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Tadashi Yamashita

MIKE STONE: ‘THE FIRST NINJA’
10 Jun 2021

MIKE STONE: ‘THE FIRST NINJA’

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

“Aloha friends, another beautiful day in paradise.” It’s how Mike Stone begins every post on Facebook from his home in the Philippines, where he’s currently working with a writer on an extensive biography of his storied life and career(s). He’s … Continued

AMERICAN NINJA, Cannon Films, Enter the Ninja, Franco Nero, Mike Stone, Sho Kosugi, Tadashi Yamashita
The utter dilemma of GYMKATA
3 Oct 2015

The utter dilemma of GYMKATA

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

If you’re like me, and let’s face it, most of you reading this site are, then you own WAY too many martial arts movies — from old clamshell VHS you rescued from liquidating video stores, to increasingly collectible DVDs from … Continued

GYMKATA, Tadashi Yamashita
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
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

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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50+ Japanese ninja movies reviewed

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