Welcome to the 80s, the age of the ninja as Chuck Norris guides us through a haphazard adventure that sees him entering The Octagon!

Scott James (Norris) is a world-class martial artist who is accompanied by an echoey voiceover almost everywhere he goes. He and his frenemy, A.J. (Art Hindle!) live a high roller life that sees them working out, attending black tie events, and chasing beautiful women.

But when Scott comes home with a woman, they find her entire family killed. Murdered. And according to James’ inner monologue it could only be one thing, NINJA! But it can’t be, because he and his spiritual brother turned enemy, Seikura (Tadashi Yamashita) made sure they don’t exist.

Through a series of flashbacks (where Norris’ actual son Mike plays Scott), we see Scott and Seikura’s training and the escalation of their competition and dislike for one another.

It seems the ninja are back, and they are training terrorists who pass their screening and can afford the fees. They have a camp in Central America, and the training is brutal, violent and deadly. And now, they’ve got the attention of Scott!

Scott has also been approached by McCarn (Lee Van Cleef), he and his team are working at eliminating terrorists wherever they find them. That seems sketchy, but it’s okay I guess, cause they are kind of the good guys?

As the bodies start to pile up, and A.J. is eager to prove himself, he heads to the ninja camp to extract some justice and prove he’s as tough and awesome as Scott. Trouble ensues, of course, and Scott has to head to the camp himself.

There he finds himself in an octagon, fighting for his life which will lead him to a final confrontation with Seikura!

The film races along, the narrative is a little iffy, the action beats are okay for the early 80s, though you can see moments where actors and stunt performers are waiting for the next beat. The characters are mere sketches, the narrative cobbled together, and the female characters suffer terribly from the script.

It’s a bit goofy, but I like the idea of it, even if it isn’t executed as well as it could have been, even for the 80s. And hey! Not only is Canadian gem Art Hindle in the movie, so is Ernie Hudson!!

This one probably helped launch the whole ninja craze, not so long after Van Cleef would star in the short-lived series The Master which was all about ninja and martial arts training, in that 80s way. And Chuck, his action work is solid, its his acting that makes things a little tough to get through.

The Octagon is a cult classic, good or not, it’s endured.