Ninja Kommando

Without doubt one of the very finest Ninja movies ever made, this film also marked the explosive screen debut of the incredible Conan Lee. Even more amazingly, the said actor had previously no martial arts experience whatsoever prior to filming this although you would never guess this judging by his awesome physical performance here.

The fight scenes (choreographed by none other than the superb Corey Yuen who also directs the film) are absolutely jaw dropping, in fact they are undoubtedly some of the best combat scenes ever committed to celluloid.

Hiroyuki Sanada is the Ninja of the movies title and clearly demonstrates to us all why he is considered to be one of the very best screen martial artists ever, displaying probably some of the most graceful moves ever seen in any martial arts film.

Added to this, and a real treat for fans of old style kung fu, the always superb Hwang Jang Lee, considered by many as the greatest leg fighter ever, turns up at the films climax as, yes you've guessed it – the main villain! (As he was perpetually type cast!)

Special note also must be made of the extremely cool music that cranks up throughout…..highly memorable; it'll have you humming it for days!

It's very strange that after such an explosive screen debut, Conan Lee's fame dissipated so quickly. The actor was in fact even being tauted at the time as the next Jackie Chan. Just goes to show what a fickle business the movie industry is.

This movie has everything and a half. Ridiculous stilt fighting, ninjas galore, the 1/2 sentence plot, God skills, demon possession, the hero fighting the latter half of the movie in a pink outfit, and female anatomy saving the day. Clearly a classic.

Actually, it was a definite classic till the middle-end, where it dragged a bit, but the ending picked it back up and saved it.

I recognize the guy from Azumi, but the rest of them were new to me. The fighting and stunts were sufficiently impressive - particularly when they were jumping around and fighting each other standing on 5 foot stilts. Now that's talent.

The kung fu is fun, the actors are very skilled, and the whole thing is entertaining. If you're into kung fu movies, particularly if plot is unimportant to you, you'll enjoy this one.

This is a martial arts classic anyway you put it. I really liked the movie. The action was fast paced, and you can tell the hong kong style was in effect. Hollywood will never be able to create (or recreate) hong kong action EVER EVER EVER (Especially with all this Matrix crap going around)!!! Corey Yuen did a very good job of choreographing and directing of this movie. I knew that Hiroyuki Sanada (Henry Sanada) was a talented martial artist, but man he really is impressive in this. After watching Royal Warriors with Michelle Yeoh, this guy is very good, damn good!!! I'm glad he broke through with "Twlight Samurai" and "The Last Samurai" (Not saying that he always was doing good). Hollywood needs to recognize him. But, back to the movie at hand. The chemistry between Conan Lee and Henry was amazing. Henry used he training to his best ability and was flipping all over the place. Conan did a highly impressive job too. I definitely liked the way Hwang Jang Lee was brought in the movie as the villain. He is also a very talented martial artist. In my opinion, he is the king of the leg fighters. HYPHY!!! The movie was kind of slow in the beginning, but redeemed itself towards the middle and end.

My Overall Judgement: 2.5/4 stars

This is a great retread of the old and use Chinese vs Japanese story lines with incredible Action choerography and skill from the leads. I had never seen Hiroyuki Sanada in a film except The last samurai (he was the one who kept beating up tom cruise), and was very very impressed with his flexibility and grace, he was genuinely believable as a ninja. Conan lee did fine but the real star is Corey Yuen or Yuen Kwai, his masterful direction especially in the action was incredible and was definitely a showcase for his talent. Overall a great film and incredible action featuring a great supporting role from Hwang Jang lee.

one cool movie. japan's sensational henry sanada (in my opinion.. the best ninja beyond sho kosugi and sonny chiba) duel off with one of hong kong's best kung fu man conan lee (who look kind of like jackie chan). fights choreograph by corey yuen kwai...the dude who choregraph most of jet li's modern day movies. take my words for it. it's hella good!!!