Ninja Terminator is the King of Bad 80′s Ninja Movies! Its got it all: Richard Harrison, Bad dubbing, bad dialogue, an insane and senseless plot line, gratuitous violence, and an endless array of black clad, sword wielding Ninjas! As with all the other ninja movies by Godfrey Ho, what we are witness too here is a completely separate and non-ninja related film into which some newly shot ninja footage has been spliced, whilst an illusory link between the two unrelated stories is created and sustained by the over dubbing: Its an old school Ninja Movie mash-up!
It has to be said, that in the vast majority of these cut and splice ninja outings, only the ninja footage usually has any entertainment value. However, in the case of Ninja Terminator, BOTH…ahem…”‘movies”…prove to be highly enjoyable!
In the non-ninja sequences we have one ultra cool dude by the name of Jaguar Wong. A rough and tumble bad ass who gets in more fist fights in this one movie than most professional boxers have in their entire career. Of course with a bad ass name like Jaguar Wong, he is destined to put the smack down on all challengers. Although, he does get a little roughed up during the films climax by the always excellent Hwang Jang Lee.
The ninja sequences are equally as energetic with loads of sword play, acrobatics and people disappearing in plumes of smoke. Best of all Ninjitsu Master Richard Harrison: wearing heavy eye liner and mascara! Yet, after watching this ninja freak fest, I am still left with a few lingering questions:

1. Why does the villain wear a blond woman’s wig?
2. Why would a Ninja attack using several guns, a slingshot and a FOLDED PIECE OF PAPER?
3. What is with the Garfield phone?
4. What’s with the toy robot?
5. Do all Ninja’s wear tennis suits during their morning Ninja workouts?

If you figure any of this out….please let me know. In the meantime, I’ll be meditating on these important questions with more ferver than a Zen Buddhist Monk (Well…okay…maybe not). Enjoy!

As B-movies go, this movie is hilarious and absolutely entertaining. If renegade macho posturing, over-the-top costuming and sound effects and the genuinely comic manners of “flawless kills” can easily coalesce into something transcendent for you; this camp martial arts flick will not be a waste of time.
After this movie, I got the sudden urge to slap on some “Brut” cologne, do squats and hold my breath until laughter prompted release…This is THE Ninja movie. All of the classic elements are here: smoke bombs, climbing claws, shurikens, villainy… you name it, it’s in there.
The movie opens with an excellent trial, where Cole must defeat legions of opposing ninjas (fellow students), then make it back to base and calmly recite the Nine Levels of Power in front of Master Komori. To this day I have a .wav file of the Nine Levels of Power… it is a cool scene.
The bulk of the movie is setting up the rivalry between Hasegawa and Cole. Hasegawa, being the evil, black-clad Ninja that he is, causes as much mayhem as possible, culminating in the killing of Cole’s buddy Frank. Cole, being the good white-clad Ninja, must now (of course) avenge his buddy’s death and face Hasegawa one-on-one.
I won’t tell you the outcome of the final battle, but I will say that it is a classic Ninja battle. You won’t be disappointed. Sure it is a silly movie, but you aren’t watching it for its screenplay, are you? You may never want to see it more than once, but Enter the Ninja is definitely worth seeing. Check it out!

Eighteen Claws of Shaolin (also known as “18 Jade Pearls”) may not be up to the same standards as a classic Shaw Bros epic, but there’s an interesting blend of murder mystery and Martial Arts action that makes the movie worth watching. A white-maned powerhouse Lord goes off to duel with a swordsman rival and ends up being murdered. The Lord’s house, seeking revenge, hire an assassin to kill the rival swordsmen whom they believe is the killer. Along the way the assassin meets a woman and they both use their Kung Fu Fighting skills to kick the hell out of anyone who they think did the killing. Soon they begin to suspect that the man they have been hired to eliminate may not be the actual killer. The two then begin to question likely suspects and other rivals of the Lord, who may have been involved. The “18 claws” or “18 Arhats” are a side plot involving female assassin that eventually leads the pair to the real killer. This film has many fine elements, including great martial arts and a strong plot. Enjoy!

