Since I will be getting this movie sometime this week, I will be posting a review of it (probably Friday or Saturday). Meanwhile you guys can post all your personal reviews of the movie here (not by those damned critics!), for those of you who have seen the movie already.


p.s. I'm trying to get the English hardcoded sub version of DVD if I can.

I absolutely LOVED this movie!!!! It was everything that I was hoping for and more!!! Not only did it pay the perfect tribute to the Ninja and Martial Arts classics of the 80's and 90's ,but it took things to a whole new level with the creativity and choreography! I honestly believe that anyone who is a true fan of Scott's or even Ninja movies in general will definitely love this film! The action was superb. By far the best choreography of any Ninja film I have ever seen, including Sho Kosugi's work! The acting was right on par with what you would expect to see in a martial arts action film. For those that have commented that the last fight was a let down, I would really like to know what movie you were watching? I thought that the final battle was great! Just the right amount of sword play and hand to hand. I also think that Isaac and Scott successfully portrayed the sense of honor and purpose that was central to the storyline. I haven't made up my mind what my favorite fight was yet, but I do know that this is a movie that I will be watching time and time again!!!!!! If you haven't seen it yet, you are in for a treat!!!

**Moderator- I posted my review in 2 different threads, since I wasn't sure which one people are actually using. Sorry.

I like movies by people like say Van Damme, Seagal's old movies, Dolph, Scott's, Don The Dragon, Jet Lee's, Gary Daniels, Jackie Chan, Sho's, zara, kathy long, cynthia, zoe, ect.. because they are the real deal. Martial Artists or Stuntmen/women then Actors not actors like Rain, or Keanu that spend 6 months in training for scenes. The people mentioned above do bring more realism and I guess naturalism to it since it's what they did first before going onto acting/stunt man where as well lets face it even from The Matrix, his 6 months in training couldn't save Keanu from his own cardboard acting skills and facial expression.

Good news, it looks like I'll be getting the DVD tommorow, so I'll post my review as soon as I finish watching it.

Scott Adkins' Ninja: a very good movie with couple of flaws

After getting Ninja DVD sent from my uncle in Russia, I decided to watch this movie. But since there was quite a bit Japanese language being spoken and DVD had no English subtitles, I decided to watch it with a friend who is good at Japanese and is an action movie fanatic.

Now I will say this movie is not perfect, but as a action movie, and Ninja movies fan, I was thoroughly entertained nonetheless. However, I will try to lay out all the things that I really liked about this movie, and some parts that I may have disliked or found a bit iffy - to make not so unbiased review as much as I can(but I can't guarantee it 100%).


Parts that I liked :

1.
The movie shows a lot of things such as training of Bujutsu in the dojo, and Scott's totally ripped shape doing the Kata, and many other sorts of training. I generally liked this training sequence, showing the students' discipline and order in the dojo.

2.
Another part I liked was sensei's explanations of each weapons at the beginning, because it was explaining about the ninja's weapons to general audiance who may not be familiar with Ninjas all that much (being very audiance friendly, not alienating them).

3.
The movie pays tribute/homage to various things, such as Seiko Fujita's portrait shown on the Dojo's wall couple of times, and you know by the behind the scenes "Fist of Fury" that it's paying tribute to Bruce Lee.

4.
Scott shows spectacular fight scenes . His fights in this movie made me forget all about the mess that JCVD made in The Sheperd. The best highlights for me was the temple fight scene fighting the Ring (the 1 vs 20 fight that we've all been waiting for), and the final fight with Masazuka (I liked it very much although it did feel a bit short - which is referred to in "Parts that I may have disliked/found a bit iffy". But, I do love the Katana fight scene!)

5.
Masazuka character was an excellent menacing villian - I loved all his stealth kill assassinations staying in the shadows, and his attack on the dojo with deadly skills hellbent on getting the Yoroi Bitsu.

