Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu

This is truly one of the coolest Ninja movies of all times. The stunts are top-notch and the action is non-stop. As usual in these films it gets pretty campy indeed, but on a whole it´s out standing. Watch out for hilarious stunts when our hero blocks arrows, Ninjas climb trees as vigorously as Spiderman and digging through the ground as moles. This is the film that made me want to become a Ninja as a kid and it leaves Sho Kosugi way behind. A must-see for any lover of martial arts and action!

It seems that CHIBA was acting as a mentor to the star (just as in ROARING FIRE) and taking a back seat too much, didn't work for me. Of course some of the fight-scenes in this movie are very good, utilizing slow-mo (as in KILLING MACHINE) and some excellent wire work (the spider ninja's moved quite naturally) and the other notable thing is the off-beat jazz/sax/porn music (that despite sometimes not catching the mood of the scene, certainly puts it in a league of it's own) The bottom line is, CHIBA doesn't fight enough, the hero (at one point) dances rather camp-like (whilst training) round a fire (hilarious!) and like most movies of this ilk, the plot can confuse/drag on a little

Excellent fight scenes and score, though

6 out of 10

After watching Shogun's Ninja, I must conclude that this is the strangest movie I've ever seen, and I say this after watching numerous Ching Siu Tung movies. This movie is just straight-up weird.

The plot takes place during the reign of Emperor Hideyoshi and there are historical references throughout (Ieyasu, the attempt to invade Korea, etc.) The conflict exists between the last survivors of the Momochi clan led by Henry Sanada (that Japanese guy from Royal Warriors with Michelle Yeoh) and Shogun (Sonny Chiba from the infamous Streetfighter series) and his ninja army. Sanada learns Chinese kung fu and comes back to avenge his clan, does some fighting, learns Japanese ninjitsu, and does some more fighting. The movie ends with a large battle between Chiba and his warriors (which are many) and Sanada and his pals (which are few).

The fighting in this movie is pretty good sometimes, and unexciting other times. Sanada is fairly impressive, he is one of the few characters that actually does any hand-to-combat (everyone else uses swords, guns, or other weapons). His kicks are fairly fun to watch. Sometimes, the swordplay is done bad in the sense that no excitement exists in watching them swing swords clumsily at each other. Unfortunately, Sonny Chiba doesn't do anything too interesting. Neither does Sue Shiomi (she appeared in Sister Street Fighter I believe). There was a female Chinese fighter who could bust out a good boot and the nunchaku, though.

When I say this movie is strange, I don't mean the strange in the Ching Siu Tung-style of bombard the viewer with bizarre, yet beautiful visual image style of being strange. This movie is strange in the sense that its level of camp is off the charts. For one thing, with the exception of some flute playing, most of the music in the movie is of the contemporary jazz/1970's elevator music variety with the occasional Japanese pop tune thrown in. The sounds effects are silly to the point where I wonder if this movie was actually a spoof. There are underground ninja, spider-like ninja (you can see the wires), and a nice little army of ninja at the end (although the third group doesn't do anything). There is a fair amount of wire-work in this, although none of it is really imaginative. Some of the stunts in this movie is just straight-up screwy (watch Sanada block the archers). Well, whether or not one enjoys this depends on his/her tolerance to high-camp.

After almost 9000 of them, it's hard to come up with new ones. Anyway, the movie:

The evil warlord has destroyed the Momochi clan. His minions are running down the last few survivors. He particularly wants the Momochi's legendary gold mine. A map leading to it is on two swords. Will he get them? Or will Sonny Chiba, who has just returned from China to lead the Momochi, win?

It's non-stop action, with many backflips and ninjas swinging on ropes from trees. There are some subplots, like Yuki Ninagawa, who is a member of the Momichi clan, but has been raised by the chief villain, Hiroyuki Sanada, as his sister. However, none of that interferes with Chiba fighting bare-chested against dozens of ninjas at one time.

It ain't Kurosawa (or even Hideo Gosha), but "Shogun's Ninja" wasn't aimed at that sort of audience. This film is a wacky, blood-spurting, action-packed feast for the eyes, and on its own terms it works beautifully. While reference is made to real historical figures and events, the emphasis is on over-the-top fighting (mostly with weapons, but there's the occasional empty-hand confrontation, too). The tone of the film is completely unreal: it may look like feudal Japan, but the setting is actually some alternate dimension in which fighters can do everything but fly, where warring ninja clans wage their battles in the treetops of lush enchanted forests, and where it doesn't seem even remotely odd when Hiroyuki Sanada, grieving over the deaths of his comrades, suddenly breaks into a torch-twirling interpretive dance. This kind of unbridled goofiness would become commonplace in action films of the '80s, and in "Shogun's Ninja" you can see the new, extravagant aesthetic taking shape as the decade began.

Sanada is a credible hero, Chiba mostly plays it straight as the villain (just as he had the previous year in Gosha's "Hunter in the Dark"), and Etsuko Shihomi is her usual winsome, martially astute self. Six and a half stars.