Usually there are those who enjoy bad horror movies and those that enjoy bad kung-fu movies and few movies can be enjoyed by both, but Mafia vs. Ninja is immensely watchable (and laughable) even if you are amongst those that believe America has enough trash without foolish video distributors importing more. The movie is great because it takes the usual elements of the chop-suey genre and and makes them worse. For instance, the almost required anti-Japanese racism is present (the Chinese mafia are the good guys you see, sure they extort and allow gambling and prostitution, but they draw the line at opium unlike those godless Japanese mafia guys).
But not only do we get the anti-Japanese racism, we are treated to special bonus stereo-types in the form of a special all bad guy assassination team, including a black man (guess what kind of hair he has) and an Italian (guess where he has a scar?). The movie’s verve extends to the action where the normally unbelievable fight scenes are made even more so via film-reversals, insane editing, and (I kid you not) wires on jumping fighters and thrown knives. Then there are the contrived plot devices, I must admit my favorite part of the movie. Sure, other chop-suey movies might give you exploding fruit baskets (this one does), but can they claim to feature a hero who beats someone with a tree? Lots of flicks, chops, punches and of course that old staple feature invisible ninjas. This is raised into new level, when the Ninjas literally turn into bushes?
Mafia vs. Ninja could never be mistaken for a good movie, but it is a kind of bad that doesn’t take someone versed in ninja films to laugh at or enjoy. And for God’s sake people the American video release features a man with the name of Poon Hung prominently in the credits. I personally can’t think of a better reason to see a film.

Naruto Uzumaki is the protagonist of the Naruto series. He was the first character created by Kishimoto during his initial conception of the series and was designed with many traits from other shnen characters, including Son Goku of the Dragon Ball series. In the series, Naruto is a ninja affiliated with the village of Konohagakure, and has ambitions of becoming Hokage, or the leader of the village. Due to being the host for the nine-tailed demon fox, a malevolent creature that attacked Konohagakure, he is ostracized by the other villagers. He compensates for this with his cheerful and boisterous personality, and over the course of the series, manages to befriend several other Konohagakure ninja, as well as ninja from other villages. He obtains an especially close relationship with Sasuke Uchiha, one of his fellow ninja in Team 7, and treats him as his brother. Enjoy!

Who doesn’t love the eighties? Asymetrical haircuts, day-glo spandex, Flock of Seagulls, and of course that old staple the well-intentioned “Ninja Flick”. The plot? A straight forward revenge story; but the idea of Kosugi as a Ninja who has hidden away his identity, brings the film to a super-hero like level. Kosugi and his loving family have the misfortune of purchasing a shop in an old building where some theives had hidden their loot. The harassment of them reaches a fever pitch. But it is not until one of his innocent family members is killed does Kosugi pop into action. The action sequences are fascinating, some very interesting Ninja techniques are shown and the fighting is fast and furious. Kosugi does not have much of a western style acting range, but he is ideally suited to the unique 80s genre of “Ninja Flick”. Highly recommended. Not recommended to those fed a steady diet of computer generated “special effects” and cannot remember a time when athletic ability was required to make a martial arts movie. This film is for those of us who can really appreciate the better made Ninja movies of the 1980′s. Enjoy!

Martial arts superstars Sonny Chiba and Hiroyuki Sanada stand on opposite sides of a battle over a hidden treasure in Shogun’s Ninja. Shiranui (Chiba) is a ruthless ninja leader who wants the fortune in gold held by the Momochi clan. In order to find it, he needs two daggers that point the way towards the money. To gain one of the daggers, he attacks the Momochi compound and slays its inhabitants.
Many years later, while Shiranui still searches for the treasure, Takamaru (Sanada), a deadly kung-fu fighter, appears to challenge him. Takamaru holds the other dagger that Shiranui wants–and he wants revenge as the last surviving member of the Momochi! Shogun’s Ninja balances martial arts action with comedic scenes and the hypnotic presence of Sonny Chiba.
A martial arts classic and worth every moment of your time; Sonny Chiba’s performance is one of his best. If you like martial arts action and ninjas, you’ll love this movie!

