The Sword of Bushido (1990) Online

My girlfriend bought me this for £1....approximately its true value.

Richard Norton sounds like Tony Curtis in "Some Like It Hot" when he puts on his Cary Grant accent, and is as wooden as Arnie.

The yakuza boss is hilariously incomprehensible, as is his situation i.e. where is the rest of his gang? His ?4 bodyguards get taken out quickly leaving him at Norton's mercy. He's a gang boss! Should be loads of them.

PMSL at the bedroom ninja scene after said ninja falls out of the window, stands up shaking his fist defiantly.....WHAM! Hit by a bus.

PMSL again during the car chase when he nicks the kids go-cart.

And as for his girlfriends cruel nipple torture......

All in all, one of those films that are so bad that they're worth seeing once just for the hell of it.

Bad acting , Norton stick to the back ground in Chuck Norris movies in which you were good . Judy Green should of stayed on the yacht with Ably Mangels . Norton was one of Australia's best Karate exponents its a shame this movie does not show how good he could be , using bad dialogue and a plot that is so corny you want to use Norton's Sword to end your life.

This is a straightforward Indiana Jones-inspired action-adventure flick that sees intrepid hero Richard Norton struggling with an American accent as he travels to Thailand in search of his missing grandpa. Along the way he beds a couple of beautiful women and, of course, reveals his fighting prowess as he battles off various opponents. THE SWORD OF BUSHIDO is a B-movie through and through, and it looks particularly cheap in the camera-work department; added to that, the filmmakers seemingly forgot to score the movie, so long scenes take place with no music to enliven them.

The film, however, has a couple of saving graces that stop it becoming completely bottom-shelf. The first saving grace is Richard Norton himself, a hulking Australian martial art who kicks ass in the few fight scenes that he gets to take part in. Added to that, Norton makes for a charismatic screen presence and it's a pity that he didn't get more leading roles, instead he usually found himself teamed up with the likes of Cynthia Rothrock or appearing as a bad guy in movies. The second saving grace is that the film was shot entirely on location in Thailand, so the jungle locations are totally authentic and add a level of atmosphere to the movie that would otherwise have been missing.

This B-movie is plagued with typical B-movie problems, from an overlong running time (lots of padding scenes and a main plot that doesn't even begin until the last half hour of the film don't help), a cheesy script, and some amusing bedroom sequences which date it badly. Norton begins the film by stripping off his research assistant (played by Judy Green, Norton's real-life wife) before the action shifts to Thailand and instead he beds the engaging Rochelle Ashana, best known as the love interest in the same year's KICKBOXER. For an action film, the fight scenes do come few and far between and there is little opportunity for Norton to show off his martial arts skills, although a brief battle with a Thai boxer is a highlight and the final clichéd-but-fun storm-the-bad-guy's-lair scenes are quite fun. Sadly many of the supporting actors seem amateurish at best and the Japanese villain, played by Toshiro Obata, is a good fighter but barely comprehensible when it comes to dialogue. Norton fans might sporadically enjoy his presence in this otherwise undistinguished B-movie, but even they will be looking at their watches long before the final showdown.

Richard Norton has never had a great solo feature. That's a subjective statement, but I think it's fair, given that nobody seems to mention his starring vehicles among the great moments of his career. THE SWORD OF BUSHIDO had potential to be one of those moments, but loses it thanks to some stupid writing and a shortage of martial arts action. It may belong on the wish lists of collectors, but I don't know who else would be interested.

The story: An ex-Navy SEAL (Norton) searching for his grandfather's remains in Thailand is caught up in a fight for a historical Japanese sword stolen decades ago.

A film production can do a lot worse than director Adrian Carr, who has an eye for cinematography and does a lot with this one's rural and jungle settings. Leading man Norton is in great shape and looks every bit the star that Van Damme ever did, but disappointingly, his character is far from endearing. The movie's writer was on a machismo kick and crafted a story so blatantly worshipful of the white male hero that it's embarrassing. This is best illustrated thru the presentation of his costar Rochelle Ashana, who enters her role as an action star but devolves into a helpless love interest over the course of various tragedies. Norton's character comes across as lecherous and opportunistic in his romantic pursuits, and there's a tasteless moment wherein the script jokes about sexual harassment when that's exactly what its star is doing. Ugh.

The action content doesn't make up for much of this. Richard's one of those folks who must actively try before they make a bad fight scenes, but the four ones here merely hover around the "average" rank. The best of these is a decent swordfight with Toshihiro Obata, who shows up in the film's second half to grab the vacant role of the main villain. The rest of the adrenaline scenes – mainly shootouts – are likewise nothing special, but we get a little boost in the form of an absurd chase scene wherein Richard tails a car in a go-cart.

