Leofwine_draca Cool-ass action abounds in this Japanese epic of a movie, made with all the verve and skill we come to expect from our Asian brothers. Forget mundane, routine, poorly-done Chinese kung fu movies – and we all know they exist in their droves – and instead feast your eyes on this lavish, exquisitely produced, and extremely stylish adventure yarn. Sure, the plot is little more than "you killed my father and I will get revenge" with frills on it, but this matters not when your film offers up tons of action all the time without any slow spots whatsoever. Not only do you get a Bruce Lee-like invincible hero who kicks backside with his hands, feet, and whatever weapons he has to hand, but you also get a film with samurai warriors and secret ninja-type fighters. Weirdness and wackiness prevail in this senses-pounding assault full of bloodshed, honour, and cheesy dubbing.The film begins with a bloody massacre, followed by a bloody suicide (or hara-kiri) and then a bloody ambush. It follows through with some bloody fight scenes, some bloody training scenes, and then finishes off with a bloody climax. All in all, it's a pretty bloody movie, as anyone who has seen the likes of THE STREET FIGHTER or SHOGUN ASSASSIN will expect. That means guys turning into human pin cushions with arrow attacks, geysers of blood spurting from knife wounds, bloody squib hits, and limb-lopping frenzy. Violence fans certainly get their money's worth with this movie, which contains more deaths-a-minute than COMMANDO and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II put together.The sets and costumes are pretty darned nice and there's a rural feel to the film, with lots of the action taking place in densely-wooded areas full of traps and Spider Ninjas. What are Spider Ninjas you ask? Well, they're guys in camouflage costumes who shinny up trees with weird sound effects and swing from branch to branch like a spider, apparently, and the special effects are darned cool. Unfortunately they all seem to get killed pretty easily by the harder blue ninja types, but not before they burrow under the pebbles and launch numerous heroic attacks on the bad guys.Other movie highlights include the boiling tar set-piece, the forest slaughter, the kick-ass training sequence (including a master who dies to prove a point to his pupil), and the infamous arrow-defence sequence. The whole climax is excellent to, with a dual of the titans that has to be seen to be believed and a pair of evil dwarf types thrown in for good measure. The soundtrack is just bizarre, packed with '70s soul music that doesn't really relate to what we're watching on screen. Acting is a plus, with a great performance from Hiroyuki Sanada as the ass-kicking hero and the ultimate bad-ass, Sonny Chiba as his imposing nemesis. Even SISTER STREET FIGHTER's Etsuko Shiomi turns up to kick a little ass. So action-lovers take note: check out SHOGUN'S NINJA if you wanna watch death, fights, and violence. It's brim-full of pain.