It is obvious that “Shadow Ninja” is not the original title of this film. The words “Shadow Ninja” are pasted over the original title (grind-house style), and stay on the screen for an uncomfortably long time. I suspect that maybe ninja movies were doing better than kung fu movies at the time, since there isn’t a single ninja in this “Hong Kong Special” that I can find. Of course, being Shadow Ninjas, perhaps I just couldn’t see them…
As usual, many things are the same in all of these movies. Everyone wears slippers and is outdoors a lot (Wait a minute, I must amend that to say the hero in this movie wears and fights in western-style shoes at one point.) Every time a punch or kick is supposed to have landed, a loud “thwarp” will be heard, like two boards slamming together. The requisite streaming blood adorns the looser of each sequence.
The “plot” of this movie is a strange one; all fun and games and then suddenly the brutal stabbings begin. This sort of sweet-and-sour thing is not uncommon in these movies, but this one really hits the extremes in both directions. All of the humor is cheesy and over-the-top (like the dubbing), but occasionally made me smile. Other standouts include “White Norman” (who can really climb a wall) and the portable “naughty picture show,” a good idea if I ever saw one.
The hero has an aloof and easy smile, and seems relaxed even in the center of a fight. The thing is, if they had a decent script coupled with this kung fu, this movie would have been an absolute classic. As it is, the great fight choreography and execution. This movie kicks some ass.

A fortuneteller prophesies that whoever marries the beautiful Ukio will become the ruler of the world. Naturally, this makes her very popular with those vying for power, particularly the insatiably greedy Lord Donjo.
Only the master Ninja Jotaro can stop Donjo’s evil plan, but to do so, he must first battle the deadly team of “Demon Monks” that will stop at nothing in the service of their lord. Will Jotaro succeed in his mission? And if so, will Ukio marry him, thus making him the ruler of the world? Do not underestimate the skills of a master Ninja.

Ninja in the Deadly Trap is a well paced, non-stop Kung Fu fight film and highly watch-able. The great Ti Lung plays the famous Chinese General Qi Jiguang, who has become the target of ninja assassination from Japanese pirates who have had their exploits halted due to his actions. Knowing little about the art of Ninjitsu, Qi sends his son out to find three mysterious fighters that can protect him from these stealthy attacks. Of course those 3 fighters happen to be none other then former Shaw Brothers action stars (collectively known as Venoms) Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, and Kuo Chui (aka Philip Kwok, who also directs and choreographs this film)! The leader of the ninja assassins is played by the always excellent Yasuaki Kurata, an actual Japanese martial artist who made his name, oddly enough, acting in Hong Kong action films (you may know him as the elder Japanese fighter that squares off against Jet Li in Fist of Legend). Direction, music, script, choreography, and effects are all very nicely done here and the lack of ineptitude is actually somewhat surprising as a fan of chop-socky cinema; it is always appreciated though! Ninja In The Deadly Trap isn’t quite on the level, and shouldn’t be confused with, Chang Cheh’s infamous cult classic Chinese Super Ninja’s, though it does take some obvious cues from that film (and was even produced by director Cheh). This movie has a more realistic feel to it, with less scenes filmed on a studio set, toned down gore, and ninja’s that seem a tad more believable (although they do melt when they die LOL!). On the flip side, the action isn’t as good and doesn’t happen nearly as much either. This interesting and exciting Kung Fu movie delivers a finale (The Venoms versus Yasuaki Kurata!) that will leave most genre fans on their feet cheering and jeering! A must see for any self respecting Kung Fu movie fan.