Collative Learning - Revenge of the Ninja - fight scene analysis / Indian and thugs vs Sho Kozugi 

Additional note: apparently the guys Sho fights here were actually stunt men doubling up as actors. I suppose that adds and subtracts from the scene lol.

Nah, this is my fave childhood Ninja film.

This movie has some of the greatest fight scenes ever. Corny as hell, but awesome!

I like the little knife play The Indian does. You mentioned in previous fight scene investigations that sometimes there is deliberate shows of skill to impress people so The Indian spinning his weapon skillfully is both an indication he's effortlessly used to his tool and probably an indication to the ninja he should watch out.

I loved these Sho Kosugi Ninja movies back in the '80s, Enter The Ninja, Revenge, and Ninja III: The Domination. My favourite however, was Pray For Death. That particular movie was made by Transworld Entertainment, so was free from the madness of The Cannon Group. Plot wise, Pray For Death was very similar to Revenge of the Ninja, but with higher production values. If you haven't seen it, I recommend giving it a view.

I remember when this film was shot in my home town, Salt Lake City. I watched some of the roof fight being filmed.

This is a great movie. Great fights and great kills. The final kill of the main bad guy at the end is awesome. You should analyze all the kills for this film because they are awesome.

The actor that played the indian was the same one who played the waiter in Dumb and Dumber who got repeatedly punched in the groin.

One of my favorite childhood movies!

People who blame American racism when Scarlett Johansson stars in Ghost in the Shell need to see movies like this to really understand America during the Reagan era. The genre film industry was booming with minority stars from all over the world. Korean, Jewish, and Italian producers were making all kinds of great entertainment here. There were no riots over this, no death threats, no Twitter mobs or firings. Genre stories were simple good vs. evil narratives unlike the ambiguous amoral content you find in today's genre cinema (even more so in Canada and Europe ever since film funds and government financing upended the private equity market and destroyed genre cinema almost entirely). Today our generation really believes we're beyond these "simple good vs. evil plotlines". We think we've really figured it all out and we're on a crusade against the racism and sexism of the Reagan era. But then we turn around and go to 80s dance parties and listen to Retrowave all day, yearning for simpler times when Japanese men starred in American action movies and beat up neighborhood drug dealers and gangsters. 80s nostalgia focuses too much on fashion and music and is a huge distraction from the fact that great genre storytelling was based on hard truths. And it didn't matter where you were from as long as you were helping us beat the bad guys. God bless America.

Revenge of the Ninja (1983) and American Ninja (1985) (Both directed by Sam Firstenberg, a true Cannon workhorse director) are both a TON of fun, top 80s ninja flicks!

One of my all time favorite guilty pleasures!

@4:47 They look like scuffed versions of the village people

Great work! very entertaining. The front flip to the car is not reversed btw, I can tell, because I've got the skillset and you can see the car move after the landing.

Wow, I never thought this was a film you'd be speaking on. I love it, has since I was 6 (which probably explains it), so cheers for giving it a fair shake.

Great Rob. I remember there being an interesting fight scene inside a train carriage in The Hunted with Christopher Lambert.

You obviously haven't seen many Native Americans. Donald L. Shanks who plays "Chief" is not only a stuntman and actor, but is Cherokee/Illiniwek. His early roles were often playing Indians.

When you said you've never seen a movie where a ninja fights a native american, I instantly thought of Shanghai Noon, where Jackie Chan's character saves a native american boy from being attacked by a rival tribe

If I go to a park and I see the Village People hanging out, I'm going in the other direction. :D

Well done! BTW this movie was filmed in Salt Lake City, and this particular scene begins on the corner of 300 S (Broadway) and Rio Grande St. Cho's gallery was on that corner, and now it's a historical site and the outside still looks pretty much the same. The first fight in this sequence was filmed behind that building, it is still recognizable. One can also see the Rio Grande station sign a couple times throughout the scene

I love this movie, watched it many times as a kid. I also love Ninja III and not just for Lucinda Dickey ;)

Hey Rob can do a analysis on Time bandits and Brazil.I'm a fan of your videos and you have never done any Terry Gilliam movie yet.

Great analysis - I would add that the bad guys in the park were dressed like the Village People.

The 80s was full of ninjas. Police Academy 4: Citizens on Patrol suddenly had ninjas at the end.

This channel needs to do a similar analysis on GymKata. This was a brilliant breakdown of one of my favorite films. Nobody outside the WWE could sell moves like Kosugi.

Heroes Of the East, Five Element Ninjas and Ninja In The Dragon's Den are probably the three best ninja films but this is a fun flick.

