Nestled in a corner of the web away from the dregs of modern popular culture, a man born about 20-30 years too late does his damnedest to review and chronicle his favorite things from the past (1930s-1980s). See his reviews of 1950s monster movies, 1980s arcade video games, old-school territory wrestling matches, and more stuff that is too much to be mentioned in this mere description!
Monday, August 1, 2011
Retro Reviews: Enter the Ninja (1981)
Looking over the various sub-genres and fads that run through movies, there's usually at least one film you can pinpoint as being the one that started it all. The Bela Lugosi version of Dracula kicked off the 1930s monster cycle which also saw Frankenstein, Island of Lost Souls, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and The Mummy come to the screen. Airport begat the disaster movie fad that spanned the entire 1970s.
This brings us to the 1981 Cannon cult classic Enter the Ninja. Just as Enter the Dragon established kung-fu as a movie trend, Enter the Ninja did likewise for ninjutsu. It made an international star out of the then-unknown Sho Kosugi, who despite playing a villain here was cast in more heroic roles later in Revenge of the Ninja and other ninja movies. The actor who plays the hero in ETN, strangely enough, is not Japanese but rather an Italian (Franco Nero, familiar face from numerous Italian-made westerns and gialli). Throw in a cast of veteran B-movie stars and character actors (Susan George, Christopher George, Will Hare), loads of fights, the most overdramatic death sequence in movie history, a nifty soundtrack, and nice location shooting in the Philippines, and you have one of the most enjoyable action flicks of the '80s.
After finishing his training at a scenic ninja school, Cole (the aforementioned Franco Nero) decides to pay his army buddy Frank Landers (Alex Courtney) and beautiful wife Mary-Ann (Susan George) a visit at their lush Philippine mansion. All is not right there, however. A greedy land developer named Charles Venaurius (Christopher George) wants to buy Frank's property for his own purposes. As if that isn't bad enough, Venaurius has recruited Cole's old rival Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi) to take him out.
If one accepts the fact that Nero had no ninjutsu training for this movie and was replaced by fight choreographer Mike Stone for all his fights, it becomes somewhat difficult to take Nero seriously in his role as Cole. After all, how could an Italian-bred and born man know anything about the martial arts and play such a character? Actually, the editing for his fight sequences is so seamless it's hard to tell that Nero is being doubled for his fights. His character is an American, which he does a much more convincing job of looking the part. Judging from his stilted dialogue, I'd say Nero was dubbed by another actor. Seems like a fair trade-off: looks American but can't speak with an American accent.
Kosugi was virtually an unknown before doing Enter the Ninja. After watching it I can understand why he was such an in-demand actor for similarly-themed movies. With a legit background in such forms of martial arts as Kendo and Judo as well as numerous tournament championships and trophies (three consecutive L.A. Open Martial Arts Tournament victories from 1972-74), he does his action scenes superbly. From the moment Cole is accepted into the school, it becomes readily apparent just how jealous Hasegawa is of the gaijin's (Japanese term for foreigner) success. Hasegawa makes for a worthy rival for Cole, making the anticipation for their climactic battle worth the wait.
Although I don't want to spoil the climax, I have to say I was struck by the emotions of both Cole and Hasegawa once the victor emerged. Despite being rivals, both men have a mutual respect for each other. In accordance with ninjutsu tradition, the loser must be killed honorably. I will leave it to you to find out who lives and who dies, but it is a very emotionally charged scene that may make your eyes a little misty.
The action sequences are masterfully executed. The first ten minutes contain no dialogue. It shows Cole's final test to become accepted as a ninja. He battles numerous red ninjas and evades several obstacles before reciting the Nine Levels of Power for Master Komori (Dale Ishimoto) and completing his test. It shows just how important visuals can be to telling a film story. Actions do indeed speak louder than words here!
Switching gears to a less serious side, I was laughing non-stop at Christopher George's over-the-top performance as the scummy land developer tycoon. He chews his scenes like Swiss cheese, often punctuating them with crazed rants. When Venaurius bitches at his chubby, hook-handed henchman Siegfried (Zachi Hoy) or snotty British-accented right-hand man Mr. Parker (Constantine Gregory), he does it as if they've raped his wife and killed his dog. I'd be tempted to call it bad acting, but Christopher George can be forgiven. He clearly seems to be relishing his villainous role for all it's worth. After all, how can you hate a character who says such lines with gusto like:
"Murder him. Smash him. Waste him!"
"Are you ready for my supreme creation?"
"That's preposterous! This is twentieth-century Manila,. not feudal Japan!"
"Well I want a ninja. Find me a ninja who believes in the old ways, Mr. Parker."
You gotta love Venaurius. Did I mention he also has a team of female synchronized swimmers which he conducts to classical music?
And let's not forget Venaurius's death by shuriken at the hands of Cole. If there's a scene besides the final fight that makes Enter the Ninja so great, it's this one:
If I learned anything from watching Enter the Ninja, it's that death by shuriken will make you stretch out a long yell, raise your right arm up, put your left hand on your chest, look at where the shuriken hit, look back at your assailant, then fall over slowly.
Enter the Ninja: the movie that started it all for ninjas. Except for Susan George not being able to show off her lovely body, I haven't got a complaint about this classic. Surprisingly, it's not even on DVD, despite 2011 being its 30th anniversary. C'mon MGM, Enter the Ninja must be released within my lifetime, dammit! It does appear frequently under the Impact channel on Xfinity (formerly Comcast) On Demand, so you can check it out there.
Overall rating: **** out of ***** stars.
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