6.
The weaponary. Ahh. Not only did I love the Yoroi Bitsu used by Scott's character Casey (I loved the use of different Ninja weaponary at the end of the movie against the ring members - reminds me totally of ninja gaiden), but I also loved the practicality of Masazuka's "High-tech" ninja suit. It was very cool to see him use items like smoke bombs, Nightvision goggles(?), and although I originally opposed it - even the gun wasn't too bad either.

7.
Remember how I wish that Scott wasn't just speaking English when I saw the behind the scenes(well he does say Hai! in behind the scenes, but I wanted him to speak something like a full sentence)? Well that came true! Like I predicted - before he sets off to New York with the Yoroi Bitsu, he does have a very brief conversation with sensei where he does speak one sentence in Japanse. Kudos to you Scott. I just loved that part (although it was not an action scene)

8.
The secret of the Shinobi Katana - that was really unexpected. See the whole movie yourself to check it out.

9.
The lighting - when Ninja assassin was shown in fantastic fest, it received quite a lot of flak saying the lighting they used was way too dark and people couldn't tell properly what was happening. Okay, so I haven't watched Ninja assassins yet so I'll have to actually see it to know what they're talking about, but I had no problems with that in this movie. Even though scenes were filmed in dark (most noticeable would be Masazuka's attack on Sensei's Dojo, although there are other scenes too), I could clearly see what was happening.

10.
The whole overall story was quite decent - I liked it. But even if the story was rubbish(which it was not), who watches Ninja movies for much of story anyway?

11.
Another part I really liked was how it was R rated - violent showing limbs head cut off. Yeah, some people shriek saying it's too violent for children blah blah blah, but I was never one of those people even though I was a little kid. Way too many movies these days are being rated PG-13 these days(even upcoming Tekken movie, which was originally filmed in R rating way seems to be being edited to be PG-13 which is disappointing), so it was really good to see a good R rated movie with violence (hope that does not make me a bad person!)
And also it did make me laugh a bit thinking the actor who played Boyka's trainer in UD2 gets smacked by Scott here as well (I do feel sorry for the guy as well- although it's only acting)





Parts that I may have disliked/found a bit iffy

1.
Well, this part isn't too much of a criticism - I liked the rooftop fight scene, but the part where at the end Masazuka jumps off the building with "wings" does remind me of a flying squarrel - it does make me laugh a bit . I know they were going for realism approach, but couldn't they have done it another way instead of using the "wings"? Like a grapple gun etc...

2.
Some of the music felt like it really did not fit the atmosphere of the movie - especially Casey and Namiko love theme music which pops up whenever the 2 of them are having a 'moment' I don't know maybe it's just me, but that music did seem out of place. I think they should have picked a different theme music, not just repeat the same music every time for every one of those 'moments'

3.
I wish we had more time to see Scott in the Ninja suit - only had time to see him in suit for last 15 mins or so, unlike Masazuka who we see in his high tech suit a lot in the film. I guess some of this is forgivable because of the overall plot of Yoroi Bitsu being sacred etc.. but I still wish we had seen more of Scott in Yoroi Bitsu ninja suit.

4.
Final fight could have been longer. But I guess this also can be forgiven a bit considering the 'hero must save the day' part(also related to the ending), and the secret of the Shinobi katana.

5.
Movie did feel a bit short - at about the hour's time there seemed to be a problem with pacing - as if they were rushing to finish the movie quickly. I was and am never a fan of movies being longwinded(Transformers 2, while I did find it entertaining I found it overly too long), but that does not mean I like movies to end too quickly either. I think it could have been better if they could have stretched the plot a little bit to make it about 90 mins (even Blood and Bone was around 90 mins)

6.
They made some editing in this movie which is clearly apparent in the finished product. For instance, in the rooftop fight, they got rid of Masazuka's phrase "You believe you're ninja? I give you the honour of dying like a ninja, by my sword" This phrase is gone - which I'm glad because it does sound a bit cheesy. But they also got rid of the phrase "Now it's just you and me!" when Masazuka and Casey clash swords in their final fight. Personally I loved that phrase (Masazuka sounded very menacing in it), and do feel a bit sad to not see it in the movie.



