The Super Ninja (1984) / Ninja in the USA (1985) / Ninja Condors (1987)

[Shaolivevil]

It's not a great movie but I wouldn't call it total garbage either. I've sat through worse movies. It's not exactly for every taste but if you like ninjas, fast, brutal and over the top fights, peculiar dubbing voices and dialogue, 80's fashions, and pure exploitation,THE SUPER NINJA will not disappoint! Alexander Lo Rei is in top form as well as Eugene Thomas.

[blue_skies]

I'm sure if there had been more action like the fight against Eugene Thomas I would have enjoyed it more.however there was lots of fight scenes with ninjas and swords, sometimes ninjas almost flying, vanishing, in places some bad under cranking if I recall correctly. I'm also not a fan of casual sexual abuse of women along with a really bad dub certainly tainted my opinion of the movie. The UK disc certainly didn't help matters having a poor 4:3 image that made some of the action hard to see and is only slightly better than the full movie that's available on YouTube currently. It really wasn't my sort of movie but perhaps if you like ninja movies you might enjoy it more than I did?

Oh yeah and there is a ridiculously long sex scene somewhere in the middle of the film.and don't get me wrong I'm not prudish, I just felt it was completely unnecessarily long.personally I watch my martial arts movies for action, I don't mind a little titillation but if I wanted to watch that length of a sex scene I would certainly rather watch porn.

[Shaolivevil]

I'm sure if there had been more action like the fight against Eugene Thomas like the clip you provided above I would have enjoyed it more.however there was lots of fight scenes with ninjas and swords, sometimes ninjas almost flying, vanishing, in places some bad under cranking if I recall correctly. I'm also not a fan of casual sexual abuse of women along with a really bad dub certainly tainted my opinion of the movie. The UK disc certainly didn't help matters having a poor 4:3 image that made some of the action hard to see and is only slightly better than the full movie that's available on YouTube currently. It really wasn't my sort of movie but perhaps if you like ninja movies you might enjoy it more than I did?

You do make some vaild points, blue_skies. There were a lot of things wrong with this movie. The horrendous dubbing, the undercranking, the lighting, etc., etc.,.

As a fan of ninja movies in general, even the IFD Godfrey Ho "Cut & Splice" stuff, I was able to enjoy THE SUPER NINJA to a certain degree. I was always able to appreciate the camp elements to them without completely writing them off altogether. I would put this movie into the category of "So Bad It's Good".

Oh yeah and there is a ridiculously long sex scene somewhere in the middle of the film.and don't get me wrong I'm not prudish, I just felt it was completely unnecessarily long.personally I watch my martial arts movies for action, I don't mind a little titillation but if I wanted to watch that length of a sex scene I would certainly rather watch porn.

I agree. The sex scene went on too long and was unnecessary but I'm sure that was done simply for the sake of exploitation.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

Worth a watch. Definitely so bad it's good. Similar to Ninja Terminator there are lots of fun cheesy scenes, but also scenes that cause you to put on a straight face for a minute and pay closer attention.

The brother of Super Ninja is a movie called Ninja USA. Pretty much the same cast and same director but Ninja USA adds Chang Shan and a white guy villain into the mix making it superior.

[Secret Executioner]

Worth a watch. Definitely so bad it's good. Similar to Ninja Terminator there are lots of fun cheesy scenes, but also scenes that cause you to put on a straight face for a minute and pay closer attention.

The brother of Super Ninja is a movie called Ninja USA. Pretty much the same cast and same director but Ninja USA adds Chang Shan and a white guy villain into the mix making it superior.

Ninja Terminator is top of the barrel masterpiece, so be careful using this one as an example. (J/K but I really like this film)

Funnily, while Ninja USA seems to be this one's brother (according to what you say), the movie that was released as a "sequel" to Super Ninja in France was the very unrelated Ninja: The Battalion...

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I can actually see Ninja Battalion being a sequel to Super Ninja, but I cant remember much about it. A bit of a stinker. I hear Ling Yun isn't a big fan of it. Another is Ninja Condors. This one is a first cousin.

And Ninja Terminator is awesome. I put it ahead of any Lo Rei ninja movie. Even Ninja Hunter.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

I saw Ninja Condors many years ago and considered it sort of a cousin to Ninja USA and Super Ninja. After rewatching it I think it can be considered the third movie in a trilogy. Lo Rei is a ninja, George Nicholas (from Ninja USA) is back as the main villain and Jack Long is back as Lo Rei's ninja master, and this time Jack Long gets in on the action. Eugene Thomas gets the best role of his career and it's nice to see him team up with Lo Rei for once. The action from Lee Hoi Hing is very creative. You get the feeling that he tried a little too hard and was too creative. But I'm not complaining. The effort put into the fight scenes and the editing is what makes this movie stand out. Not as good as Ninja USA and Super Ninja, but very close. All 3 movies are worth watching more than once.

