Well here truly is a rarity
a 'cut and paste' ninja movie in which BOTH the original Asian film into which the newer and completely non related ninja segments are inserted, AND the ninja segments themselves, are actually rather good! and yes, I'm actually being serious!
The Asian movie is a very poignant and heartfelt tale of a struggling single mother who is tragically, horrifically disfigured in a fire whilst attempting to rescue her baby son. The plot unfolds that due to her resulting appearance she decides to conceal her true identity from the son as he grows up, instead telling him that she is his nanny/maid.
Only at the end of the film does the son finally realise that she really is his mother and in a rather brutally sad climax, he attempts to reunite her with his father, but is just a little bit too late ..
The attempt by the film makers to link the ninja segments into the above original movie are simply pathetically illogical! According to Joseph Lai's spliced encompassing version of events, the mother and father in the original film were actually ninja who due to pre-marital sex were expelled from their ninja clan and had their ninjitsu powers taken from them (!!!!!)
But of course, the real reason fans (or am I the only one?) actually sit down to watch these movies is solely for the energetic ninja action they usually contain and in this respect, this film delivers the goods. We have quite a few well choreographed fight scenes on display here (one involving a female ninja)
However, there is an extra dimension to this movie ..a factor which really raises the enjoyment level far higher than many of the other Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho ninja outings and that is the voice over work for the main ninja villain.
I defy anyone watching this film to not burst out laughing at the way he utters his lines.
The voice over artist here must have been either a) Deliberately over playing the character as some sort of protest/joke at having to lend his voice to such a film in the first place or b) Was severely intoxicated in some manner at the time.
It's not just the characters hilarious voice over in fact - the actual actor playing him (Dave Wheeler) is blatantly having a whale of a time overacting to glory even beneath the dub anyway! Just watch the scene where he kills his master who was vowing to hand over the leadership of the clan to Richard Harrison's character .the dialogue and overacting sets new standards in sheer badness!
I recommend this movie wholeheartedly it's an absolute (unintentional) laugh riot!
The Asian movie is a very poignant and heartfelt tale of a struggling single mother who is tragically, horrifically disfigured in a fire whilst attempting to rescue her baby son. The plot unfolds that due to her resulting appearance she decides to conceal her true identity from the son as he grows up, instead telling him that she is his nanny/maid.
Only at the end of the film does the son finally realise that she really is his mother and in a rather brutally sad climax, he attempts to reunite her with his father, but is just a little bit too late ..
The attempt by the film makers to link the ninja segments into the above original movie are simply pathetically illogical! According to Joseph Lai's spliced encompassing version of events, the mother and father in the original film were actually ninja who due to pre-marital sex were expelled from their ninja clan and had their ninjitsu powers taken from them (!!!!!)
But of course, the real reason fans (or am I the only one?) actually sit down to watch these movies is solely for the energetic ninja action they usually contain and in this respect, this film delivers the goods. We have quite a few well choreographed fight scenes on display here (one involving a female ninja)
However, there is an extra dimension to this movie ..a factor which really raises the enjoyment level far higher than many of the other Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho ninja outings and that is the voice over work for the main ninja villain.
I defy anyone watching this film to not burst out laughing at the way he utters his lines.
The voice over artist here must have been either a) Deliberately over playing the character as some sort of protest/joke at having to lend his voice to such a film in the first place or b) Was severely intoxicated in some manner at the time.
It's not just the characters hilarious voice over in fact - the actual actor playing him (Dave Wheeler) is blatantly having a whale of a time overacting to glory even beneath the dub anyway! Just watch the scene where he kills his master who was vowing to hand over the leadership of the clan to Richard Harrison's character .the dialogue and overacting sets new standards in sheer badness!
I recommend this movie wholeheartedly it's an absolute (unintentional) laugh riot!