Revenge of the Ninja

"400 years of training in the art of sudden death... unleashed on 20th century America."

1983 1h 31m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 183

ActionCrimeDramaThriller

Synopsis

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A peaceful ex-ninja's life shatters when his son's kidnapping forces him back into violence amid an American-Japanese criminal drug war.

“400 years of training in the art of sudden death... unleashed on 20th century America.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

Sho Kosugi
Cho Osaki
Arthur Roberts
Braden
Keith Vitali
Dave Hatcher
Ashley Ferrare
Cathy
Kane Kosugi
Kane Osaki
Professor Toru Tanaka
Sumo Servant
Virgil Frye
Lt. Dime
Mario Gallo
Chifano

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Sam Firstenberg
Writers: James R. Silke
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Grossed $13M — a 18.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

43 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Part of the "The Ninja Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Sam Firstenberg, shot by David Gurfinkel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Robert J. Walsh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Mark Helfrich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Sho Kosugi and Arthur Roberts and Keith Vitali carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Sam Firstenberg directs. David Gurfinkel behind the camera. Robert J. Walsh scores. Mark Helfrich cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Shot for just $0.7M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
2Grossed $13M — a 18.8× return. The kind of profit studios chase for a decade.
343 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Part of the "The Ninja Trilogy" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Sam Firstenberg, shot by David Gurfinkel. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Robert J. Walsh. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Mark Helfrich shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Sho Kosugi and Arthur Roberts and Keith Vitali carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "400 years of training in the art of sudden death... unleashed on 20th century America.".
10IMDB entry: tt0086192 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 8 themes, including "martial arts", "japan", "kung fu", "sequel".

The technical file

Cinematography: David Gurfinkel
Original score: Robert J. Walsh
Editing: Mark Helfrich
Stunt coordinator: Steven Lambert
Runtime: 91 min · 1h 31m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $700,000
Box office: $13,168,027
Return: 1881% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Revenge of the Ninja (1983)

Part of

The Ninja Trilogy

The so-called Ninja Trilogy comprises Menahem Golan’s Enter the Ninja from 1981, and Sam Firstenberg’s sequels in-name-only, Revenge of the Ninja (1983) and Ninja III: The Domination (1984), all unified by the appearance of actor and real-life practitioner of ninjutsu Sho Kosugi (playing a different character in each title), and all rightly celebrated as showcases for the most egregious, ’80s-inflected cash-in excesses of Golan and Globus’ Cannon Films. Though the groundwork was laid by 1980’s The Octagon, it was these three films that began a veritable explosion of ninja presence in mainstream action flicks.