Arrow’s new subsidiary Toy Robot is already building up an impressive portfolio of exceptional Blu-rays and 4Ks, with none better than its release of Roaring Fire (1981). Directed with wild abandon by legendary Norifumi Suzuki, Roaring Fire packs hours of exclusive new extras and a nice-looking picture on this expansive Blu-ray release.
Order this essential slice of Asian action cinema at MVD.
Roaring Fire is a boiling power-keg masterpiece of volcanic insanity. Each scene brings the crazy like few films have ever dared, and it is irresistible. Starring Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi and Mikio Narita, Roaring Fire is an exciting, funny and jaw-dropping motion-picture experience.
After finding out his past was a lie, Joji travels to Japan to find his lost siblings, only to get caught up in the local criminal underworld. Scripted mostly by Suzuki himself, Roaring Fire’s plot is the least interesting thing about it. What makes the film stand out is Suzuki’s incredible skill at combining multiple genres into one odd and impossibly distinctive cinema stew. There is simply nothing else like a Norifumi Suzuki film and Roaring Fire is a great example of this.
Roaring Fire was Suzuki’s follow-up to Shogun’s Ninja and it features some of the same cast. This is a much stronger film than the solid but overlong Shogun’s Ninja though. In fact, I’d place Roaring Fire near the top of Suzuki films I’ve seen, an obvious entryway into the great director’s prolific filmography.
Roaring Fire is so surprising throughout that I almost don’t want to say anything about it. There’s just something so damn wonderfully fresh and surprising about nearly every aspect of Roaring Fire. It is one of the few films I have discovered in recent memory that kept a smile on my face for the entire runtime.
One of the coolest things about Roaring Fire is that it actually hit the big screen Stateside. Throughout the late summer of 1982, well into the spring of 1983, Roaring Fire played throughout the United States, thanks to pre-Nightmare on Elm St. New Line Cinema. I can’t imagine what it would have been like to wander into a theater to watch with no warning the insanity to come.
Roaring Fire looks great on this 1080p HD disc from Toy Robot. Featuring a slip-cover, obi-strip and postcards, this is a nice-looking package from this young company. Extras are extensive and most excellent. Here’s a full breakdown:
NEW – Audio Commentary with film historian Brian Bankston
NEW – Fire-storm!, Japanese film critic Akihiko Ito on Sonny Chiba, the man, the actor, the legend
NEW – A Roaring Success, critic James Mudge (easternKicks.com) offers a retrospective on Roaring Fire
NEW – Wrestle with Fire, pro-wrestling critic and film writer Chris Lines on the life and times of Abdullah the Butcher
Theatrical trailer & TV Spot
NEW – A Buffet of Comedy and Action, critic Clément Rauger discusses the secrets of Roaring Fire
Roaring Fire is one of the must-see archival releases of the year. I’ve seen few films as delightfully strange and cinematically dazzling as the extremely manic and beautifully staged Roaring Fire in recent memory.
A huge recommendation.
-Jeremy Richey, October 2026-
Enjoy these Vintage Clippings:
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