Yoshihiro Nishimura's upcoming ninja film: Ninja Torakage (2014)

[Takuma]

Nishimura started filming his new ninja film Torakage (虎影) ("tiger shadow") today.

Some time ago Nishimura also directed a promotional video for Iga Ninja Film Festival. Note this is not directly related to the film he is shooting now, just a concept video for the ninja film festival:

http://youtu.be/VK9mZ9AG4fI

Festival website:

http://iga-ninja.com/

Nishimura actually "unofficially" announced the project already in Yubari, where the ninja girls from the video were having a mini-consert.

[Takuma]

Filming in Iga finished yesterday. That was only 9 days! Nishimura keeping his usual pace. There's some more shooting left, though, as they are now looking for extras for more scenes to be shot in Kawaguchi, Saitama later this week.

Oh, and I think the full title is actually Ninja Torakage.

A bit early, I know, but I'm already getting really exited about this film. Locations look perfect for a ninja film:

Photos by Norman England, Iga Ninja blog and Miyata

- https://twitter.com/Norman_England/status/450557440560332800/photo/1

- https://twitter.com/Norman_England/status/448710179681345536/photo/1/large

- https://twitter.com/2011miyata/status/450834629440712705/photo/1/large

- http://iga-ninja.sblo.jp/article/91503819.html

[Takuma]

While I'm really looking forward to this new film, I think Nishimura's most exciting era as a director may have been the 1980s and 1990s. I reviewed a bunch of his early horror and fantasy films recently:

Paradox (1984):

- http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2014/03/26/paradox/

The Face (1985)

The Saints Come Marching In (1986)

Fake Country (1987)

- http://sketchesofcinema.wordpress.com/2014/03/27/yoshihiro-nishimura-early-works/

[whitesnake]

Love the promo video!

[Takuma]

Norman England's blog:

Back on the Nishimura set

- http://oavian.blogspot.jp/2014/04/back-on-nishimura-set.html

A very interesting read.

[Doctor Schnabel von Rom]

Anything new about the project?

Shall it be a serious or an comic like and trash bloody movie?

both would be great for my taste!

[Takuma]

No update.

Hopefully a trailer will arrive before soon. Nishimura seems very busy, though, I think he's working on special effects for the Attack on Titan live action movie for Toho.

[Doctor Schnabel von Rom]

thanks! so lets wait and see

[Takuma]

More on Norman England's blog:

Coming Soon: The Ninja War of Torakage

- http://oavian.blogspot.jp/2014/08/coming-soon-ninja-war-of-torakage.html

[Casshern]

These movies were better shot in the 60s. Maybe is the budget but the cinematography in these kind of movies is really fucking bad. Japan used to have some of the best cinematographers in Asia and now it´s really sad.

Miike was lucky to find someone like Nobuyasu Kita.

[Takuma]

These movies were better shot in the 60s. Maybe is the budget but the cinematography in these kind of movies is really fucking bad. Japan used to have some of the best cinematographers in Asia and now it´s really sad.

Miike was lucky to find someone like Nobuyasu Kita.

It's more to do with budget. Poor digital video, two week shooting schedules, no money and time to really take care of lighting etc. Of course many of the old genre flicks were also shot really fast, but it was hard to screw up the 35mm film, you had the backing of a major studio, and all the filmmakers all had tons of experience.

There are still cinematographers who do great job when given the resources, like Ryuto Kondo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjjG0WTQ6C4,

) and Daisuke Soma (who does some stunning tracking shots in Tokyo Tribe).

also looks lovely with its 35mm and use of natural light (and is a fantastic movie in general).　Love's Whirlpool is a good example of digital done really stylish, partly because of production design and lighting.

is mesmerizing from start to end - grey hasn't looked his beautiful since director Hiroshi Ishikawa's earlier film Tokyo Sora.

But yeah, not many Japanese films these days stand out in terms of cinematography.

