Ninja: la Muerte Negra

Usually there are those who enjoy bad horror movies and those that enjoy bad kung-fu movies and few movies can be enjoyed by both, but Mafia vs. Ninja is immensely watchable (and laughable) even if you are amongst those that believe America has enough trash without foolish video distributors importing more. The movie is so great because it takes the usual elements of the chop-suey genre and and makes them worse. For instance, the almost required anti-Japanese racism is present (the Chinese mafia are the good guys you see, sure they extort and allow gambling and prostitution, but they draw the line at opium unlike those godless Japanese mafia guys). But not only do we get the anti-Japanese racism, we are treated to special bonus stereo-types in the form of a special all bad guy assassination team , including a black man (guess what kind of hair he has) and an Italian (guess where he has a scar?). The movie's verve extends to the action where the normally unbelievable fight scenes are made even more so via film-reversals, insane editing, and (I kid you not) wires on jumping fighters and thrown knives. Then there are the contrived plot devices, I must admit my favorite part of the movie. Sure, other chop-suey movies might give you exploding fruit baskets (this one does), but can they claim to feature a hero who beats someone with a tree? Lots of flicks feature invisible ninjas... but what about ninjas that literally turn into bushes? I thought not. Mafia vs. Ninja could never be mistaken for a good movie, but it is a kind of bad that doesn't take someone versed in ninja films to laugh at or enjoy. And for God's sake people the American video release features a man with the name of Poon Hung prominently in the credits. I personally can't think of a better reason to see a film. (-3 stars out of - 5).

More people need to know this exists, they don't make them like this anymore..

This is a stunning film in every aspect. A skilled fighter comes to China in order to find a paying job, and is befriended by a coward of a fighter. He and his coward friend somehow help save a Chinese ruler from assassination. They are rewarded jobs in his kingdom and help slay off several archrival Japanese fighters. The Japanese warlord hires four interesting fighters- A master with the knives, a fat Jap with a sword, a black kickboxer, and an acrobatic fighter. The Chinese must take on these fighters and many other Japanese. This film is funny, entertaining, and quite possibly the greatest unknown Martial Arts film ever.

I don't understand all the bad reviews for mafia vs. ninja. I mean, sure the dubbing, action, acting and plot are amateurish, but this is a kung fu movie, which means a new set of criteria needs to be used from which to judge it. A lot of IMDb users make this crucial mistake, and go looking for Shakespeare in everything they watch. Something like Mafia Vs Ninja needs to be reviewed with these potential qualities in mind: humor (intentional or otherwise), creative fighting styles/ gimmicks, quirkiness, and overall effect. I'd say it fares well in these respects. The film had me laughing throughout, like when the two main characters (who dress like oi punks, which added to my enjoyment) trash an establishment owned by a white bigot in the middle of the film for no reason (the scene seemed to be randomly thrown in), the ninjas at the end who turn into clumps of grass and either teleport or travel underground and then take their normal ninja shape again, the special team called in by the ninjas to fight the mafia (who are the protagonists) which includes an italian (i think?) knife thrower with a huge ridiculous scar on his face (who is an expert at throwing knives into apples suspended by wires in mid air), a Chinese swordsman, a Japanese ninja, and an African American fellow from detroit who as far as i could tell didn't know any actual kung fu, so just rolled around a lot and sort of threw people. and who can forget the sex scene which contains no nudity, but then is immediately followed by a still shot on what appears to be a painting of our hero's girlfriend in the nude. and even though none of the fighting in this film is too well done, the setups are creative, and the grittyness of them helps make them entertaining. overall a decent flick, and one kung fu fans should dig, especially if you liked fantasy mission force or any other of jackie chan's more bizarre films (half a loaf, the original drunken master, etc)

This movie was made to be a film about a war between the Japanese mafia and a group of ninja's and the two yard servants who get in the middle to save their boss, the highest man in the mafia. The fight scenes were filmed slowly, for example when an actor through a punch he made his fist move slowly as if going to pet a strange dog. The editor later added sound effects and speeded up the film to give the illusion of extremely fast fighting. The novice camera tricks in this movie give it a hilarious touch. Wires used in fight scenes made me laugh for hours. When you finally meet the ninja warriors in the end, you'll stare in awe as they use "ninja invisibility" in the fight. It's one of my favorites.