{"id":12812,"date":"2026-09-03T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/?p=12812"},"modified":"2026-08-27T13:54:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T13:54:55","slug":"the-plot-never-stood-a-chance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/ohmr\/the-plot-never-stood-a-chance\/","title":{"rendered":"The Plot Never Stood a Chance"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>8 Minute, 34 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>

MOVIE REVIEWS
\nRoaring Fire (Hoero tekken)<\/strong>
\n –    <\/strong> <\/strong><\/p>\n

Genre: <\/strong>Action, Comedy, Crime
\nYear Released: <\/strong>1981, 2026 Blu-ray
\nRuntime: <\/strong>1h 35m
\nDirector: <\/strong>Norifumi Suzuki
\nWriters:<\/strong> Shinsuke Inoue, Masakazu Shimura, Norifumi Suzuki
\nCast: <\/strong>Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, Mikio Narita, Tatsuo Endô, Toshiaki Minami, Abdullah the Butcher
\nWhere to Watch: <\/strong>available September 8, 2026, pre-order your copy here: www.toyrobotvideo.com<\/a>, www.mvdshop.com<\/a>, or www.amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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RAVING REVIEW: <\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>Hiroyuki Sanada spends much of ROARING FIRE surrounded by a movie that refuses to behave itself. He's introduced as a Texas-raised rancher, sent to Japan by a family revelation, drawn into a murder mystery, surrounded by criminals, reunited with relatives he never knew existed, and eventually entangled in a scheme involving a massive diamond. Norifumi Suzuki keeps throwing more at him, frequently with little concern for whether the latest addition belongs in the same movie as the previous one. Sanada's ability to move through it all without losing his footing is a large part of why this strange action comedy works.<\/p>\n

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The young Sanada already had the physical confidence that would eventually make him such a dependable presence in international action films. ROARING FIRE doesn't require viewers to wait for glimpses of that talent. He's athletic, quick, and completely comfortable handling choreography that regularly asks him to do more than exchange punches on a soundstage. Watching him here now, after decades of seeing his career develop, turns the film into an accidental showcase for qualities that were already firmly in place.<\/p>\n

His character, Joji Hibiki, has grown up in Texas believing one version of his family history. His adoptive father's final revelation sends him to Japan to search for a twin brother and a twin sister, only for the trip to prove much more dangerous than expected. Joji finds his sister Chihiro, played by Etsuko Shihomi, while questions surrounding his brother lead toward their uncle and a criminal operation with ambitions extending far beyond a family dispute. That sounds reasonably straightforward. ROARING FIRE has no interest in remaining that way.<\/p>\n

Suzuki operates as though every new idea deserves at least a few minutes of screen time. Martial arts, organized crime, slapstick comedy, melodrama, revenge, exotic treasure, ninjas, Western imagery, and broad physical humor are pushed into the same 95 minutes. Professional wrestler Abdullah the Butcher turns up. There's a pet monkey. Sonny Chiba plays the wonderfully odd Shunsuke Tachikawa with the sort of entrance and personality that could support an entirely separate film. By the time another peculiar henchman or ridiculous situation arrives, resistance becomes fairly pointless. There are movies where tonal inconsistency feels like a failure to decide what they're supposed to be. ROARING FIRE feels more like Suzuki decided it could be everything.<\/p>\n

That doesn't mean every combination works. Some of the broad comedy has aged poorly, particularly material built around sexual jokes and the monkey's habit of creating trouble around women. Other gags interrupt scenes that might have benefited from maintaining a little tension. The movie can move from bloodshed to cartoon behavior so quickly that emotional consequences barely have time to register. Anyone looking for a disciplined crime story will wonder why Suzuki keeps running off after every new distraction. The better question may be why anyone would come to ROARING FIRE in search of discipline in the first place.<\/p>\n

Suzuki's willingness to wander gives the action an unpredictability that a more carefully controlled production might have lost. Joji doesn't simply walk into a series of interchangeable fights. Environments change, opponents change, and the physical demands placed on Sanada keep changing with them. The choreography understands that Sanada's movement is itself part of the entertainment. He can jump, fall, kick and scramble through sequences without looking like a performer waiting for the stunt double to take over.<\/p>\n

Sonny Chiba's involvement makes those sequences even more interesting. Chiba was already an established action star by this point, while Sanada had developed through Chiba's Japan Action Club. ROARING FIRE doesn't turn their presence into a competition over who gets to appear tougher. Chiba's Shunsuke is stranger and more theatrical, allowing Sanada to occupy the traditional leading-man space while his mentor provides something less predictable around the edges.<\/p>\n

Etsuko Shihomi belongs in that conversation as well. Casting her as Chihiro gives ROARING FIRE another performer with legitimate martial-arts ability, and the movie would have benefited from giving her even more opportunity to use it. She's never treated as incapable simply because Joji has arrived to untangle the family mess. Shihomi brings enough physical credibility and personality that her role feels larger than the screenplay sometimes allows.<\/p>\n

