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1 – Film and TV

10 Sep 2010

WATARI press stills (Part 2)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

Pre-pubescent axe-weilding hero Watari goes through standard shinobi like shit through a goose, but things get a lot dicier when he encounters a  bizarre rogues gallery of super-powered villains. Further Reading: I wrote a short plug for this film on … Continued

Maki Fuyukichi, Shirato Sanpei, Watari
9 Sep 2010

WATARI press stills (Part 1)

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 2

Scored some 4×6″ B&W press stills from Toei’s 1966 mess of a masterpiece Watari the Ninja Boy (Daininjutsu eiga Watari). Depending on one’s previous knowledge of the Shirato Sanpei manga and where you stand on magical superhero ninjutsu vs. grim … Continued

Maki Fuyukichi, Shirato Sanpei, Watari
4 Sep 2010

SUPER NINJAS (aka Five Element Ninjas) poster

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 5 - Art and Advertising | 0

Via the ever superb Wrong Side of the Art: I find this English language market distro poster for Five Element Ninjas perplexing. The art makes this look like a team-up film, like a shinobified version of Force Five or something. … Continued

Five Element Ninjas, Shaw Bros.
31 Aug 2010

An Open Letter to David Bradley

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

Dear David, They’ll call you the lesser American Ninja. They’ll say you weren’t even a replacement as much as you were a placeholder, a mask-filler brought in while Michael Dudikoff was auditioning for soap opera guest spots. They’ll say you … Continued

AMERICAN NINJA, David Bradley, Michael Dudikoff, Steve James
30 Aug 2010

Now in the hands of… an American?

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 5 - Art and Advertising | 2

As a footnote to our American Ninja celebratory gripe-fest, here’s a mystifying trade ad from what has to be the early part of 1985, wherein Cannon heralded an upcoming project: Right studio, right producers, right creative team, right title, right … Continued

AMERICAN NINJA, Chuck Norris, Kosugi
29 Aug 2010

AMERICAN NINJA: Selective memory helps

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

25 years ago this weekend, Tim March, my brother Seth and I were dropped off at a theater in Worcester, Massachusetts for an afternoon matinee of American Ninja. The ‘craze’ was actually in the process of ‘jumping the shark,’ Tim … Continued

AMERICAN NINJA, Michael Dudikoff, Sam Firstenberg, Tadashi Yamashita
18 Aug 2010

Yet somehow it works…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 5 - Art and Advertising | 0

So how many different schools of character design can you have in one anime? The early 60’s TV version of Shirato Sanpei‘s re-imagining of Sarutobi Sasuke sure did probe that question:

Sarutobi Sasuke, Shirato Sanpei
15 Aug 2010

Eight sides of THE OCTAGON

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 0

I really love The Octagon. I loved it as a stupid kid in black pajamas back in the day and I love it now. It is an unsung hero of the 80’s American genre, the biggest non-Kosugi entry into the … Continued

Chuck Norris, Richard Norton, Tadashi Yamashita, The Octagon
13 Aug 2010

Everything I Needed to Know About Ninjutsu I Learned from Carlos Ray Norris, I

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 1

A guest column by MATT WALLACE in honor of THE OCTAGON‘s 30th Birthday! Chuck Norris has taught me a lot. He taught me not all men with mustaches who lived in the 70’s did porn. He taught me that it’s … Continued

Chuck Norris, Gerald Okamura, Lee Van Cleef, Tadashi Yamashita, The Octagon
13 Aug 2010

Let us now begin an intimate weekend with Chuck and Kyo…

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 0

Tomorrow marks the 30TH (!!!) Anniversary of the release of The Octagon! Holy shit I’m old… Rarely credited with starting the American ninja craze of the 80’s, this jewel of the Chuck Norris crown beat Enter the Ninja to theaters … Continued

Chuck Norris, Lee Van Cleef, Octagon, Tadashi Yamashita

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Welcome to VINTAGE NINJA — dedicated to old ninja movies from Japan’s 60s boom to the 80s American exploitation craze and beyond, with a ton of vintage toys, comics, and sharp pointy stuff thrown in for good measure.

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