To conclude, Ninja, despite having couple of shortcomings was an excellent entertaining movie for me. Sure it has it's flaws, but as a ninja movie fan, I couldn't be more happier (Thank you Scott for such a good movie!). And as for those who critise this film for lack of story and character - what were you expecting? Oscar material? I couldn't care less about what you all think.


I give Ninja a solid 8 out of 10 grade - on par with Blood and Bone in terms of entertainment value, falling just a little bit short from Undisputed 2(8.5/10) due to some of its faults (my friend gave it a 7.5, it's understandable since he doesn't know Scott all that much and not much of ninja fan). But despite its faults, I love this film and will be watching it time and time again (actually although I gave both of them same grade, I like this movie slightly better than Blood and Bone, because of my favouritism of Ninja movies ).

I'll try to review Ninja assassin if I get a chance to see it (soon, I hope).

Now I can't wait to see Scott's next film - bring on the Undisputed 3 !



p.s. If they come up with a new story for a sequel for this film - I'd love to see it! Maybe they can have it on different kinds of ninjas schools - since Sensei's Dojo is a Koga ninja school how about a Iga ninja school(In Japan, there are 2 most well known ninja schools in Japan, one being Koga-ryu - hence sensei's dojo, and other being Iga-ryu)? And if they do decide on a sequel, this time it would be good if we can see more of Scott's action in Ninja suit.

In my copy it has the English with hard coded words when they speak Japanese. I also liked the whole opening sequence and both Scott and Ihara Tsuyoshi were awesome in their parts. The fight between him and Sensei Takeda was also cool. Though it was a shame to see the big instructor with the sai's get sliced and diced, as he was the fight coordinator after all. I also liked the explanation for the weapons, even though I did not need it, as I know what they all are.

One of the things I think the Ninja-To should have had, well both of them is this: http://yfrog.com/7dninjaswordj

Well the one from The Yori Bitsu that is in addition to the secret, which really wasn't if you listened to what he said, as I guessed that from the beginning when they mentioned the weapons. Masazuka's sword reminded me of this, or it probably could have been the same one: http://yfrog.com/0gfmt00102j

One of my favorite scenes was when Scott beat the tar out of those 20 guys and the subway scene was also cool. You would also think that with Sensei being one of Sekio's stidents, there would have been some firearms training in there, but I guess there wasn't. Also Masazuka's stealth kills were indeed awesome and I loved the modern High Tech Ninja Suit. I did not like the love theme that poped up whenever they shared a moment, though if I was Casey, I would have hit the Sensei's daughter and that one that served him tea, as she looked like she also had the hots for him(as he has to keep his pimp hand strong in front of Masazuka). Also it is my firm belief that Sensei Takeda was indeed one of Sekio Fujita's students. And yes James the two Ninja schools are from the Iga and Koga mountians.

The most noted of them was Sekio being from Koga School and Massaki Hatsumi being from Iga School, though they are just two among other families from those schools, but as Sho K said in an interview from Ninja Assassin, all of that is very low key under the table, meet in the back room kind of thing. It is not something that is discussed in most schools openly, as several old traditional schools in Japan do indeed teach Ninjutsu along with traditional samurai fighting arts, as a lot of the ninja families were exiled samurai families in addition to lower class families, as Grandmaster Hatsumi stated. Also there are descendants of famous Ninja still around like Hatto Hanzori or even the Samurai's Musashi who is a Kenjutsu instructor.

However the Tenshin Shoden Katori ryu is one of the oldest Samurai ryu's in japan and they teach Ninjutsu, but not in how to become one but rather how to defeat one. Also they should have really expected Masazuka's return better, though since he bordered on obsession for The Yori, he probably should have figured that after his last threat, they would have moved it and it wouldn't be there, but I guess he was blinded by his contempt and such.

