Ghost Warrior (1986)

While exploring a cave, two skiers find the body of a 400-year-old samurai warrior entombed in ice. He is brought to the US in a hush-hush operation and revived through cryosurgery. He is then forced to battle for his freedom, dignity and life.

Surprisingly good

Ghost Warrior is one of those movies I purchased expecting it to be absolutely dreadful, and comedic for that reason. It had all the signs of being a terrible movie. Proudly emblazoned on the video case is "By the makers of Troll." That alone makes it look awful. The plot synopsis cements this belief. It's about a Samurai from the 1500s who runs amok in 1980s California.

Astonishingly enough, the movie is very good. Sure, there's a whole buttload of suspension of disbelief, but the acting is strong, especially on the part of Hiroshi Fujioka. Watching him makes it easy to suspend disbelief. He is very skilled with his weapons, and his demeanor is redolent with bushido. I'd like to watch more of his films, even though they look uniformly awful. Maybe he's the Japanese version of Rutger Hauer--a good actor with undiscriminating taste when it comes to acting gigs. December 14, 2004

Surprisingly good low-budget samurai time-travel

A samurai rescues a lady, but in the process, is stabbed and thrown into freezing water when he fails to kill a defeated foe. He is frozen until the 20th century, when he is thawed out by scientists. He winds up in modern-day Los Angeles with a young and beautiful female expert in Japanese culture. There are the expected "fish-out-of-water" scenarios, and a few more interesting ones, such as the sushi chef who tries to speak with him and says he speaks with a strange dialect, and must be nuts. conflits of interest regarding the samurai bring the story to a climax where he is forced to make a similar choice as he had in the past.

The technical production quality is not first-rate, as if this was done on a low budget with low-end equipment. But the sincerity of the production comes through and makes the film surprisingly watchable. June 27, 2004

swordkill aka ghost warrior.

oh, this is a great film from Charles Band and his Empire Picture. I Can only wach it, it is great fun.
His Brother Richard did the score for it and it is quit wounderfull. wish I had the soundtrack. January 26, 2004

More reviews at Amazon.com ...