A noble ninja family battles an ancient demon and his evil hordes, with international ninja from around the globe thrown into the mix. Gimmicked vehicles, soaring stunt work and plenty of explosions in rock quarries are on tap. It’s World-Wide … Continued
If you’re a big enough toy geek, the 1988 Japanese tokusatsu series Worldwide Ninja War Jiraiya (Sekai ninja sen Jiraiya) will look somewhat familiar. The action-packed “Metal Hero” show was never exported to the States, but some of the toys … Continued
Three decades of video trading and niche releasing have given us a much wider view of world cinema since 1980’s Shogun, and its easy to look back on it with a snarky laugh or two now. Plenty of stereotypes and … Continued
Man, where would we be without Sho Kosugi? Probably in JAIL… This is the man, after all, who taught us how to catch arrows in our teeth, wear ninja stars on our belt buckles, scale office buildings with climbing claws, … Continued
Meiko Kaiji in ninja gear? Swoon! Found these caps years ago in a sadly defunct blog (German if memory serves?), but they also floated around various newsboards for a while. The Female Convict Scorpion and Wandering Ginza Butterfly star had … Continued
When your hero is as spectacularly garbed as the titular lead is in Akai Kageboshi, you need everyone else he’s fighting to provide visual contrast. So in what is one of the most colorfully costumed ninja films of the 60’s, … Continued
With all the sneaking around and sword thievery in Akai Kageboshi, there’s a need for some – literally – flashy escapes. Here’s where the 60’s style of cinematic ninjutsu takes over from what in the 50’s would have been magical … Continued
Not only is Akai Kageboshi a great ninja movie that spans the colorful flamboyant 50’s and grimmer realistic 60’s, it’s also a damn nifty TOURNAMENT MOVIE! The tournament is one of the strongest devices in martial arts cinema. It’s single … Continued
Yes, indeedy! One year ago today, I posted the first content on Vintage Ninja. 200+ posts, hundreds of pictures and thousands of readers later, I’m pretty damn happy with where everything stands. I’m no web wizard, but the site is … Continued
Looked at some Taiwanese / HK stuff last time, and people get testy when I stray to the Chinese side of shinobi cinema, so I’ll boomerang things right back with some tried and true Raizo Ichikawa. Speaking of Raizo, I’ve … Continued