[Takuma]

 

[Takuma]

Japanese trailer:

 

[Takuma]

I love Nishimura but I'm afraid this is his weakest film. One problem is the strange imbalance between adult's and children's content. The film was always intended to appeal to young audience and carries a G rating in Japan; nevertheless, it's packed with mutants and fountains of blood. There are decapitations, hands cut off, a ninja slashed into three pieces, and a strange bird mutant whose wings are made of severed human arms. It's less graphic than usual for a Nishimura film, but by Western standards this would still be rated R or 15.

Then we have all the childish stuff, like discussion about poo, and this incredibly irritating Portuguese guy Francis who pops up every 15 minutes to explain some ninja technique or tell the audience what's going on. Not only does he butcher the pacing, he also steals the audience the chance realize anything by themselves. Anything clever and surprising becomes remarkably less so after he has explained them inside out (before the scene has even finished). If you've seen Kurando Mitsutake's Blind Wolf: Samurai Avenger, you know what I'm talking about.

The action scenes seem rushed and pretty messy most of the time. There's a lot of talent involved, like Masanori Mimoto, Nana Seino, and Yuria Haga, but especially the girls are pretty much wasted. There's also a terrible green screen fight ala Helldriver where any physical talent is drowned by the computer effects. However, the final fight with Mimoto, Saito, and a ninja army, features some great bits of action. I'd be willing to bet Yuji Shimomura choreographed those bits, while Tak Sakaguchi (working under alias) probably did the rest.

The film generally looks and feels a lot like a Nishimura film, even though everything feels a bit less good here. Koh Nakagawa's score has its moments, but it isn't as cool as some of his past scores. The mix of music and visuals in action scenes kind of lacks the Tokyo Gore Police / Mutant Girls Squad punch, the musical numbers are a bit lame, the endless yelling and psychotic characters are getting a bit old, and there are some poor CGI explosions.

It's still a passable film. There are some good bits of action, some cool creature design, one nice stop motion effect, and most of the time it's not boring. The filming locations and the production values in general are above your typical ninja trash as well (compare to Seiji Chiba, who shoot his every movie in the same bloody cave). Oh, and wait for the compulsory Takashi Shimizu cameo! Overall, however, the film does feel quite underwhelming. I really wanted to like this more...

 

Francis

Western children's films usually don't have scenes like this:

Or creatures like this

Mimoto and Seino

This is a genuinely cool scene

And well, ninjas are always cool

 

[FilmMomatic]

What do you get when you cross ninjas with gorehound director Yoshihiro Nishimura? A surprising film.

 

https://filmmomaticreviews.wordpress.com/2015/10/13/movie-review-the-ninja-war-of-torakage-japanese-film-festival-2015/

 

Also visit my review site, like and follow on FaceBook (https://www.facebook.com/FilmMomatic) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/FilmMomatic) for more reviews!

[Karlos]

Another cracking review from FilmMomatic - thanks for that, bro.

Between you and Takuma I feel like I get the Japanese cinema news/views/reviews I need!

[FilmMomatic]

Another cracking review from FilmMomatic - thanks for that, bro.

Between you and Takuma I feel like I get the Japanese cinema news/views/reviews I need!

Thanks for the praise. I really appreciate it. It was a fun film, and I was surprised at how short it was, considering the length of Tokyo Gore Police and especially Helldriver. But I truly recommend Tag.

[Takuma]

Between you and Takuma I feel like I get the Japanese cinema news/views/reviews I need!

The only problem is when they post conflicting opinions on a film

The Japanese BD is coming out January 6, 2016, btw. Without subs of course.

[FilmMomatic]

Different strokes for different folks. Who knows? Maybe I'll like every movie Takuma hates and vice versa.

[ShaOW!linDude]

Well, the trailers look good to me, and I'm down for some ninjas. Surely it can't be worse than Gun Woman. Think I'll wait until it hits Netflix. I mean, if that did, surely this one will, too.