Anyway, I loved this movie however despite it's small faults, as J.J. mentioned and would also rate it an 8 out of 10.

Yeah, I'd love to see a sequel to this - and if that happens maybe we can have more ninjas (only 2 actually being in this movie although there are a lot of students: Casey and Masazuka - if you leave out the Samurai vs Ninja part with sensei's explanations) and more time of Scott in the Yoroi Bitsu suit!

One thing that I thought was odd was the suit, it must have been newer with the design and all, (Sensei Takeda's) as if it was an older suit (I.E. Sekio's from WW II), it would have looked like the one in the flashbacks in the beginning which was more of a traditional one.

I liked the movie. It was fun, entertaining and had cool fights. There were a couple of flaws like the set pieces and length. But mostly the set pieces. At some points I felt like I just wanted to stop watching but Scott made it all worthwhile. The directing wasn't really that good either. But like I said it was very entertaining.

I have to say I have some mixed feelings about this film after seeing it....

There are moments and scenes wich I just love and wanna see over and over again and than there are some flaws that don´t ruin the movie for me but where I see some wasted potential....

I am ok with the story...even though there was none...I loved how they sold bulgaria as new york....not perfect but really good and if I remember movies like ninja turtels and so on they kinda had teh same vibe even though they were us films...

what I didn´t get was the whole ring, order stuff??? why?? I mean the guy in teh priest outfit and his bully henchmen...that was really unnecessary out of a michael dudikoff movie...he could have been a normal oil mongul with normal bodyguard like henchman who is just badass....and the whole movie would have been 50% more credible and less cheesy....

that is my main issue...the other one is appart from the temple fight wich was quite over the top (even though the guys did nothing but gettin hit) I always have the feel that scot is underused in his fights....I have that in all his movies and all his fights....

for example he looks the coolest ever in his ninja suit and the seconds of him doing magic with the nunchuck and the kama is insane and pure beauty...but its like 10 seconds or so...so it is over way too soon! and in the rest he is really underused appart from the amazing 3 second jumpng spinkick swordslash dropkickcombo he does...but I always have the feeling he has not the time ot opponent to show his fulll screen power... SO I REALLY CAN`T WAIT FOR HIM VS LATEEF AND HIM VS MARKO IN UD3
I just hope thoose are the guys and he has the tiime and stage to go once and for all 100%

But the whole japan intro with all the traditional training....the footage of superripped scott (his shape is also really underused in this film...) and thoose little snippets with him doing ninja magic plus the temple fight made my day...I love thoose scenes and will watch them over and over again..Still whenever I see him whirling around his chucks in the streets of ny looking like straight out f ninja gaiden I hate the fact that I have to rewind in 10 seconds... But hay..overall a real fun and awesome movie....I still think though that ud3 has more breakthrough potetial since biyka is a real charactere that scott plays real good and I think his opponents there will give him a much better stage to show his best

