J. Carroll’s Ghost Warrior (aka Swordkill) is the story of an ancient samurai brought back to life and must learn how to live, cope and survive in modern day Los Angeles which at this point was the eighties.

Yoshi (Hiroshi Fujioka, Kamen Rider, Yamato Takeru) is a 400-year-old samurai warrior that is discovered in Japan and is in a frozen sleep. He is then brought to an institution in Los Angeles where he will be observed. While there, he is befriended by Chris, Janet Julian (King of New York, Humongous). He kills an employee who tried to steal his swords because of their worth and leaves the institute. Yoshi, looking both lost and confused by where he is now, walks the streets of Los Angeles where he fights a violent gang and the law that wants to bring him back to the institution.

I watched this movie month once before in 2018 and after watching it again, it still left me with the same impression. I thought it was mostly bland and forgettable and didn’t grab me at any point. At the very least, I’d say Ghost Warrior is at best a decent film that will appeal to those who have a passion for films from the 80s. The cast hands solid performances by the cast and some rather uninspiring swordplay, when compared to the great Kung Fu movies from the seventies. The best scenes in the film to me was when Yoshi hacks a few limbs off some ruthless gangsters but I just didn’t find this movie to be anything special.

Previously released by Shout Factory in a double-feature disc with The House Where Evil Dwells, Kino Lorber has given Ghost Warrior a release on its own sporting a slipcover! The image quality for this release is outstanding with superb details to interiors and exterior shots. Colors look strong and robust. The picture looks clean and polished with lots of texture. Flesh tones look accurate. Black levels look solid as well with great shadow detail. It has a few minor nicks and scratches, but overall, the picture quality is more than satisfactory which will look even better if you have a 4K television. It seems to be the same MGM master as the Shout release, as it was not mentioned if the film was given a new 2K or 4K scan.

On Kino’s Blu-ray, English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo is also quite robust with the dialogue, action noises and music coming in perfectly without any distractive issues such as hissing or crackling. English subtitles are available for this release. The Japanese dialogue, what there is of it, is not subtitled in English.

Ghost Warrior comes fully equipped with some new bonus materials. This is where Kino’s release bests the Shout release as on this new release from 2023, there are a pair of all-new extras.

DIE BY THE SWORD: This is a new interview with Special Makeup Effects Artist Robert Short and lasts about six minutes.

There is an Audio Commentary track by Action Film Historians Brandon Bentley and Mike Leeder who give a detailed discussion of Ghost Warrior, the cast and crew.

Rounding out the extras are theatrical trailers for Ghost Warrior, Golden Needles, Enter the Ninja, The Octagon, Programmed to Kill, Revenge of the Ninja, Avenging Force and Blind Fury.

Fans of this film should pick-up this Blu-ray of Ghost Warrior as it does have some extras exclusive to this release. The audio and video quality are also excellent, making this offering from Kino recommended!

Ghost Warrior

Director – J. Larry Carroll

Cast- Hiroshi Fujioka, Janet Julian

Country of Origin- USA

Distributor – Kino Lorber 

Number of Discs – 1

Reviewed by – David Steigman

Date –2/16/2023