[DrNgor]

Ninja Condors- I saw this many years ago and considered it sort of a cousin to Ninja USA and Super Ninja. After rewatching it I think it can be considered the third movie in a trilogy. Lo Rei is a ninja, George Nicholas (from Ninja USA) is back as the main villain and Jack Long is back as Lo Rei's ninja master, and this time Jack Long gets in on the action. Eugene Thomas gets the best role of his career and it's nice to see him team up with Lo Rei for once. The action from Lee Hoi Hing is very creative. You get the feeling that he tried a little too hard and was too creative. But I'm not complaining. The effort put into the fight scenes and the editing is what makes this movie stand out. Not as good as Ninja USA and Super Ninja, but very close. All 3 movies are worth watching more than once.

IIRC, this one had a character performing an over-the-shoulder kick in mid-air, which is odd to say the least.

[Morgoth Bauglir]

IIRC, this one had a character performing an over-the-shoulder kick in mid-air, which is odd to say the least.

Yes the creativity goes too far in this movie. The editing tries to outdo the actors. But damn it's fun to watch.

You can see influence of Robert Tai. This is what Robert Tai's movies should have looked like in the mid-late 80's, instead of Ninja the Final Duel and Death Cage.

[DrNgor]

Ninja Condors (Taiwan, 1987: Wu Kuo-Ren) - Alexander Lo Rei plays a ninja assassin who works for a drug lord (George Nicholas) who's beginning to suffer problems of conscience. The last straw for his boss is when he refuses to kill the policeman who saved him as a kid when his dad was being drawn and quartered by bikers (I'm not making this up). So the drug lord kills his girlfriend and Alexander Lo Rei must team up with an undercover cop (frequent collaborator Eugene Thomas) to get revenge. His master (Jack Lung in an extended cameo) also shows up and gets a few hits in, too.

First things first: whenever there's not an action scene going on, the film is boring. I was constantly checking to see how much was left in the film. However, the fights were generally pretty good, if a bit cheesy and goofy. But then again, Li Hai-Hsing, who helped put together the fights for Donnie Yen's Iron Monkey 2, was the action director here, so it makes perfect sense. The hand-to-hand sequences are pretty good, and both Lo Rei and lead villain George Nicholas get some good boots in. The ninja sequences are over-the-top, with lots of swords, shurikens, smoke bombs, and assorted traps involving bamboo spikes and arrows. There's a fair amount of wire-work and disappearing/reappearing ninjas that suggest a Z-grade Duel to the Death clone. The finale is a balls-to-the-wall blowout with ninja action, fisticuffs, machine guns and grenades. The most unbelievable moment in a film about people who become fully-dressed ninjas in a split-second puff of smoke is the one where Eugene Thomas counters a flying side kick with a standing over-the-shoulder kick. You know, the one where you throw your leg up and kick the person standing behind you in the face? Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh were masters of that particular move. Well, consider both the timing and positioning you'd need to hit a person jump-kicking you with that move...and factor in that you can't even see your opponent as you do it. It's a very improbably and dangerous way to counter a jump kick, and Thomas pulls it off!

 

Ninja in the USA (Taiwan, 1985: Wu Kuo-Ren) - More modern-day ninja tomfoolery from Alexander Lo Rei, director James Wu and frequent co-stars George Nicholas and Eugene Thomas. This time, Alexander Lo Rei has a sort of partner, played by fan favorite Chen Shan, and instead of Jack Lung playing the master, it's Venom Mob alumni Chiang Sheng (in a non-fighting role). It's pretty sad that only 7 years after The Five Deadly Venoms, Chiang Sheng was reduced to non-fighting roles in these sorts of movies.

The story involves a former Green Beret-turned-businessman (George Nicholas), whose legitimate activities are a front for his drug empire. He's about to get prosecuted, but on the eve of his trial, his ninja army kill all the witnesses. Now he's a free man! Well, he won't be able to rest for long. The DEA agent assigned to his case is Ronny Kwan (Chen Shan), whom Tyger, the Green Beret, had rescued back in 'Nam years before. Moreover, the female reporter who's anxious to break the story about Tyger being crooked is the fiancée of Jerry Wong (Lo Rei), another boy whom Tyger had saved years before. So yeah, there'll soon be a conflict of interests and blood will spill!

