This movie rules!
This and No Retreat No Surrender are in my top ten all time favourites. Rock on.
share[deleted]
[deleted]
[deleted]
As it happens, I'm watching this movie right now recorded to my digital receiver. Maybe one day I burn it into DVD. ;) Just came to check some facts about it in the meantime.
Anyways, when it comes to movies like this and e.g. Revenge of the Ninja (which I liked very much as a 14-15 year old kid just started my martial arts training (kung fu back then, taijutsu (=ninjutsu) and krav maga now ;))), some things still annoyed me even back then:
1) Black suit in daylight, in modern urban conditions? Come on! The idea for a ninja was always to assilimate to the surroundings, not to stand out like a sore thumb. Black suit was for night conditions I gather. If a ninja would like to infiltrate a building etc. in a modern day setting, he would disguise himself as a janitor, visitor to the company etc. That's what they did already in feudal Japan when moving around, disguising themselves as farmers etc.
2) Bad choreography even in the eyes of someone who has never practised any martial arts. Turning your back to the enemy and blindly blocking sword strikes coming from back? Posing in stupid stances and doing lazy moves, striking a sword maybe a few feet over enemies head, doing lazy ducks and jumps under/over enemy sword etc. WTF??? Nowadays we have it so much better with movies like Bourne Identity, various Steven Seagal films etc. which have fancy yet credible fight scenes etc.
3) All the silly stuff with superhuman powers, like a (female) ninja crushing a golf or a billiards ball in his/her hand like it was a broken egg or something. It just looks and feels stupid to everyone, especially when the movies tried to be so serious.
If I had to pick three best ninja movies I have ever seen, they would be (in this order):
- Iga ninpôchô (aka The Ninja Wars) (starring Hiroyuki Sanada)
- Ninja in the Dragon's Den (starring Hiroyuki Sanada)
- Revenge of the Ninja (starring Sho Kosugi)
The first one may be too artsy-fartsy and have too convoluted story for most people, but IMHO it hit spot on how the common Japanese probably saw ninjas, ie. some kind of superhuman black arts magicians. The good ninja (Jotaro) does not wear a black ninja costume even once in the movie, neither do the three evil magic ninjas.
Ok I'm rambling, but check those movies out if you haven't seen them. Movies like Pray for Death have nothing on them.
I must have been high when I wrote my comment. Having said that, aren't you guys looking for too much in ninja movie? I just rewatched American Ninja. Still holds up. Its not scorcese but its a dman sight more entertaining than anything hes done in the last 20 years.
shareOf course, you're right. Sho Kosugi is on the record as saying that none of this stuff is genuine ninja techniques; I guess he knew better than to second-guess the guys who were paying him, so he kept his mouth shut and did what he was told to do.
I imagine a more realistic ninja movie would have Sho in non-descript clothing sneaking up on bad guys from behind and slitting their throats, rather than all the nonsense with the backflips and crazy acrobatics. But he'd be a lot harder to root for!
_______________________
'It's a mess, ain't it, sheriff?'
'If it ain't, it'll do till the mess gets here.'
I have to disagree with you guys who are bashing this flick. His fight to the death with the "Limehouse" is what made it feel more real than another "videogame" style battle between two ninjas.
As far as the villan being "50 and out of shape", why does it always have to be about buffed athletes? This guy was a crime boss and he was tough because he was a desperate, ruthless son of a bitch.
Sho actually had a fight on his hands, and unlike most villans in these type of movies, they really gave you a reason to hate this guy!
Try to look at this movie from a more neutral perspective. This took a chance at breaking the mold a little bit where the other ninja movies don't.