This film and so many others are what made Canon Films the best studio ever!!! Entertainment was the most important part of their movies. I'll take plot holes and continuity errors any day to ride roller coasters they took us on!!! Your analysis and Razorfist's are the best takes ever.🤘🤘🤘🤘

Yeah get the dolls insured. ha-ha. Great work here.

I watched this and the karate kid more than any other movies in the 80s. Braden , Cho played by the great Show Kasugi.

16:08 This stunt was imitated identically in The Transporter, another excellent, lower-budget action film. One day, I think it'd be well worth some time to dig into a Wings Hauser low budget action film called Living to Die. It can be difficult to find, but the film itself has an interesting mood and protagonist.

Those four guys on the playground look like a cheap version YMCA...

@4:28 "Since when do bikers, rappers, cowboys and Japanese guys?" LMAO. I almost pissed myself.

Always a great pleasure listening to these. Have not seen Revenge of the Ninja must remedy that.

I know the Indian was Don Shanks who was Michael Myers in Halloween 5. Both this film and that were filmed in Salt Lake City.

"When detailing to narcoleptic normies the enduring appeal of the eighties, its easy to name drop testoterotitans like van damme or bronson. But you could sum that shit up in one word, 'Ninjas!'" -The Snarkspawn himself

I really enjoyed this. Mr. Ager, you should do more analysis of shitty movies. They are important for understanding what's good film 😉

I love revenge of the ninja . I grew up with it . Lets face it, for a movie about two ninjas going face to face , with a plot that barely holds up , this movie is as good as it gets . The score is amazing and really shows that the movie had heart ...and an entertaining one at that . I give it 5 ninja stars out of 5 .....

Would be curious to see your analysis of films such as Crime Story (1993) or Heart Of The Dragon (1985) more serious Jackie Chan martial arts films which see him in real peril and are great movies in and of themselves.

Oh, that’s the movie that turned the frogs gay!

Excellent review

Watch at 12:36 when the bad guys are jumping into the back of the van. Denim guy slams his hip into the side of the door when they pull away. That had to hurt.

Very interesting how his smoke bombs were defective. Always made me laugh.

Best part of this movie is the idea of stashing heroin inside the china dolls genius

I agree completely. I loved this movie when I was a kid. I watched it again for the first time as an adult several years ago, and thought "wow, this was horrible, but I still like it." Had a similar experience with "The Last Starfighter".

I like that not everything the protag tries is effortless. Jumps on the van, slips, lands on his rear and back. He's not invincible.

4:34 Wot in tarnation

Nice! A movie that was long coveted in the early years of HBO.

3:39 the Village people..the Native American guy was separated from the group in another fighting scene 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣!! I still love the movie.. It was fun, and entertaining especially when you was a kid.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.!!

You blend humor and analysis with expert timing, thank you Rob!

It’s brillible!

Since you mentioned the Raid, and earlier (and later) the idea of protagonists struggling, I was wondering, have you seen No Tears for the Dead?

I was not expecting this.

One of the best ninja movies.

Very nice analysis! My favourite of the genre/era is American Ninja also by Cannon films and the same director. I'm pretty sure they re-used some of the music because it's awfully similar. It equally has lots of silly parts and poor acting mixed in with some really awesome stuff. The best scene of the movie is where the evil "Black Star Ninja" infiltrate a military prison to assassinate the hero ninja "Joe". The shadowy lighting, the tense music, the sounds of sharp weapons slicing, and the tempo of the scene make it really memorable. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EKGfOpPA_Ec.html

Was my absolute favorite movie as a kid. Dubbed it onto VHS and wore the tape out. Edit: the blonde was fucking smoking.

Your videos are awesome, sir. Thank you.

15:40, I love that shade thrown at Mad Max: Numale Road

Mr Ager is this a test to see if we have been paying attention as per your previous analysis videos? :)

Sho was originally a stuntman himself

best ninja movie ever love it

Perfect movie. I love it. Cool Analysis.

Spirit vs Storm Shadow in Gi JOE

I saw this a thousand times when I was a kid. I can’t describe to you why it was so goddamn awesome. All this comically ridiculous and weird horseshit just seemed normal and epic. If any of this cool shit this guy is talking about they did actually happened it was total accident.

A 'fight scene' analysis between Bruce Lee & Chuck Norris from WAY OF THE DRAGON would make for a fantastic video, Rob !!

Could you do a parallel comparison of Batman and Iron Monkey?

Definitely putting this movie on the watch list! Crazy fight

Hey its a Canon movie..pure Gold..:)

This is the movies that had me buying a collection of throwing stars when I was 10 years old.

