MovieChat Forums > Enter the Ninja (1981) Discussion > The WORST entry in the Ninja trilogy!!

The WORST entry in the Ninja trilogy!!

posted 10 years ago by Cyborg1989
9 replies | jump to latest

This movie sucked! It was boring, pacing was off, characters were lame, and Franco Nero is no Ninja!! Dude has no on-screen energy or charisma to him, unlike Sho Kosugi. Nero just wasn't believable.

Seems like the only reason they put him there is because he was an american, to appeal to U.S audiences. This might not be such a bad idea, if only they has chosen SOMBODY ELSE. Like Chuck Norris for example. Norris's tough-guy Charisma and legit martial arts ability would have made him perfect for the role of the American Ninja.

Thankfully, Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination, were both GOLD and redeem the trilogy from this turkey. 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

[–] lmtopeka 10 years ago

So now Franco Nero is American? Yeah I don't think so. He is Italian. He is not even remotely American.

[–] Cyborg1989 10 years ago

Regardless of his true nationality, Franco is still caucasian and thus meant as an appealing point when presenting this terrible movie to U.S audiences.

Not that this matters anyway, because he is still a horrible casting choice either way. Dude is like a Charisma dead space.

The villain in Revenge of the Ninja is a great example of a far more effective, caucasian Ninja character in the same era of film-making. Who is believable in the role, cool, and genuinely appeared dangerous.

[–] MaximRecoil 9 years ago

So now Franco Nero is American? Yeah I don't think so. He is Italian. He is not even remotely American.

He might as well have been American in this movie because his voice was redubbed by an American. It was the director, Menahem Golan's idea to do that, because he wanted an American in the role in the first place. They'd originally hired Mike Stone but he couldn't act, so Golan fired him. Nero happened to be in the Philippines (for the Manila Film Festival) at the time so he got hired.

A few quotes from Nero:

He said, "Listen Franco, we need you. You have to replace Mike Stone, because he's a great athlete, but he can not act."

I don't know, I've never seen a ninja.

He redubbed me, but not in a voice that's similar to mine.

He loved American actors, he loved American accents. Maybe he wanted to [unintelligible] American.

I don't dance, tell jokes or wear my pants too tight, but I do know about a thousand songs.

[–] Doc110894 10 years ago

The worst, but not horrible.

[–] Forgotten_Hero 10 years ago

The pacing is off and the film is kinda boring. It has a bit of a charm to it, but it falls shy of being truly entertaining. This may seem like a nitpick to some, but I think that defeating Hasegawa in the opening scene was a mistake. It's hard to take him seriously as Cole's chief rival when the man is defeated (without getting any offense) before we're officially introduced to either character.

It'd be like if the man that Bruce Lee defeated in the opening contest of Enter the Dragon returned as his main rival in the picture.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Thenewnexus 9 years ago

I liked this one definitely a high 8

You want tah fack wit me? You ah fACKING chioah boi compahed tu me ah chioah boi

[–] MaximRecoil 9 years ago

Like Chuck Norris for example.

Chuck Norris wouldn't have done it, even if Golan and Globus had've had a working relationship with him at the time, which they didn't (Norris' first Golan and Globus / Cannon Group movie was Missing in Action / Missing in Action 2 [both filmed at the same time]). Golan wanted Norris to star in American Ninja (1985), but he refused the role because he didn't want to be onscreen with his face covered.

I don't dance, tell jokes or wear my pants too tight, but I do know about a thousand songs.

[–] heelmaster2000 7 years ago

Yeah, this one was the worst in the trilogy, but it wasn't a terrible movie.