etc. As usual, Leeder and Venema present a lot of information about the work and legacies of the people who made Revenge of the Ninja.

• Introduction - this archival introduction was filmed by Sam Firstenberg. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Behind the Scenes Gallery - presented here is a collection of behind-the-scenes stills. With music. (3 min).

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered vintage trailer for Revenge of the Ninja. In English, not subtitled. (3 min).

Revenge of the Ninja 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

For me, the decision to transform Sho Kosugi's son into a major character ruins Revenge of the Ninja. No, I do not think that without the little boy Revenge of the Ninja would have been a vastly superior genre film because it was Sam Firstenberg's first action film. However, most likely, it would have had more of the material from the final twenty or so minutes, which really is the main reason to see it. Kino Lorber's combo pack brings a gorgeous, very faithful 4K restoration that looks equally great on 4K Blu-ray and Blu-ray. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to the fans.