Revenge of the Ninja Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Revenge of the Ninja Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov June 23, 2024

Sam Firstenberg's "Revenge of the Ninja" (1983) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive new 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-A "locked".

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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Revenge of the Ninja arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

In the United States, Revenge of the Ninja made its high-definition debut with this release in 2015. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from the same master that was accessed for the original release, but the technical presentation is different.

This release is encoded with proper gamma levels. It uses a dual-layer disc, too. Unfortunately, while there are some minor improvements that strengthen some visuals, especially if one uses a larger screen, the current master has some serious limitations. For example, most wider shots struggle to reveal proper delineation and depth. See example here. In darker areas, darker nuances are average at best, too. Color balance is good, but there is room for meaningful improvements that can strengthen key primaries and nuances. Some highlights can be rebalanced as well. The good news is that there are no traces of problematic digital corrections, plus the surface of the visuals is healthy. Image stability is good, too. Still, more often than not, different sequences look dated and anemic. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Revenge of the Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The original release of Revenge of the Ninja does not have optional English SDH subtitles, so if you need them, you should consider this release.

I did not encounter any issues to report in our review. The dialog was very clear, sharp, and stable. The action footage sounded good, too. In fact, several sequences, like the one with the van, sounded very good. I am unsure if there is any room for meaningful improvements. Some rebalancing tweaks could be introduced, but the current lossless track already serves the film very well.

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

• 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 exclusive new 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 that 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 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 new release is sourced from the same shaky master that was used to prepare the original release of Revenge of the Ninja, but the technical presentation of the film is different. Also, the release adds optional English SDH subtitles and a new audio commentary by critics Mike Leeder and Arne Venema.