Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013) - Scott Adkins and Kane Kosugi

[ShaOW!linDude]

best action i have seen this year is not even from a movie but a tv series called New Thief Hero nothing else touches it.

Color me intrigued. What is this?

[Drunken Monk]

best action i have seen this year is not even from a movie but a tv series called New Thief Hero nothing else touches it.

Is this it?

-rIv8Ke1D7E

[rdenn]

that is it and this clip is even better

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[Drunken Monk]

that is it and this clip is even better

4Jvsgnk3grw

Yep, that was absolutely awesome.

[gorhama]

I like the choreography but it doesn't jump out at me. It could be the speed that the clip played at it seemed sped up and then slowed down so it's possible my connection is wonky.

The action in Ninja 2 is what I was looking for no wires, inventive and filmed expertly. I think when it comes to all aspects of making a fight scene Ninja 2 is the film I will hold 2014 to and hopefully it gets topped so we have even more great martial arts movies!!

[massa_yoda]

Dude...I want this TV show.

[Gwai LO]

Yea that looked awesome.. How do u watch it?

[rdenn]

here you go http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/2134809.html

[Drunken Monk]

here you go http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/2134809.html

Thanks for providing a link, rdenn. Man, someone needs to subtitle this and put it out! I just scanned through the link and the action has a really nice old school feel with pangs of 90's wire work. Great stuff.

[Drunken Monk]

Back to "Ninja 2," do you guys feel as though Florentine is a genuinely good director or do you think most of his success is because of the choreographers and action talent he works with?

[ShaOW!linDude]

I think it's a combination of the two. There's no question that he gets the best out of his screen fighters. It's a hat trick of someone who knows how to actually film MA action, talented martial artists, and inventive choreographers.

Story-wise...well, these are fu flicks. Hard to get real innovative with plot there. Not saying it can't be done, but certain plots/themes work better for certain genres.

Of the 2 lead characters (Boyka & Casey) that Adkins has portrayed in Florentine's films, I have to say I prefer his acting as Boyka to that of Casey.

[gorhama]

I do think Florentine is a great action direction. I've seen most if not all of his movies and he has a eye for action. He moves the camera well and work with action stars.

Of course very director has their hiccups. I do feel he's swooping close ups isn't needed as much but aside from that his action scenes look awesome!!

I agree with ShaOW!linDude in that it's the hat trick of the director, choregrapher and the action stars!!!!! Also doesn't hurt that he uses great camera men in his movies!!!

[massa_yoda]

Back to "Ninja 2," do you guys feel as though Florentine is a genuinely good director or do you think most of his success is because of the choreographers and action talent he works with?

For what he does, yes. Can he direct, say, drama? Ehhh. Can he bring an actor to another level? I don't think so. I laughed out loud at the "tear-jerking" reunion at the end of Undisputed 2. Ugh that was bad. In this movie, the first 10-15 minutes were...unconvincing.

But does that really matter? In the end, he put together a great movie here. The guy has limits as a director, but he knows what action fans want, and that's what allows these movies to be so good.

[chanbara]

Just finished watching the film again, this time on my brand-spanking new Blu-ray disc which finally arrived today, and I enjoyed it even more. The extras are also quite good. Definitely worth the price and then some.

In my first review I said that maybe there were too many fights, but upon second look I take it back. I still think that they could've cut out one of the bar or street fights since it felt repetitive and they didn't really advance the story, and put in some more ninja content or flashback stuff with Namiko, but you can't have everything.

And although the film isn't perfect, I gotta say that from the minute that Scott hits the jungle and finds the stash of ninja gear and weapons to the end of the film, it's pretty damn close. The ninja stealth attack is really well executed and the 3 big fights between Scott and Tim Man, Scott and Shun Sugata, and of course the epic battle between Scott and Kane are the best fights in the film.

[Ramji]

I'm really looking forward to Ninja 2 but I have to say the camera speed thing in the Undisputed films was really annoying. Don't remember it being used so much in the first Ninja so fingers crossed for this one? I like Florentines films as he tends to give us fans some hardcore fight action but maybe he's trying to cement his own directorial style with the camera speed thing? Wish he'd leave it out. One of my faves and the first I saw from him was US Seals 2.

