Rage of Honor (a.k.a. Top Fighter) (1986) Kino Lorber Blu-ray Review

Plot: A narcotics agent goes to Argentina to get his target … and revenge.

Review: Narcotics agent Shiro Tanaka (Sho Kosugi) brings down a major drug smuggling operation in Argentina, but his partner is killed as a result. When Tanaka goes home, his girlfriend is kidnapped by Havlock, a vicious killer (played by Lewis Van Bergen) who tortured and murdered his partner. Tanaka follows him to Argentina (rogue, against orders), intent on saving his lady and enacting an honorable revenge. When he parachutes out of the plane, he finds himself near Iguazu Falls, one of the seven natural wonders of world, and his first task is to survive an attack by native pygmies, who crawl out of the jungles to slay him. Being a ninja (of sorts), Tanaka survives the pygmies, and gets straight to business by laying siege on Havlock’s operation and compound.

What makes Rage of Honor interesting is the locations. The film gets some nice shots of Iguazu Falls, and despite the outrageous segment involving killer pygmies, it’s a fairly standard ninja-type affair with Kosugi in command of the action. The film picks up midway point and never lets up, with jungle action, ninja fights (with explosive shurikens!), and explosions galore. Director Gordon Hessler worked with Kosugi on the T.V. show The Master and on the films Pray For Death and Journey of Honor.

Kino Lorber’s new Blu-ray edition of Rage of Honor is on par with Arrow Video’s Blu-ray release from a handful of years ago, and the transfer is virtually as satisfying. The disc comes with a new audio commentary by Mike Leeder and Ross Boyask, two guys who clearly know their action cinema lore, and Kino ports over some features from the Arrow release, including an on-camera interview with Kosugi, an interview with the composer, and a video essay about the rise and fall of ninja movies, as well as the trailer.