I haven't actually seen NINJA in it's entirety yet; I've been saving watching it until Christmas Day, because this is the first time Scott gets to wear the hero shoes in a martial arts film and I want to mark this ocassion.
However, in all the trailers and clips that I've seen thus far on YouTube and elsewhere, the fact that NINJA, like UD2 and 3, is going straight to DVD in the U.S. and the U.K. an indicator to me that Hollywood really has it in for authentic martial arts experts, and as a fan of martial arts movies as well as one who studies multiple styles myself, this frustrates me. Hollywood seems content to get some pop star or A-list actor with a pretty face and minimal (if any) martial arts experience, teach them how to kick and punch halfway decently, film a few two minute fight scenes with lots of chopping editing to hide where the stars work ends and their stunt doubles begins, and call it a day. Bruce Lee most have been rolling over - no, VOMITING in his grave when the bottomless pit of pure awful that was CHARLIE'S ANGELS came out. One of the few recent exceptions to this was NINJA ASSASSIN, which was pretty awesome for Rain not having any real martial arts experience, and while I still think NINJA will be better, it was actually quite cool.
Scott, Isaac Florentine, Marko Zaror, Gary Daniels, Hector Echavarria, Lateef Crowder, Ray Park, these guys actually are real martial arts experts who haven't simply learned how to do it in front of a camera, but who have mastered the art of translating their real-life fighting ability to celluloid, and the fact that they're still regarded as B-list material is a travesty.
As for my opinion NINJA so far, I think that while Scott's character probably isn't quite the uber-badass that Uri Boyka is, NINJA is pure awesome. There's no choppy editing, no wire-fu, no CGI (except perhaps when a Shuriken is involved), it's following the same philosophy of ONG BAK of letting a truly talented martial arts master show what he is capable of. I'll post my full review after I've seen the whole movie, but if I had to call it now, I'd say that it's at least as good as UD2.

Ok i got the movie today and just finished watching it and i loved it...the dojo scenes outdoors in the day time were beautiful this movie had ton of beautiful cinematography...parts i didnt like was the editing where a sword would go towards scotts face and it would cut to close up to fast and the blood was ok but a little much..

Scotts acting was good overall his fights were amazing i loved his superman punch..

Overall 9.5 out of 10

Will everyone whose downloaded actually buy it now? I'd like to think so

http://www.ethaicd.com/show.php?pid=50266

like in another post i got it here...took 10 days and i paid 10.50 us dollars..free shipping...its region 3 dvd so i recommend all u who cant wait get it here

Well, after months and months of waiting and promising myself that I would not watch it in it's entirety until Christmas Day, here, at last, is Scott Adkins first turn at the leading man wheel, "Ninja". Alot of reviews I've read of it like the rivalry of Casey, the main hero, and Masazuka, the villainous ninja, to that of Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow in the G.I. Joe franchise, including the good people of kungfucinema.com. In fact, in his review of "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra", kungfucinema's Mark Pollard expressed his desire to see a spin off focusing exclusively on Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow. I'd love to see such a spin off myself, although I don't know if there will ever be one, even though there's a G.I. Joe sequel forthcoming. Regardless, think of "Ninja" as just such a spinoff. While not without a hiccup here or there, it is nevertheless one of the best martial arts movies of the year and further cements Isacc Florentine as the Yuen Woo-Ping of American martial arts movies and Scott Adkins as the latest of the superkickers of the martial arts genre.

Between the fact that many, perhaps even most forum members have probably seen "Ninja" by now, and all the clips on Youtube outlining the story, I'll feel content to summarize the storyline as Casey and Masazuka, two rivaling martial arts students at a Ninjitsu school in Japan, battling on the streets of New York City as part of Masazuka's obsession to get his hands on the Yoroi Bitsu, a box containing the last authentic surviving weapons of the Koga Ninja clan, and he has gone far enough to murder their sensei and kidnap his daughter, Namiko, to get it.

What I talk about is how "Ninja" is exactly the kind of martial arts film that Hollywood refuses to put into theaters, and it's a damn shame, because "Ninja", like many straight to DVD American martial arts films, is made of and by people who know both the genre and martial arts inside and out. Scott is no Hollywood poser, his skills on display in "Ninja" are the real deal, as anyone whose seen this clip knows:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pTGtTy0mxlM

Alot of people liken Scott's fighting style to Tony Jaa, and while I can definitely see the validity of that comparison, I personally see Scott as more of a modern day Hwang Jang-Lee. Hwang was the first of the superkickers, and it's clear that Scott is the newest. Anyone whose seen "Special Forces", "Undisputed 2", "Wolverine", and the trailer for "Undisputed 3" can tell that Scott is an incredibly versatile martial artist, but his greatest weapons, the ones that I'd least want to be on the receiving end of, are his flashy but extremely powerful kicking techniques. Indeed, he gave an interview where he explained that the original plan for the end fight in "The Shepard" was for his character to be a Tae Kwon Do exponent whose kicking techniques Van Damme was going to have to adapt to and counter. Too bad JC insisted that one be cut down.

