It is the summer of 1984, and I am baffled. Hiroyuki ‘Henry’ Sanada has been with me through every phase of my ninja fandom. Desperately hungry for ANYTHING ninja in the mid-80s and as pasted to HBO as any other … Continued
Listen up Universal execs! I know exactly what’s gone wrong with your version of 47 Ronin. It’s not a lousy script, minority backlash, a star past his drawing prime, source material un-relatable to the mainstream, or even competition from the … Continued
[Sing that title like an old blues number] Back in the craze daze, we were all victims of “Shinobified” movie titles — kung-fu flicks, often from the 70’s, with no ninja content whatsoever shamelessly retitled to the likes of Fist of Ninja, Dragon … Continued
It was one of the few Japanese ninja movies that actually made it to U.S. shores in the 80s, and what a weird choice. Full of fantasy special effects, bizarre super powered evil monks, sadism and rape and decapitated girls … Continued
Sangre Yakuza is an excellent Spanish-language blog full of Japanese gang-war movie posters, topless sukebans, tattoo’d girls in bondage (like the above kunoichi-esque bandit about to get abused), and karate-kickin’ honeys. And lo-and-behold some sword-slinging shinobi once in a while… There’s … Continued
Ninja in the Dragon’s Den is that rare Chinese/HK movie that actually gives props to Japanese martial arts. Henry Sanada‘s shinobi is every bit the equal of Conan Lee‘s kung-fu hero, and when the misunderstandings that led to their antagonism … Continued
The 1982 Corey Yuen crossover actioner Long zhi ren zhe (aka Ninja in the Dragon’s Den and Legend of the Ninja) was a double vehicle, with two equally marketable leading men. Conan Lee was *going to be* the more muscular, harder-edged … Continued
I’m not the hugest fan of the 1980 Japan Action Club vehicle Shogun’s Ninja (Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu), but you have to admire the insane stuntwork, and it’s another movie with Henry Sanada fighting with twin short swords – which I … Continued
Don’t know if this is old stock, a warehouse find, or new print runs, but Ninja-Weapons.com has all sorts of old 80’s ninja posters for sale, and CHEAP! I got these two CLASSICS for Christmas, 1983 I think… I still … Continued
It never really breached the Times Square grindhouse and werewolf circuits here in the States, but the Hong Kong / Japanese co-production Ninja in the Dragon Den was certainly an international hit. Here’s some totally original painted artwork from the … Continued