Ghost Warrior

Ghost Warrior (1986)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

The body of a 400-year-old samurai (Hiroshi Fujioka) is found frozen in Japan so it's moved to Los Angeles where a secret agency brings it back to life. It doesn't take long for the samurai to escape and start killing off some bad people but a reporter (Janet Julian) goes along with him to try and protect him from the agency who wants him dead before anyone finds out what they did. GHOST WARRIOR comes from producer Charles Band so that should tell you to expect a low-budget, silly story and nothing too spectacular. This here is a pretty strange film because it's clearly just trying to cash in on the success of other martial arts movies but I'm not sure who this film was aimed at. The story itself is somewhat sci-fi but those elements are never really explored. The martial arts stuff takes up a good portion of the running time but there's so much more that could have been done but isn't. Early on we get a campy scene where a bunch of punks are picking on an old man and then the samurai comes to his rescue. These scenes are pure camp and they are fun and help make the picture interesting. These scenes also contain some campy violence but sadly moments like these are so far apart from one another. The relationship with the reporter is just downright silly and never really adds up to anything. It's too this stuff wasn't eliminated in favor of more action. GHOST WARRIOR is the type of "C" picture most people are going to be expecting but it's too bad a little more effort wasn't put into it because we could have had a fun camp film.

In 16th century Japan, an efficient and fearless Samurai named Yoshimitsu (Hiroshi Fujioka) is wounded in battle after his sweetheart has been killed. He falls into a body of water and is frozen for over 400 years. Then, in the 1980s, his perfectly preserved body is discovered, shipped to America, and he is soon revived, to adjust to a different time in history and a different culture. A journalist named Chris Welles (Janet Julian) tries to protect him from those that would do him harm.

"Ghost Warrior" is definitely a notch above the typical Empire Pictures fare. Produced by Charles Band, written by Tim Curnen ("Forbidden World"), and directed by J. Larry Carroll (co- writer of "Tourist Trap"), it works largely because it's able to downplay comedy and take its premise fairly seriously. It also works because it allows Fujioka to play his time travelling warrior with a great deal of dignity. This doesn't mean that it's without a sense of humour, but it never gets overly campy or cheesy.

Granted, more could have been done with scenes of Yoshimitsu experiencing 1984 L.A. (among other things, he discovers cars, tires, TV sets...and the heavy metal band W.A.S.P.). The character of Alan Richards (John Calvin) is rather ridiculous what with the about-face that he pulls. And the movie ultimately loses a bit of momentum in its final act.

Still, it's appealing, and earnestly acted. The lovely Julian ("Humongous", "King of New York") is a fine leading lady. Fujioka does have an effective screen presence. Veteran Charles Lampkin (Arch Obolers' "Five") is extremely likable as the senior citizen who attempts to befriend Yoshimitsu. Bill Morey ("Death Race 2000"), Andy Wood ("Rambo: First Blood Part II"), Robert Kino ("Night of the Creeps"), and Peter Liapis ("Ghoulies") co-star.

"Ghost Warrior" has a solid, atmospheric opening and a very nice music score by Richard Band. It actually gets pretty gory at times.

Worth a look for 1980s cult cinema enthusiasts.

Eight out of 10.

American cryosurgeons tried to anatomize frozen body of Yoshimitsu Taga, the great samurai general of 400 years ago, then found he had been in suspended animation. Occasionally, a guard of the institution tries to steal the priceless katana(samurai sword) of resurrected warrior, to be slashed with the very treasure. Yoshimitsu wanders about modern American town, happens to slay street gangs with guns to save an old man. Yoshimitsu is living in laws and morals of ancient war age, so that is very natural to him. But cryosurgeons want to kill him secretly to avoid trouble, and of course, police force tries to shoot him down...

You can easily see how silly the plot is, however, I recommend this film. The samurai in this film is REAL. Actor Hiroshi Fujioka is genuine sensei of swordsmanship, so he knows how to use katana and how a samurai think, feel and act in a strange situation. Fujioka's presence made this lame plot a memorable tragedy.

Magnificent and sad music by Richard Band is another salvation of the feature.

This movie was pretty good, but not the best samurai movie. Hiroshi Fujioka, an excellent actor, did portray a samurai better than most actors have in past movies. Infact, Fujioka gave one of the best samurai performances of all time. He really knows his stuff. But it's the plot that keeps this movie from being one of the best samurai movies. And some of the acting is rather bad from Fujioka's supporting cast members. Hiroshi Fujioka is the main reason to see this movie. Mr. Fujioka used a REAL katana in this movie, which is rare in movies to use a real weapon.

Ghost Warrior Is the movie about a samurai walking around, trying to keep a stoic face.

If you close your eyes and try to imagine the plot of the movie, you would properly guess correctly, because it is predictable which I expected, but I also hope it would be bit crazy, maybe go over the top, but the movie never goes complete crazy like I hope.

The movie actually does it with a straight face, which I do not find obusing, I kind of just find it dall.

It doesn't help that the cinematography is so flat and music is so not memorable.

And most of the humour come from The Awkward Kind, which I detest.

Basically, it's not good enough to be entertaining, it's not bad enough to be funny. We are in the worst kind. It's adequate in a boring way.