Toy Robot Video Brings Roaring Fire to Blu-ray for the First Time This September
By Lio Renwick
Toy Robot Video is releasing Roaring Fire (1981) on Blu-ray in September. The wild Japanese martial-arts action comedy arrives on the format for the very first time in the UK and US, with director Norifumi Suzuki's genre mash-up getting a high-definition home release after decades out of the spotlight.
Suzuki, whose credits include Shogun's Ninja and Sex & Fury, directs a story that swings between rancher melodrama, crime thriller, and broad action comedy. The Blu-ray lands as part of Toy Robot Video's September 2026 releases.
The plot follows Joji, a Texas-raised rancher who learns a family secret on his adoptive father's deathbed. He has a twin brother and a sister he never knew about. Determined to find his brother, Joji travels to Japan, only to discover that the brother has been mysteriously killed.
Staying with his sister and digging deeper, Joji uncovers his uncle's involvement in criminal enterprises. Those schemes include a plan to obtain a priceless 130-carat diamond known as the Queen of Sheba. Betrayal and vengeance follow as Joji confronts his corrupt uncle and fights to avenge his family.
Emmy Award winner Hiroyuki Sanada, known to current audiences from Shogun and Mortal Kombat, stars as Joji. He shares the screen with Sonny Chiba of G.I. Samurai and with Etsuko Shihomi, both fixtures of Japanese action cinema from the era.
The film also features legendary pro wrestler Abdullah the Butcher in a supporting role. The wider cast includes Mikio Narita, Tatsuo Endo, Shunji Sasaki, Toshiaki Minami, and Yoko Tanaka. Roaring Fire had a brief U.S. theatrical release through New Line Cinema in 1982, and this Blu-ray marks its return to home video shelves.
The disc includes new and archival extras. Film historian Brian Bankston provides a new audio commentary, and Japanese film critic Akihiko Ito turns to Sonny Chiba's career in a piece titled Fire-storm!, covering Chiba the man, the actor, and the legend.
Critic James Mudge of easternKicks.com offers a retrospective on the film in A Roaring Success. Pro-wrestling critic and film writer Chris Lines covers the life and times of Abdullah the Butcher in Wrestle with Fire. Critic Clement Rauger rounds out the new material with A Buffet of Comedy and Action, a discussion of the secrets behind Roaring Fire. The disc also includes the theatrical trailer and a TV spot.
Roaring Fire (1981) releases September 8, 2026 in the US and Canada with the UK edition arriving a day earlier, on September 7, 2026.
Physical media enthusiast covering Blu-ray & 4K UHD releases.