Leofwine_draca When you think of Japanese cinema, there are three things that immediately spring to mind. The first is the big, green rubber suited Godzilla. The second is Akira Kurosawa. And the third? Why, the ninja film of course! However, despite its misleading title, NINJA WARS has very little to do with actual ninjas. One gets killed in a tree at the beginning, but that's about it. Instead what we have is a very weird little movie, full of cheesy special effects, bad taste, and a kind of see-saw effect where numerous uninteresting scenes of exposition are counterbalanced by some of the wildest moments of cinema you'll see in a while. Wanna see the inspiration for that death scene in KILL BILL where the guy's neck sprays blood for five minutes? Check out NINJA WARS, where the exact same thing happens to a female servant. Except in THIS film, somebody else's head is magically re-attached to her body without her undergoing any particular ill effect! The story is light and unrealistic as they come. Hiroyuki Sanada is the clean-cut dashing hero, whose lover dies as a result of black magic. He then swears revenge on a bunch of demon monks, weird guys with big hats who can fly, spray acid vomit from their mouths, and shoot needles from their hands in many wild and wacky moments. Truly, the sight of one of them spraying orange vomit at our hero and knocking him out of a tree is tremendous, as is the vengeance when Sanada bumps them off one by one in various gory ways – I love the blind monk who returns as a zombie, and the huge guy he fights in the canyon! I'd also swear that one of them is played by the silent bodyguard guy from THE LAST SAMURAI! The film has plenty of action and also tons of nudity, making it a real exploitation classic. The only let down is the ending, which is exceptionally weird and unsatisfying.Sonny Chiba's name appears prominently on the box, but alas, he is rarely to be seen in this movie, except at beginning and end. Instead Sanada is the handsome, young and heroic lead (at 21 years) adding yet another string to his bow of classic if cheesy Japanese action films. Noriko Watanabe manages to be very fragile as the ill-fated princess and, although Jackie Chan is rumoured to appear in a cameo appearance, he's nowhere here (why would he go to Japan to make a cameo appearance with his schedule at that time anyway??). To sum it up, this is typically intense Japanese cinema with some very powerful moments, and some very cheesy ones.

hitokawaguma ...But it's not for everyone. The first time I saw it, in my early teens, I don't think I finished watching it. Of course I liked the nudity (ranging from fat to ultra-thin women), but it sure wasn't my idea of a ninja movie. Years later I watched it again, and eventually it became my favorite film. If you're like me and you think ninjas are inherently funny, cool, or both, then at least give this one a shot. But I think you have to have some sort of rare gene to really appreciate it anywhere near as much as I do. You can read other reviews on this site to get an idea of how bizarre it is. In my opinion, it is an incredibly well made film. The photography, color and compositions weren't something I noticed when I was younger, but now... And the set designs and costumes are equally impressive. And the music! That's especially subjective, but I love it. Even the things in this movie that I can see being easy targets to negative criticism are equally lovable, if only for humor value. If you have no interest in anything Japanese, I suppose I would advise you not to bother tracking it down, or if you are turned off by movies that are not easily digestible, but otherwise find it amazed! Or baffled. Or angry with me. ***By the way, I've seen this movie more times than any other, but I have yet to find Jackie Chan's cameo! Does anyone have any idea where he appears?***

David Austin This movie is totally ridiculous. Also, the hero has horrible teeth. Looks like they jammed a bunch of marshmallows in there. However, the crazy Devil Monks are pretty entertaining. Why they put an afro on the vomiting monk I'll never know, but I'm glad they did. This is a fairly entertaining movie if you like campy, goofy poorly dubbed ninja movies. The fight scenes are only mediocre, but they clearly spent a decent amount of money on this thing, so the sets and costumes are pretty good. Enjoy. Beware the completely retarded ending though.

Jojosh the Pi I love watching horrible movies in general. From Shaq to Manos to ninja movies, I almost always cry from laughter.Not this time.This movie was not even close to funny bad, it was just painful. It was boring, except for the few fighting scenes, and the plot (whatever there was of it) made NO sense. The climax is utterly inexplicable, and I wouldn't mind if someone could explain exactly what it was all about.The scenes showing ridiculous ninja powers (eg, flight and toxic barf) are hilarious, but far too few to save this movie. I'll never watch it again.