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1 – Film and TV

16 May 2013

Review: NINJA: THE MISSION FORCE — parody executed with more skill than its source

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

What do you do with a half-dozen mail-order ninja suits, some black eye-liner, a few friends willing to tumble around a public park like idiots and a heap of public domain films? Well, in the 80s if you were Godfrey … Continued

Godfrey Ho, Ninja: The Mission Force
5 May 2013

VN REVISITED: A ‘Tonbei the Mist’ Primer

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV | 4

I reposted this fantastic publicity still of Maki Fuyukichi as Tonbei the Mist from Greg Newman over at the Facebook “The Samurai” Group. Got a lot of attention, so I thought this would be a good time to revisit a … Continued

Maki Fuyukichi, Onmitsu Kenshin, The Samurai, Tonbei
27 Apr 2013

FIVE ELEMENT NINJA African marketing

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

This amazingness from the mobile “cinemas” of Ghana, Africa is on eBay right now, for a steal, too! Plenty more goodness here, as well!

Five Element Ninjas, Ghana movie posters
24 Mar 2013

VN REVISITED – Happy Birthday Meiko Kaji!

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

(originally published June 2010)   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 … Continued

Meiko Kaji
15 Mar 2013

VN REVISITED: Beauty and Humanity in KAZE NO BUSHI

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

(originally published July 2010) There may not be a more beautifully shot ninja film than the 1964  artistic gem Kaze no Bushi (aka “Warrior of the Wind”). The set-bound cinematography is great, the use of natural light in the lush … Continued

Hashizo Okawa, KAZE NO BUSHI
9 Mar 2013

Oh, so you want more ENTER?

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

 Not a problem. Last post was specific to the Kosugi doubling images, but here’s the remainder of the French lobby pics from Enter the Ninja. Don’t know about you cats, but I was totally in love with Susan ‘Dirty Mary’ … Continued

Enter the Ninja, Franco Nero, Sho Kosugi, Susan George, Zachi Noy
25 Feb 2013

Enter the Kosugi!

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

These French-language market lobby photos for the 1981 release of Enter the Ninja are a bit different than the American marketing and press photos, mainly in that they reveal close-ups of Sho Kosugi doubling for one of the red ninja … Continued

Enter the Ninja, Sho Kosugi
26 Jan 2013

Torment of the “Top 10”

by Keith Rainville | posted in: 1 - Film and TV, 7 - Ninja Miscelany | 9

I was asked by the film review site SoReelFlix last month to contribute a Top 10 ninja films list. After a month of notes I had about 30 bare essential films and realized an outright Top 10 wasn’t going to … Continued

23 Jan 2013

Shame on you, kung-fu kangaroos!

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

Remember during the home video explosion how many low-end kung-fu movies got cheap new package art and “ninja”-centric re-titles? I got burned so many times at the video store by this, fuming when the 70’s ‘chop-sockey’ playing on my VHS … Continued

Warriors of Virtue 2
17 Nov 2012

Even more hand-colored CASTLE OF OWLS stills

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

I just can’t stop rescuing these from dealers in Thailand… And why not? I love hand-tinted antique photos, and these are from my favorite ninja film ever (and the one I’ve written about the most on this site, too). Some … Continued

CASTLE OF OWLS, Ryutaro Otomo, Thai press kits

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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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