However, his fighting style is noticeably different in "Ninja". Whereas in his past work, Scott has primarily blended Wushu, Tae Kwon Do, and Kickboxing with MMA-style grappling moves, his moves has been deliberately given a much more distinctly Japanese feel to them. You'll see Scott using alot of wrist throws, sweeps, and takedowns and other such leveraging techniques. At times, it looks as though Casey's been in alot of full contact Kumite fights, since he often finishes downed opponents with a straight punch. Howeve,r what hasn't been lost on everyone is the fact that the main star of "Ninja" is one of the most amazing kickers in modern martial arts cinema, and it's in the final third of the movie that Scott's legs being to take over. Isaac Florentine even expressed that the fight against the Ring, the cult of assassin's Masazuka has loaned his services to, was where they "let go", and let go they did. This fight looks like something out of "Unleashed", with Casey invading the Ring compound and plowing through twenty plus opponents in a battle that must be seen to be believed. And in his final showdown with Masazuka and the rest of the Ring, Casey fully embraces the ways of the Ninja and the comic book-like tone of "Ninja" fully kicks into overdrive.

Speaking of the ways of the Ninja, one of the greatest assets of "Ninja" is how it depicts the ways in which contemporary ninjas would maintain their tradition weapons and tactics while also adapting to the 21st century. In some ways, Masazuka's ninja suit makes him look like a Japanese version of a Predator, complete with steel plates and night vision goggles. While he still uses the trusty Shinobi Katana (aka the Ninjato, which I think is a cooler sounding name), he also embraces the use of firearms and even a set of wings that allow him to glide around Manhattan like he's stepped right out "The Dark Knight". In contrast, Casey tends to stay a little more traditional, relying on the sword, Shuriken, Kusarigama, and Nunchuku, doing Bruce Lee proud with the latter.

The only major flaw I see with "Ninja" is that it's too short, especially considering just how fast-paced it is. "Ninja" is a little like an actually ninja, in that respect, in that both waste no time whatsoever in getting straight to work on their task at hand. Still, "Ninja" could have benefited from being at least ten minutes longer, and this wouldn't really even need to be action scenes. In a movie where the hero and the villain are in a battle to the death less than ten minutes in and where they trade blows while doing parkour leaps over oncoming cars, no one can say that "Ninja" doesn't have enough action. But maybe those added ten minutes could have deepened the rivalry of Casey and Masazuka and the romance between Casey and Namiko. Masazuka's sudden attempt to kill Casey in a sparring match kind of comes out of left field a bit, even though I knew it would happen from all the trailers and making of videos. Masazuka's thrist for blood and obsession to get the Yoroi Bitsu would have been a little more rationalized with a longer running time.

Still, that's only a minor quibble in what is otherwise a thrill and a half to watch. "Ninja" is one of the best martial arts movies of the year, and Scott Adkins handles the leading man responsibilities with the greatest of ease, proving once again that he's one of the few martial arts movies stars who is also an equally talented actor. It seems as though Scott has rarely, if ever, used his own voice on film. Seeing him play an American was surprising, to say the least. And with Jet Li now retired from the business of making "epics", and Jackie Chan's indeterminable amount of years he has left in him to do this sort of thing (and I must admit, he's more than holding his own at 55), Scott is the next guy on the block for this genre, and Isaac Florentine is easily one of the genre's most talented directors. Now, all that's left for us to do is sit back, relax, and wait with baited breath for "Undisputed 3". BOYKA!!! BOYKA!!! BOYKA!!!!