The movie starts off with a bang, with some random action scene involving Lo Rei in a camo-ninja garb killing a dozen ninjas for no apparent reason. We then have a few sequences of the evil ninja killing the witnesses and their guards. It then settles into the story, such as it were, until the forty-minute mark or so, when the action starts ramping up. There are a handful of fight scenes, courtesy of Lo Rei, Li Hai-Hsing (who did Ninja Condors) and Yeh Yong (Legend of the Drunken Tiger). In one fight, Lo Rei and Chen Shan have a duel to see whose tae kwon do is better. They then team up for a big fight in a parking garage, complete with motorbikes, chains, machetes, hatchets, and lead pipes. There's a really good fight between Lo Rei and a trio of muay thai assassins. The climax runs about 15 minutes, and is full of ninja action, machine gun madness, a one-on-one between Lo Rei and Eugene Thomas, and a lengthy finale against George Nicholas. The choreography in the film is actually really good and the ninja tricks, while cheesy, feel a bit less OTT than they were in Ninja Condors. Worth a view.

[Drunken Monk]

I gave The Super Ninja a watch this afternoon. I’d seen it before but couldn’t remember a single thing about it.

In my opinion, it’s average watch. It’s silly and the dub track features some gems but the action never really gets off the ground until the finale. The hand to hand stuff doesn’t flow enough for me. It’s punch, punch, hard kick, guy falls back. It’s not punch, block, punch, block, kick, block etc. Each little bout has too much punctuation in it.

I’m not saying the action isn’t good. It is. It just doesn’t quite hold the allure of earlier ninja movies. Probably because this is an ‘83 movie and modern kickboxing was definitely taking over.

It turns out, I like Alexander Lou a lot. I might binge some of his stuff like I did Bruceploitation.

Also, did I hear the classic Psycho theme in this one at one point?

[Drunken Monk]

I like Alexander Lou and I like ninjas so it would make sense that I’d like Ninja Condors. I also like Eugene Thomas and he’s on board as an added bonus. Now, technically I kind of enjoyed this one. It’s got a daft plot, thousands of logic holes and plenty of great action. No complaints there. However, it does have one of the most horrendous dubs I’ve ever come across. Honestly, it’s bloody awful. Whoever dubbed Eugene Thomas was having the time of his life, I’m sure. I was half expecting his to throw out a “jive turkey” as some point.

Also, the guns in this movie look like World War II relics. It’s hilarious. The bad guys also alternate between calling Alexander Lou’s character “White Eagle” and “Brian.” Oh and the main bad guy is called Lucifer.

I’m pointing out all these flaws but I had fun with this one. The fight scenes are genuinely great. The worst thing about this movie is that Jack Long is in it and he’s only given one fight scene.

Fun but certainly not essential. Unless you’re a crazy ninja fan.

[One Armed Boxer]

I recently got through watching 'Ninja Condors' and give it the full review treatment over at COF - 

https://cityonfire.com/ninja-condors-1987-review/

After reading this thread I feel like now I have to check out 'The Super Ninja' and 'Ninja in the USA' as well!

[DrNgor]

Great review, @One Armed Boxer! I liked how you broke down Li Hai-Hsing's choreography style and compared it to Robert Tai's.

Ah, here's a link to my Super Ninja review:

 

[Super Ninja]

On 11/25/2021 at 3:09 AM, One Armed Boxer said:

After reading this thread I feel like now I have to check out 'The Super Ninja'

You might find that to be the best decision you've made this year 

[DragonClaws]

On 11/26/2021 at 11:07 AM, Super Ninja said:

You might find that to be the best decision you've made this year 

 

I second that one, its one best low budget Taiwanese ninja movies around @One Armed Boxer. Not to hype it up too much. I had many of these films on DVD, that were all heavily censored. There's still a number of them I need to re-watch UNCUT.

[Yihetuan]

I have this inexpensive German dvd and as far as I can tell, it's the same print (taken from a VHS master) as the more expensive 2 disc hartbox. It has the uncut International version along with the UK version that is censored as an extra. I don't care about the Korean cut that's included in the 2 disc set since it's not English friendly.

[One Armed Boxer]

On 11/27/2021 at 6:07 AM, Super Ninja said:

You might find that to be the best decision you've made this year 

On 11/29/2021 at 4:28 AM, DragonClaws said:

I second that one, its one best low budget Taiwanese ninja movies around @One Armed Boxer.

I'm not sure if it'll be the best decision I make this year, but it's definitely going to be one of them! I gave 'The Super Ninja' the full review treatment over at COF - 

https://cityonfire.com/the-super-ninja-aka-killers-untouchable-1984-review-alexander-lo-rei/

[DrNgor]

Now I have to re-watch Super Ninja at some point. Great review, @One Armed Boxer!

[Super Ninja]

14 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

I'm not sure if it'll be the best decision I make this year, but it's definitely going to be one of them! I gave 'The Super Ninja' the full review treatment over at COF - 

https://cityonfire.com/the-super-ninja-aka-killers-untouchable-1984-review-alexander-lo-rei/

7/10? I can accept that

Jokes aside, I agree. Truly a great review @One Armed Boxer! A review I can learn something from is my favorite kind of review.

