Bullet Points: Rage of Honor
I would probably refer to myself as a Sho Kosugi aficionado, but there was actually one Sho Kosugi movie out there from his hey day in the 1980’s that I had never seen before.
That movie was 1987’s Rage of Honor and it is the subject of this edition of Bullet Points…
- The Premise: In Rage of Honor, Sho plays Shiro Tanaka. Tanaka is an agent for the United States Drug Investigation Bureau (DIB for short?) As I have stated in previous reviews and posts, the war on drugs was big in the 80’s so it is really no surprise when good guys vs. drug dealers show up in movies and TV from that time period. Tanaka works with two partners (Ray and Dick) and this trio gets things done, and it really angers their boss Mr. Sterling. When Ray is killed by the main bad guy, Havlock, Tanaka goes after him… not for revenge mind you, but for honor and for this not being a revenge mission, Tanaka demonstrates a lot of rage going after this honor, but at least it is a rage of honor.
- Jam Packed: Allow me to describe to you the events that will unfold before your eyes within the first ten minutes of Rage of Honor. A drug dealer is throwing a big party on his yacht in Buenos Aries. Tanaka and his boys crash the party. One of the guards ends up with a gun in his pooper. The drug dealer tries to escape using a speed boat, but Tanaka commandeers a speed boat of his own and the chase is on. The chase ends after Tanaka delivers a throwing star to the neck of the drug dealer and he crashes his speed boat and it blows up. Then we get the first of many arguments between Tanaka and Tanaka gives his girlfriend a pearl necklace.
- No Army Can Stop Him: Kosugi not only shows off his impressive ninja skills in this one, he also incorporates the use of guns, forming a hybrid offense that allows him to take out a warehouse full of security guards, a jungle full of unfriendly natives and even an army of fellow ninjas that wear camouflage ninja gear and use flamethrowers.
- I Love the 80’s: If I was completely unaware that this movie was from the 1980’s two things would have given it away. First is the hairstyle of Havlock (Lewis Van Bergen) second is the fact that a theme in the plot is recovering a 5 1/4″ floppy disk with all the details of the drug dealing operation Havlock is involved in.
There are really no surprises in Rage of Honor, unless you count the movie not incorporating either or both of Sho Kosugi’s sons (Kane & Shane) into the movie as a surprise.
Kosugi is a highly talented practitioner of the martial arts, but he will never be accused of being a great actor. However nobody was renting Sho Kosugi movies for the acting. Kosugi’s mad ninja skills made him a fan favorite in action’s “golden age” and I am glad I can finally say I have seen it.
Now having seen all of Sho Kosugi’s work in the 80’s, I would rank Rage of Honor somewhere in the middle of the pack. So if you trust my opinion, that means you may want to skip this one if you aren’t a hardcore Kosugi or ninja fanatic. But you definitely won’t want to skip these Bonus Bullet Points…
- Improv: Don’t have a throwing star? No problem, use a saw blade instead!
- DIY: Many of the ninja weapons used in the movie were designed by Sho Kosugi himself.
- Directed By: Rage of Honor was directed by Gordon Hessler, who also directed Kosugi in Pray for Death and three episodes of The Master.
