People are voting emotionally.

Captivating movie !

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

A Japanese cop, Shiro (Sho Kosugi), and his partner Ray are after a bunch of drug dealers. But they are betrayed by an insider and Ray is killed. Shiro follows the murderer, a sadistic drug lord, up to Singapore.This is director Gordon Hessler's follow-up to "Pray for Death" (1985), also starring Sho Kosugi. The general consensus seems to be that the best Hessler-Kosugi team-up was "Pray for Death", but I respectfully disagree. I feel they stepped it up a notch or two for "Rage of Honor", and I really appreciate the James Bond-as-a-ninja theme.Some people may take issue with Hessler's direction. Cool A** Cinema notes, "Unfortunately, the action sequences suffer the same fate as most American martial arts pictures of the day. There's very few master shots and far too many close ups." That point is well taken, but for those looking for an action film rather than a martial arts film, this may not be easily noticeable. No one should be expecting Bruce Lee.The Arrow Video blu-ray is not packed with extras, but is far from bare bones and does include a brand new interview with star Sho Kosugi on "Rage of Honor" and the later stages of his film career. We also have an interview with Stelvio Cipriani, the film's composer. The first pressing includes a collector s booklet featuring new writing on the film and an extract from Kosugi's upcoming book. And, of course, you are getting the film in high definition, looking far crisper and cleaner than we ever got in the glory days of VHS -- you can actually see the individual drops of splashing water.

Rage of Honor (1987) ** (out of 4)A Narc agent (Shô Kosugi) gives up his job and goes for revenge after his partner is brutally killed and no one seems to care. It gets even more personal when the drug lord kidnaps his girlfriend and the agent decides to take everyone down. RAGE OF HONOR isn't going to win any Oscars and most people are going to hate it with a passion but if you're a fan of the genre then it should at least keep you entertained. Again, if you're looking for some type of high art then this here certainly isn't going to be your cup of tea but genre fans should eat it up. Kosugi was never an actor and his lack-of-acting skills actually makes for some pretty funny moments and especially in the more dramatic moments. The actor simply can't display any sort of dramatic moments and this at least gives some campy humor to the film. What Kosugi can do is kick major a@# and this is apparent during the various action scenes throughout the picture. The best one and the highlight happens on a hotel balcony as Kosugi's girlfriend is dangling from the side about to meet her death and her boyfriend is in the room fighting. The climax to this fight is pure martial arts material and classic. The supporting characters are all pretty much cardboard and none of them are interesting enough to really make the material better. The film also runs on a tad bit too long, which is another reason the film doesn't work better. With that said, there's enough silly action and camp to make it worth viewing for fans of the genre.

The always enjoyable to watch Sho Kosugi stars in this highly entertaining martial arts actioner as Shiro Tanaka, a drug enforcement officer (and ostensibly a ninja to boot!) who swears an oath of revenge after his partner is brutally murdered by a highly organised narcotics gang who are headed by a particularly sadistic (and scruffy looking!) fellow played by Lewis Van Bergen.Plot wise the film doesn't get anymore advanced than this and it has to be said that the direction is rather muddled to say the very least but frankly who cares – people watch this kind of movie for the action content and in this regards this movie certainly delivers it by the bucket load! Fights break out roughly every few minutes with our man Sho delivering some typically cool moves and utilising some mean looking weapons against his various foes.Throw into the mix some ninja and hey presto you have a great hour and a half's entertainment! Solid stuff from the incomparable Kosugi yet again who despite clearly struggling with his English throughout, nonetheless carries his usual puissant screen presence.Highly recommended for action junkies!

Sho Kosugi stars as Tanaka a ninja who when on vacation fights of a group of mercenaries who killed his friend in this terrible chop socky effort which showcases a hero that is just too invincible to be any fun, also Gordon Hessler misdirects the action and the movie never recovers.