Reminiscent of "Star Wars," my butt
Ahh, "Cyber Ninja," where to begin with you?
I got to see this movie at a gaming convention during a weekend-long program wherein a group of people in lab coats showed B-movies to test subjects and then monitored them, keeping track of who said the most funny comments during the movies. Sound familiar? If you're a fan of MST3K, it should. And if you can track down a copy of this movie, you'll probably be able to come up with as many riffs as I did.
I realize I haven't said anything about the movie yet, but that's just as well. The more you discover for yourself as you watch, the more brazen and outlandish the whole thing becomes. Suffice to say, it's a Japanese rip-off of "Star Wars" with "Power Rangers"-type villains and some of the silliest-looking ninja I've ever seen in my life. (Once you see how the mecha-ninja get around, you'll know what I'm talking about.)
Calling this movie "reminiscent of 'Star Wars'" -- as somebody did in the blurb on the front of the box -- is amusing since it's set in a quasi-futuristic feudal Japan (with laser guns and sword battles existing side-by-side), and "Star Wars" itself is "reminiscent" of Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (i.e. Lucas stole characters and plot points wholesale from it). Does that make this a second generation rip-off? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I think it does.
I got to see this movie at a gaming convention during a weekend-long program wherein a group of people in lab coats showed B-movies to test subjects and then monitored them, keeping track of who said the most funny comments during the movies. Sound familiar? If you're a fan of MST3K, it should. And if you can track down a copy of this movie, you'll probably be able to come up with as many riffs as I did.
I realize I haven't said anything about the movie yet, but that's just as well. The more you discover for yourself as you watch, the more brazen and outlandish the whole thing becomes. Suffice to say, it's a Japanese rip-off of "Star Wars" with "Power Rangers"-type villains and some of the silliest-looking ninja I've ever seen in my life. (Once you see how the mecha-ninja get around, you'll know what I'm talking about.)
Calling this movie "reminiscent of 'Star Wars'" -- as somebody did in the blurb on the front of the box -- is amusing since it's set in a quasi-futuristic feudal Japan (with laser guns and sword battles existing side-by-side), and "Star Wars" itself is "reminiscent" of Akira Kurosawa's "The Hidden Fortress" (i.e. Lucas stole characters and plot points wholesale from it). Does that make this a second generation rip-off? Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I think it does.
- craigjclark
- 13 oct 2002