was currently in release, but the film did not open in Los Angeles until April 30, 1982. Legacy After the release of Enter the Ninja there was boom of ninja-related films in the early 1980s. The film's antagonist, played by Sho Kosugi, became more popular than the protagonist played by Franco Nero, which led to Enter the Ninja launching Kosugi's career. On April 28, 1981, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Golan was going to direct a sequel titled Revenge of the Ninja. Golan was later replaced by Sam Firstenberg as director, while Kosugi was cast in the leading role. The film was released in 1983. The final film in the series was Ninja III: The Domination, which was released in 1984. Home media The film was released on VHS in the 1980s. Kosugi had become popular by the time of its release, which led to Kosugi replacing Nero on the VHS cover. The film was also released on Betamax during the 1980s, but an official US DVD release had long eluded the masses until MGM issued it as part of its Limited Edition Collection (a series of manufactured-on-demand DVD-Rs) in October 2011. The film was released on blu-ray by Kino Lorber on May 26, 2015, and in a box set from Eureka Video as The Ninja Trilogy with Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination on January 18, 2016. Reception In a contemporary review, Robert Brown of the Monthly Film Bulletin gave the film a negative review, stating that it "seems singularly lacking in even the commercial ingredients that made Enter the Dragon such a successful showcase for the Kung Fu genre." Brown commented that Golan "never seems to have decided which genre he was exploiting, and ended up mistakenly crossing romantic drama with martial arts." A review by Hubert Niogret in the French film magazine Positif found the film's only purpose was to create a commercial project that was only popular for less demanding audiences and was only popular in the summer in France where there was little competition for quality cinema. Richard Harrington of The Washington Post stated that the "plot limps along looking for convenient excuses for Ninjas to enter into brawls", noting that "none of the reasoning, acting or dialogue is particularly bright much less believable" while "the best directing in the film comes from fight choreographer and ex-karate champion Mike Stone, who obviously