The crowded supporting cast is both a strength and a reason the story becomes difficult to follow. Characters arrive with allegiances, grudges and criminal connections that Suzuki moves through rapidly because he's already thinking about the next set piece. Mikio Narita at least gives the villainy a face strong enough to survive that clutter. The underlying family betrayal provides a workable structure, but the Queen of Sheba diamond, criminal operations, and assortment of henchmen repeatedly compete for attention.<\/p>\n

Trying to follow every piece with complete seriousness may actually make ROARING FIRE less enjoyable. The plot is functional enough to get Joji from Texas to Japan and then into increasingly elaborate danger. Beyond that, Suzuki appears much more interested in what he can do once everybody arrives.<\/p>\n

That attitude becomes especially apparent in the later action. ROARING FIRE keeps increasing the scale without losing the physical performance at its core. Sanada isn't transformed into an invincible figure through editing. He has to move through opponents, obstacles, and increasingly outrageous circumstances, and there's an appealing looseness to the way Suzuki shoots these sequences. They aren't constructed around preserving a star's dignity. Sanada gets thrown directly into the mess.<\/p>\n

The movie's history makes Toy Robot Video's 2026 Blu-ray especially welcome. ROARING FIRE received a brief American theatrical run through New Line Cinema in 1982, but it never developed the easy availability of better-known Sanada or Chiba films. Seeing it reach Blu-ray for the first time feels particularly well timed now that Sanada's recent success has introduced another audience to someone who had already been doing remarkable physical work more than four decades ago.<\/p>\n

Toy Robot also avoids treating Sanada as the only reason the movie matters. The supplemental material broadens the conversation to include Suzuki's unusual mix of comedy and action, Chiba's career, and Abdullah the Butcher's wrestling history. A commentary from film historian Brian Bankston sits alongside pieces featuring Japanese film critic Akihiko Ito, critic James Mudge, writer Chris Lines and Clément Rauger, plus the theatrical trailer and television spot. For a title that has spent so much time outside the mainstream physical-media conversation, that historical attention is valuable.<\/p>\n

ROARING FIRE isn't some forgotten example of perfectly constructed action filmmaking. Its plotting is messy; a few comic bits become tiresome; characters appear and disappear without enough development; and Suzuki occasionally seems determined to sabotage his own momentum with another gag. Those limitations are noticeable even while the movie is entertaining. They also aren't the things most likely to survive in your memory.<\/p>\n

What sticks is Sanada tearing through an action sequence with the confidence of someone much further into his career. It's Shihomi proving once again how naturally she fits this kind of material. It's Chiba showing up with an entirely different energy from the one the movie has already established. It's Abdullah the Butcher being Abdullah the Butcher. It's Suzuki, apparently, looking at the boundaries separating martial arts, crime, adventure, and absurd comedy, and deciding they were somebody else's problem.<\/p>\n

The result is messy in ways that keep it from reaching the next level, but boring isn't one of them. ROARING FIRE can be violent, ridiculous, inventive, and genuinely exciting within the same stretch of film, sometimes within the same few minutes. Sanada would go on to become an internationally respected actor, but this earlier version of him is already commanding the screen through sheer physical presence. Toy Robot's release gives audiences a good reason to rediscover just how long he'd been able to do that.<\/p>\n

Bonus Materials:<\/strong>
\nNEW – Audio Commentary with film historian Brian Bankston
\nNEW – Fire-storm!, Japanese film critic Akihiko Ito on Sonny Chiba, the man, the actor, the legend
\nNEW – A Roaring Success, critic James Mudge (easternKicks.com) offers a retrospective on Roaring Fire
\nNEW – Wrestle with Fire, pro-wrestling critic and film writer Chris Lines on the life and times of Abdullah the Butcher
\nTheatrical trailer & TV Spot
\nNEW – A Buffet of Comedy and Action, critic Clément Rauger discusses the secrets of Roaring Fire<\/p>\n

Please visit https:\/\/linktr.ee\/overlyhonestr for more reviews.<\/p>\n

You can follow me on Letterboxd, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube. My social media accounts can also be found on most platforms by searching for 'Overly Honest Reviews'.<\/p>\n

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[photo courtesy of TOY ROBOT VIDEO, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]<\/em><\/p>\n

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MOVIE REVIEWS Roaring Fire (Hoero tekken)  –      Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime Year Released: 1981, 2026 Blu-ray Runtime: 1h 35m Director: Norifumi Suzuki Writers: Shinsuke Inoue, Masakazu Shimura, Norifumi Suzuki Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, Mikio Narita, Tatsuo Endô, Toshiaki Minami, Abdullah the Butcher Where to Watch: available September 8, 2026, pre-order your copy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12813,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/mailnewsgroup.com\/img\/0367\/0367642.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t