I don't think that there's a SINGLE movie of Sam Firstenberg from the 80s that I don't adore! *Revenge of the Ninja* (1983) / *Ninja 3: The Domination* (1984) / *Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo* (1984) / *American Ninja* (1985) / *Avenging Force* (1986) / *American Ninja 2* (1987) - Amazingly each I love for different reasons! Like you say, they are flawed, but they have GLORIOUS spirited 80s energy! EDIT: If you want to know what I mean, someone has uploaded the whole Firstenberg movie (in HD) *Avenging Force* - a GREAT fun little Action B Movie from 1986 - Kung Fu & Guns... and an excellent, nasty antagonist! Here ya go, friends! :D ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-z4a-USXAPFE.html

The actor who played the Indian was Don Shanks. Shanks played an Indian on a famous, or infamous (depending on one's predilections) American TV show from the late 70s, "Grizzly Adams." His wardrobe in Revenge of the Ninja seems very much to be a callback to his "Grizzly Adams" Nakoma character. It seems the producers of this movie were having some fun with the "Grizzly Adams" show ... or perhaps were just big fans.

Fukken ouch!

a seriously formidable opponent,,,,,,,,,,,,in a playground? ha ha, is this movie available on Blu-ray? ha ha

Ninja movies of the 80's were basically superhero movies. They were meant to be purely entertaining, not realistic.

Duel to the death was the best

Ninja 3 is bonkers as well

One thing I learned in high school (maybe the only thing) is something my English teacher told us. He said that in order to analyze poetry or any other art form, one would have to "trust the author". Meaning, trust that each word was chosen carefully with deliberate, well thought-out meaning. I tend to agree and have always remembered that. That said, when analyzing a so-so movie like this, how do you know when to trust the film makers and assume things are done with deliberate meaning, and when to disregard certain elements as mistakes or coincidences? Great video as always.

In real life, I’m pretty sure when people have guns aimed at them, they move about in a way to try and avoid the shots. They don’t just stand there. They don’t just stand still and wait to be shot. So that scene where he roles around doesn’t seem so far fetched.

if anybody were to hit me with one of those barrels,,,,,,I might just notice it

Well, that was fun.

Miami Connection and Kung Fu Hustle would be good for some martial depiction analysis

Please buy "RIKI-OH the story of ricky", the story and fight scenes are bat shit insane.

Do plan to analyse Bruce Lee´s fight scenes besides the japanese dojo fight in Fist of Fury?

I agree with saying Oriental over asian. Even Bruce Lee & Jackie Chan have called themselves Oriental!

revenge of the neighbourhood watch scheme ninja, coming to a cinema near you soon.

i mean you can only convince me that trash is good so far

stone cold glass shatter

You should do an analysis of the Freudian Marxist symbolism in Miami Connection.

“Plus.. the symbol on the wall looks like a Big Naked Awss”

* TOP 10 ANIME BATTLES*

it's films like this one is the reason i prefer small budget films rather than the bloated 600 million CGI summer block buster toy selling dud...now imagine what this film could have been with a good budget and a well filled crew...

hilarious, I think you just stole the comedy crown from John Bishop here

hey how about analyzing Dune (1984) ?

Sometimes analysis becomes over-analysis... Especially the clash of cultures theme regarding the theft. Sometimes a thief is just a thief lol.

Kosugi. Pointless, becase this is an most awesome ninja action movie of all ime.

Damn, always makes me feel so blind not spotting those errors. Yet, once you get the eye for it they hard to miss. Anyway, last night there was Thai movie "Ong Bak" on TV and having seen your analysis of Fist of Fury twice I was out for comparison. Dull story, stupid narrative, but some decent actions scenes, though boringly repetitive. At least it's way better than the usual hollywood stuff with shaky cameras and editing that won't make anything visible. You actually see the actors hitting themselves, so it's not the typical "let's cut to an angle where the punch looks like it hits". I enjoyed your "Why post millenial movies suck" video and now talking martial arts movies: How about The Raid (First part, I mean)? Can't remember the hero trying to run away or avoid fights as often as in this movie.

I ninja

Ok, thanks god. We appreciate your view point. Adrenaline starts to make the attackers less advantaged

This movie got butchered by Golam Globus according to Steven Lambert who played masked ninja. The movie was over 2h at first with alot of more action. You can see the trailer when masked ninja shooting cops with bow from the roof. They wanted it to be shorter.

23:00 It's clear you don't know your martial arts terminology. There is no round house kick in this scene. What Sho Kosugi does is a jump spinning hook kick. A round house kick doesn't require your body to turn 360 degrees like a lot of people (mainly non-martial arts practitioners) think. Also Chief's swinging back hand axe swing is not defined as a round house swing. Lol. 🤦🏻‍♂️ If you want to see what a round house kick looks like, go to the earlier part of this video at 10:55 where Sho round house kicks the one thug in the face before dragging the other thug down the steps and ramming his head on them.

:D