A westerner (Franco Nero) initiated into the society of ninja, the secret army of professional assassins, finds himself up against greed and an old rival. Spectacular martial arts... more...battle with explosives ensues.
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compared to some martial arts films now, looksa little dated
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Introduction ☺☺☺☺☺☺
During the 1980's a fair number of ninja movies were made. Many were poor due to the fact that they concentrated too much on the fantasy elements of traditional ninja, and as a consequence many were simply too far fetched. For me one of the greatest stars of ninja films of this era was Sho Kosugi. Sho Kosugi managed to give his films a serious element of realism. Whilst Enter the Ninja concentrates largely on Franco Nero's character, Sho Kosugi has a great part in the film as a disillusioned bad guy. The film is a more serious look into the world of ninjas and actually attempts to put a decent plot into the movie
Who's in it? ☺☺☺☺☺☺
Franco Nero~ Cole Susan George~ Mary Ann Flanders Sho Kosugi~ Hasegawa Alex Courtney~ Frank Landers Christopher George~ Charles Venarius
What else they been in? ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺ Susan George: Eastenders, Tales of the Unexpected, Venom, The Jigsaw Man Franco Nero: Force 10 from Navarone, Die Hard 2, Django, Camelot Sho Kosugi: Iron Eagle, Pray for Death, Revenge of the Ninja, Rage of Honour Christopher George: El Dorado, Chisum Mission Impossible, Wonder Woman, Love Boat
So what the heck is it all about? ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺a 86;☺☺☺☺
The film starts by trying to convey the acquired skills of ninjas. You see a lone white ninja using various different skills and techniques to eliminate a band of red ninjas and their master a black ninja. Sounds cheesy so far but there is a reasonable point to the different coloured outfits. Eventually you discover the white ninja is completing a final mission to complete his ninja training and really the different costumes colours are for the benefit of the viewer to distinguish who's who. The ninja clad in white is Cole {Franco Nero} is an American who has trained in the art of Ninjitsu and the black clad ninja was Hasegawa played by {Sho Kosugi} The problem is that Hasegawa is a traditionalist and refuses to accept that Cole a westerner is a successful ninja. Cole now leaves the temple to go and visit his friend and old army colleague Frank Landers {Alex Courtney} in the Philippines, where he and his wife {Susan George own a farm. Unknown to them the land has oil on it which Charles Venarius, local crime boss wants to get his hands on. Cole turns up in time to help his buddy who is refusing to sell, but Landers is useless since he is an alcoholic. Cole ends up doing his buddy a favour by sleeping with Mary-Ann behind is mates back. In the fight against Venarius' men, Cole being a ninja totally keeps humiliating them. In the end with frustration Venarius sends his top man to Japan to hire him a ninja to deal with Cole. This is where Hasegawa comes back in to it for he is itching to kill Cole. The film culminates with an excellent final showdown between Cole and Hasegawa.
So is it any good then? ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺☺ϒ ; 6;
In short yes. This is because firstly it is a serious attempt at a ninja film, and does its best to make ninja films palatable to a western audience, strengthened by a western hero. The fighting is good especially Sho Kosugi, and the fight scenes are convincing. Most of the actors put in a very strong performance and there is the addition of a reasonable storyline. There is also lots of humour in the film with quips from Cole to Venarius' men and sometimes because he defeats them easily he will humiliate them, by beating them in a comical manner. The film is quite touching and in some respects you also feel slightly sorry for Sho Kosugi's character, and can understand his traditional thought processes. The final fight is classic and reinforces honour and dignity. You also see two extremes of how life can turn out with Cole and His old army buddy, where Landers is a weak broken pathetic drunk but Cole has prospered, except he does not have the wife, home etc, but Landers is on the verge of losing all that.
Final thoughts ☺☺☺☺☺☺☺
There are no extras on the DVD so the selling point is the film itself. Not the greatest ever martial arts film but it does not profess to be, but by far one of the best westernised made ninja films ever, and the fighting is decent enough. But combining the strong acting performances and the addition of a storyline makes it compelling decent viewing.
![Enter The Ninja [1981]](http://picnic.ciao.com/uk/67162849.jpg)