For my money, the best Richard Norton vehicle available now is UNDER THE GUN from 1995 – by when Richard's filmmakers had refined his style of fight scene and developed a better idea of what makes a strong character. A fan could do a lot worse than THE SWORD OF BUSHIDO, but also much better. Leave this one 'til you're really hurting for karate flicks.

When Zac Connors (Norton), a Navy man trained in the deadly Japanese arts, decides to look into his family genealogy and history of military service, he discovers the whereabouts of an extremely valuable samurai sword that was lost towards the end of World War II. After enlisting the help of Navy Information Officer Billie (Green), Connors sets off to Thailand to recover the precious sword. He then gets help from local woman Suay (Ashana) and recovers the sword. The only downside: Evil Japanese gangster and fellow sword enthusiast Yamaguchi (Obata) wants the sword, and is willing to do anything to get it, including sending a melange of baddies, goons, and ninjas after Connors. After they kidnap Suay, Connors puts on his Revenge Outfit and prepares for the final showdown with Yamaguchi for ultimate swordisfaction. Who will chop and slice their way to justice? Likable action star Richard Norton - as both us and other people have described him - remains likable for this particular outing, and his presence helps the movie out a lot. It's a solid actioner with a nice 80's vibe (gotta love those framed Reagan pictures on the wall in official buildings). It is overlong at 100 minutes and gets slow at times - the simple plot of 'get the sword, the baddies want the sword' is tough to maintain at such a length - but the non-frenetic, steady pace isn't necessarily a bad thing and it does eventually deliver the goods, mainly thanks to Norton.

Villagers watch him intently as he practices his Sai techniques in the village square and clap for him when he's done, he battles a the local champion, a man named Chai, and he gets into a fruit-cart car chase with the baddies except he is riding a go-kart! We can't say we've ever seen that before, and he did look like a 9-year-old kid in the process, which naturally recalled Kick Fighter (1989) - where he really DID play a 9-year-old kid! But all his trials, tribulations, and challenges are nothing when it comes to deciphering Yamaguchi's - or should we say Toshishiro Obata's - mega-thick accent. It's literally impossible to tell if he's speaking Japanese or broken English most of the time. His accent is SO thick, it was really funny. We give him props for trying, and the filmmakers for not having a problem with it. But everyone just ignores it. No one ever says "I can't understand you". They might do this in real life. I guess it's all part of the fantasy world of 'Bushido. For the record, no one yells out "BUSHIDOOOOOooooooo!!!!!" in this movie. Just an advance warning.

This was the only theatrical screenplay for writer James Wulf Simmonds, who otherwise exclusively worked in TV. Maybe that explains the pacing? Co-star Judy Green was in the rare Get the Terrorists (1987) and has a solid connection with Richard Norton - they went on to star together in Under the Gun (1995) and Mr. Nice Guy (1997), and then she became Mrs. Richard Norton in 1993. Maybe it was his skill with weapons or his witty one-liners, but no one can resist his charm.

Featuring some beautiful Thailand locations and the end-credits song "Until Now" by Michael Buday, Joe Repiscak and Jim Learned, Sword of Bushido could have been trimmed down for a leaner and meaner attack, but as it stands, it's a competent and worthy addition to the Norton canon.

This is a terrible movie. The only decent acting is done by Rochelle Ashana.

Richard Norton may be big in the world of martial arts, however he should have stayed there - an actor he is not!

The timeslot selected for this movie on the local network was apt though - 1.30am - although, even in this time slot, it was a little hard to take!

A poor martial arts film - its only redeeming quality is Richard Norton showing why he is one the world's best martial arts weapons experts. Plot - what plot?

With its lush locations around Phuket, Thailand, and a stellar starring turn by Richard Norton, "Sword of Bushido" is don't-miss action for adventure movie fans. As a U.S. military man with a family history of service, he's on a mission to recover and return a legendary sword to the people of Japan. He's got to keep both the prize and himself, along with his compatriots, out of danger and safe from the greedy adversaries for the sword. Norton proves again that he can play "good guys" that are compelling to his audiences in addition to the villains he has fine-tuned in movies such as "Mr. Nice Guy" and "Lady Dragon." Norton's diversity in choosing roles and his believability in either the hero or villain "niche" consistently establish him as a great lead in action movies. "Sword of Bushido" is another example of superior entertainment from a terrific actor!