Comeuppance Reviews Set starting in 1581 and going on, Shogun's Ninja is the tale of Takamaru (Sanada), a member of the Momochi clan. He returns to his native Japan after a period of time in China, where it seems he spent the majority of his time studying Martial Arts. Once home, Takamaru reunites with his old buddies. But far from the peaceful return he had envisioned, he runs up against Hideyoshi (Koike), an evil warlord who wants to wipe out what remains of the Momochi clan so he can arrogantly assume even more power and land. His enforcer Shiranui (Chiba) is going to help make sure that happens. Of course, Hideyoshi also wants a cache of gold belonging to the Momochi clan (gold always comes in cache form, don't'cha know) and the key to finding where it is lies on cleverly etched daggers. Meanwhile, Takamaru tries to rekindle a romantic relationship with Ai-Lian (Shihomi) - all the while utilizing his pals to fight through all the betrayals and get revenge and restore the Momochi clan. Will he do it? Find out today! Shogun's Ninja is an artifact well worth seeking out. It has an impeccable pedigree: produced by Toei, it stars Japanese cinema legends that even we ignorant Americans know and love: Henry Sanada, Sonny Chiba and Tetsuro Tanba. It's directed by the legendary Noribumi Suzuki, a man with an amazing career in the Japanese film industry, and well-known to exploitation fans stateside for releases like Sex and Fury (1973), Convent of the Sacred Beast (1974) and the disturbing Beautiful Girl Hunter (1979). Fascinatingly, Shogun's Ninja was his next movie after Beautiful Girl Hunter. Not only does that show the diversity and talent of Suzuki, but you can imagine that he would bring his own unique sensibility to whatever project he's working on. Hence, Shogun's Ninja is about as far from a dry historical slog or standard ninja slog as you can possibly get. It's filled with stylish and interesting moments, and not just the violent bits.And while this is a very well-directed period piece, with top-notch costumes and sets, it doesn't skimp on the ninja action. It even has one of our favorite ninja things, the underground ninja. Suzuki brings his quirky vision to all aspects of the movie, including the action, so not only is there plenty of spinning, flipping, swordplay, nunchuks, and the like, but there's some dancing and twirling in there as well. There is an interesting credit to watch out for: "Actions directed by Sonny Chiba" - not action. ACTIONS. So maybe he's responsible for the dance moves. But there is some trapeze-like tightrope walking as well, and even Chiba couldn't have been responsible for putting it in slow motion with a smooth jazz soundtrack over it. Probably one of the coolest aspects of Shogun's Ninja is the soundtrack. Now we know that people, starting in the 16th Century, loved jazz funk. It may seem out of sorts, but it's just so awesome. It's innovations like this that set this movie apart, and keep Suzuki at the forefront of Japanese directors at this point in time.Even a movie like this isn't adverse to having genre mainstays like the Prerequisite Torture sequence and the training sequence. If you liked The Ninja Wars (1982) - a similar movie that also stars Sanada and Chiba - you're going to want to check this out. There's even a man named "Go Awazu" credited on the movie. He must be a lonely guy. In the U.S., Shogun's Ninja was released by Media on VHS back in the day. In the DVD era, however, it has shamefully fallen into the clutches of the makers of those one-dollar gas station DVD's. The movie deserves much, much better. A cleaned-up, widescreen, subtitled, high quality DVD would do wonders for this movie's reputation. It truly deserves a better treatment than it has gotten. But that being said, if you happen to see it somewhere, pick it up. It's definitely worth it.

Johann Sonny Chiba plays the shogun in pre-Edo period Japan. He's a bad mofo who eliminates a rival clan and then turns on his master to take over as shogun. Despite this, he fails to kill the rival clan's son who escapes to China and comes back to avenge his family. The kid learns martial arts and carries with him swords that contain a map to the clan's secret gold mine (hence everyone wants to kill him to get them). There was some good karate action in this flick. It's kind of cool to see Sonny play the bad guy and even fight a ninja named Hattori Hanzo (fans of Kill Bill should love this one).My problems with the movie are that it was the same damn plot all over again and the music. I expect bad music in some of these things, but it sounds like 70s porn music. The action sequences were kind of cool, but they have this crappy slap-bass, fake jazz sh*t in the background, so the tension isn't a high as it should be. I dunno, maybe the actual Japanese release had a better soundtrack. The other thing that threw me off was watching the hero dance around a fire. What the hell? It seemed like he was trying to do tai chi, but it looked more like Tommy Tune warming up for some big Broadway production. You don't look like a hard ass when you're spinning and leaping about.Despite all of this, Chiba fans should enjoy his performance. As per usual, Sonny is the glue holding this thing together.

fifthdigitdesign In the beginning there was a very handsome, half naked man alone on a boat,eating raw fish..., Then, there was an white bearded old teacher who'd showed the boys how to fight and said really wise things. Than, there were some nicely choreographed fights ,some gorgeous scenery and costumes, a bit of romanceending in tears... Then the good guys took revenge on the bad guys meanwhile changing the course of history for the better. what is there not to like...?:o))) The first Martial Arts movie I ever saw at the cinema. I remember going back to see it maybe 4 or 5 times. I was about 13 years old and the only girl in thecinema. good old days! If I could get hold of a copy I would watch this film 4 or five times more!