Also, I'm really, really glad you enjoyed this ninja masterpiece. As Toby said it, everyone knows Taiwanese ninjas are the best, and this is IMO certainly among best of the best. I am a little biased though. For some time now I've been thinking of starting the Wu Kuo-Ren appreciation thread here, but I didn't believe it would sparkle enough interest. I was actually hoping to learn more about the guy that way, in an age where we know Godfrey Ho and Thomas Tang aren't the same person, there's very little info on this man.

As for Eugene Thomas, here's some crazy info that I really hope is legit. Toby said for French site nanarland that Eugen was a DJ from California who was part of the semi-pro basketball team owned by Ng See-Yuen. Eugene met Lo Rei in Wong Tao's gym and ended up in Robert Tai's movies, then later worked with Wu Kuo-Ren!

I'm not making this up:

https://www.nanarland.com/interviews/entretiens/en/toby-russell.html

 

[DrNgor]

10 minutes ago, Super Ninja said:

Also, I'm really, really glad you enjoyed this ninja masterpiece. As Toby said it, everyone knows Taiwanese ninjas are the best, and this is IMO certainly among best of the best.

Yeah, Taiwan really knocked it out of the park during the 80s Ninja Craze. Japan gave us...what...two ninja movies during that decade: Death of a Ninja/Ninja Wars and Shogun's Ninja. But that seemed to be a period when action was frowned upon for local filmmakers. When they got back on track the following decade--mainly with the Kunoichi Ninpôcho series and later the Ninja Vixens series--they focused on the sexual aspects more than the action. The American ninja movies definitely had their moments. But the Taiwanese definitely had the most entertaining ninja films.

[Super Ninja]

2 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Yeah, Taiwan really knocked it out of the park during the 80s Ninja Craze. Japan gave us...what...two ninja movies during that decade: Death of a Ninja/Ninja Wars and Shogun's Ninja. But that seemed to be a period when action was frowned upon for local filmmakers. When they got back on track the following decade--mainly with the Kunoichi Ninpôcho series and later the Ninja Vixens series--they focused on the sexual aspects more than the action. The American ninja movies definitely had their moments. But the Taiwanese definitely had the most entertaining ninja films.

We agree on Taiwan dominating the 80s ninja craze and you're right in saying Japan didn't have a lot to offer. That being said I love Ninja Wars but would have to rewatch Shogun's Ninja, I only mildly liked it the first time I've seen it.

However, you have to take into account that Japan had its ninja craze 20 years prior with 60s shinobi cinema. Shinobi no Mono (1962) was the one to start it all and was the real game changer. Gone was the fantasy, wizardry and magic of the 50s, the emphasis was now on realism. Much like with chambara, the movies made in the 60s were darker and dare I say, more serious. These were mostly B&W movies with a couple of exceptions that stepped away from noirish cinematography in favor of a beautiful color palette. First in the Shinobi no Mono series (8 sequels followed) was a hit for Daiei and soon both Toei and Toho joined the new trend that brought some truly great movies to life, movies that I can only sincerely recommend.

 

[DrNgor]

35 minutes ago, Super Ninja said:

However, you have to take into account that Japan had its ninja craze 20 years prior with 60s shinobi cinema. Shinobi no Mono (1962) was the one to start it all and was the real game changer. Gone was the fantasy, wizardry and magic of the 50s, the emphasis was now on realism.

Do you know if Ninjtisu (1957 - Yagyu Bugeicho Soryu Hiken) and Yagyu Confidential (1957 - Yagyu Secret Scrolls) were more fantasy oriented?

[One Armed Boxer]

19 hours ago, Super Ninja said:

As for Eugene Thomas, here's some crazy info that I really hope is legit. Toby said for French site nanarland that Eugen was a DJ from California who was part of the semi-pro basketball team owned by Ng See-Yuen. Eugene met Lo Rei in Wong Tao's gym and ended up in Robert Tai's movies, then later worked with Wu Kuo-Ren!

Interesting stuff! These days Thomas is a musician, and you can find a few recent-ish (mid-2010's) clips of him doing his thing over at his YouTube channel.

[Super Ninja]

22 hours ago, DrNgor said:

Do you know if Ninjtisu (1957 - Yagyu Bugeicho Soryu Hiken) and Yagyu Confidential (1957 - Yagyu Secret Scrolls) were more fantasy oriented?

I'm afraid I don't, haven't seen any of the pre-60s ninja films.

7 hours ago, One Armed Boxer said:

Interesting stuff! These days Thomas is a musician, and you can find a few recent-ish (mid-2010's) clips of him doing his thing over at his YouTube channel.

I've seen his recent photos on FB but didn't know he has a YT channel. Maybe I could contact him and see if he can confirm Toby's claims.

Edited May 21, 2022 by Super Ninja