[AlbertV]

What I like about Florentine's style is that it doesn't have the suffering extreme close ups and quick cut action like a lot of A-list films...I can actually see what techniques are being used. I also give props to Florentine as a martial artist and a choreographer. If anyone has seen any BTS footage, Florentine does have a hand in the fight choreography. Technically he can be considered an assistant fight choreographer, but he'd rather give credit to the choreographer.

He's been doing these films for about 23 years now...from DESERT KICKBOXER to NINJA: SHADOW OF A TEAR, he has truly become one of the best directors of martial arts films. I still haven't seen ASSASSIN'S BULLET, his non-MA film yet (originally titled SOFIA).

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

I think I've seen the bar fight scene about a thousand times now. I don't know what it is but any setting that deals with bars and brawls, I enjoy watching it more than anything whether it's Wong Fei Hung to Casey or just some bloke at a local British pub filming bar fights in film is such a joy to watch.

[Drunken Monk]

I still haven't seen ASSASSIN'S BULLET, his non-MA film yet (originally titled SOFIA).

This is where my question stemmed from, actually. I haven't seen "Assassin's Bullet" but most of the reviews have been pretty unfavourable and so I was wondering whether it was because of the talent he worked with on that film.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

Not sure what movie he was in but I saw it on netflix where he's battling some guy with an axe in the bathroom and gets his fingers chopped off? DAMMMIT WHAT MOVIE IS THAT, does anyone know the title?

[Jeru the Damaja]

Not sure what movie he was in but I saw it on netflix where he's battling some guy with an axe in the bathroom and gets his fingers chopped off? DAMMMIT WHAT MOVIE IS THAT, does anyone know the title?

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I believe you are referring to one of the fights between Adkins and Arlovski in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

[OpiumKungFuCracker]

It's been a while since I've seen it, but I believe you are referring to one of the fights between Adkins and Arlovski in Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning.

HOLY SHIT, THANK YOU!!! I thought it be some obscure movie or something but Universal Soldier, lol.. Can't believe I didn't get that one.

[MLee]

Managed to get hold of the original standard dvd via ebay.

Really enjoyed it and for me it's the best martial arts movie of 2013.

Simple to follow revenge plot with non stop action throughout the movie!

I thought the one take dojo fight was very well done and nicely choreographed. Reminded me of Jaa in TYG with his one take fight!

The barfight was great and probably my fav Adkins fight with him against multiple attackers.

Adkins vs Tim Man had some very impressive kicking from both guys and was a great fight. There's just one moment in the fight when both guys exchange kicks I thought looked kind of slow compared to the rest of the fight.

Adkins vs Kane was awesome and definitely the best fight of the movie! Great exchanges with punches, kicks, takedowns before moving on to weapons. Back and forth with both guys trading hits and both getting a chance to show off their moves. Reminded me of Pedicab Driver with Sammo vs Pops first going at it with punches and kicks before using the staff poles.

There is alot of fights throughout the movie as many have said here but it didn't bother me. Many great kungfu classics like Drunken Master, Secret Rivals and The Victim have alot of fights so I don't see this movie as being any different. In the dvd extras Cast and Crew Interviews they even say this is a martials arts movie they wanted to make that captured what the old school movies had done.

Dvd extras had the trailer, a featurette, cast and crew interviews and behind the scenes. I enjoyed them all but just wished they were longer! Would have liked to see more behind the scenes on the fights and how they were choreographed. Interviews were very short, looked like they were cut and just showed some clips of questions answered and thoughts on the movie. No interview clips with Tim Man which was a shame.

Anybody here who has the Blu Ray, are there any extras there not available on the standard dvd release?

[DiP]

I was able to watch the movie last week. The action choreography was quite repetitive (Florentine sure loves the HK style) but overall the execution, power, editing, and camerawork were spot on! The story/acting was decent for what is was but it doesn't reach out well emotionally. This is the most satisfying MA action movie of 2013 though, easily.

[odioustrident]

Looks like a brief scene came close to being copied shot-for-shot. Not a big deal in my book but I wonder how much this goes on.

Ridley Tsui is not alone but I guess we already knew that.

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[Gwai LO]

Looks like a brief scene came close to being copied shot-for-shot. Not a big deal in my book but I wonder how much this goes on.

Ridley Tsui is not alone but I guess we already knew that.

mx7rXRUMD60

ouch that is bad