NINJA TERMINATOR (1986)
Label: Neon Eagle Video
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 90 Minutes 44 Seconds
Audio: English 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Godfrey Ho
Cast: Richard Harrison, Jeong-lee Hwang
Ninja Terminator (1986), directed by Godfrey Ho (The Dragon, The Hero), is a mind-melting slice of kung-fu what-the-fuckery of the highest order. Some films are so hard to describe, sometimes the films are so elaborate or convoluted that description of them just just eludes you, but then sometimes it's hard to describe because a mad genius like director Godfrey Ho took a previously existing movie, The Uninvited Guest of the Star Ferry (1984) starring Jack Lam as bad-ass Jaguar Wong, about a lethal rogue with a heart of gold out to save Korean restaurant owners from scummy Triads in Honk Kong, which he uses as the source film, then he adds new footage he shot starring Richard Harrison (Empire of the Dark) as one of three ninja warriors - Tamashi, Baron, and the camo-clad Harry MacQueen (Harrison in guy-liner). who steal a "Golden Ninja Warrior" statue from their master the Supreme Ninja, during the 20th anniversary of the evil Ninja Empire, whatever the fuck that is. The trio split that statue into three pieces, which grants each of them invincibility in a certain body part the corresponds with the piece of the statue they possess. Ho then took all of this footage and re-dubbed it completely to create a new storyline, which honestly still does not make a lick of sense as it never truly marries the two storylines together in any sort of coherent way, but that's all part of the charm of this one.
With his prized possession stolen from him the Supreme Ninja sends his warrior Karada to return the pieces of the golden statue to him, in the process killing Tamasha. Meanwhile Baron send his blonde-wig, white-suit wearing warrior-fighter Tiger Chan (Jeong-lee Hwang, Kid from Kwangtun) to find Tamasha's missing statue piece, killing the deceased's brother Ikaza, while Harry assigns his own lethal protector Jaguar Wong to protect Tamasha's surviving sister Michico from harm. The Supreme Ninja's warrior then disguises himself and attack both Baron and Harry separately, using the other's distinct ninja stars to turn the two against one another, which all leads to a head-spinning and brain-busting ninja battle royale atop a hill overlooking Hong Kong. The other half of the finale is Jaguar Wong finally fighting Tiger Chan on a beach, with Tiger chan shedding his signature white suit and wig, revealing a complete different black outfit beneath it! It's a terrific bit of kung-fu with both martial artists getting to show off their supreme fighting skills, with yet another headscratcher of a finale, as one of them finds themselves partially submerged in beach sand, perhaps because of his inappropriate beach footwear, it's hard to tell exactly what and why the fuck happens, happens, but it is most certainly a headscratcher.
The weirdest stuff comes by way of the Godfrey Ho additions, and around Harry the Ninja in particular, like how he slices watermelon while in his camo ninja-suit multiple times, or how he takes personal phone calls on a Garfield telephone for some odd but awesome reason, plus there's an unnecessary a scene of crustacean cruelty when Harry pierces an errant crab's shell with a throwing dart. Oh, let s not forget that the Empire bizarrely sends a toy robot that occasionally billows smoke, to send messages to both he and Baron via a toy robot. At first I thought that the toy robot must ne the "Terminator" part of the title, but later the Supreme Ninja tells Baron over the phone that "I am a Ninja Terminator", so glad that they could squeeze the film's exploitative title into the dub!
The best fight sequences are relegated to the footage stolen/re-purposed from the source film The Uninvited Guest of the Star Ferry, with Jack Lam kicking some serious ass, and doing so looking so deadly cool and non-plussed about it, often with his hands still in his pocket, he's just too cool. We also get scense of Yubitsume, or honor-bound "finger shortening", seppuku suicide, and some gratuitous sex scenes, because why the Hell not?
Audio/Video: Ninja Terminator (1986) makes it's first legit North American debut on region-free Blu-ray from Neon Eagle Video, restored from a 4K scan of the negative and presented in it's proper 2.35:1 scope aspect ration. The source looks terrific with appreciable grain levels, colors are bold, black levels are pretty decent, far surpassing the dodgy clips I have seen of this one circulating for years. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono, and it's quite a track, completely dubbed and created in the recording studio it's flat, harsh and wonderful. It's everything you want from a cheesy dub, with canned sound effects, stolen music cues (Ennio Morricone, Pink Floyd, Wendy Carlos), and zero atmospherics or environmental acoustics.
Extras include an Audio Commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast on Fire Network; plus a second Audio Commentary by Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder. Both commentaries are fantastic, examining the cut and paste approach director Ho was known for, the kung fu and marital arts fighting on display, the music cue, distribution, and general insanity of the ninja storyline.
We also get a 17-min Ninja Master: An interview with Godfrey Ho in which he talks about his early career, this film, and working for IFD. Ho shows-up again on the 17-min Golden Ninja Dubs: Interview with Godfrey Ho and dubber Simon Broad who discuss the process of dubbing the film in English; and we get the 20-min Ninjamania: How Ninjas Invaded the West - Interview with Chris Poggiali, co-author of ‘These Fists Break Bricks’, I always love extras with Poggiali, he's always fun, and this exploration of how ninjas invaded pop culture in the 70s and 80s. we also get a 3-min Trailer for the film. Be on the lookout for a tasty Easter egg, by way of the 9-min What's The Story with that Giant Multitude of Ninja Movies Starring Richard Harrison? with Chris Poggiali and Featuring Archival Comments by Richard Harrison, which addresses star Richard Harrison's reluctance to speak about the Goddfrey Ho films he appears in. The piece features Poggiali as well as an archival clip of Harrison.
The single-disc standard release version arrives in an clear, double-width, full-height Scanavo keepcase with a Reversible Wrap featuring both the original VHS artwork as well as newer artwork by Justin Coffee that originally adorned the slipbox artwork for Neon Eagle Video's now sold-out limited edition version.
I do own that limited edition version, and it's pretty fucking sweet. That set features both this film with the same set of extras, plus a second film, the very rare source film the Uninvited Guest of Star Ferry in HND sourced from a 16mm print, plus the side-loading Rigid Slipbox, inside are two keepcase housing the two films, a 40-Page Perfect Bound Illustrated Book featuring writing on the film by Jesus Perez Manuel Molina and David Zuzelo. If you come by it in the wild or on the secondary market for a price you can live with I strongly recommend picking up that edition.
Special Features:
- Audio commentary by Kenneth Brorsson and Phil Gillon of the Podcast on Fire Network
- Audio commentary by Asian film experts Arne Venema and Mike Leeder
- Ninja Master: An interview with Godfrey Ho (16:34)
- Golden Ninja Dubs: Interview with Godfrey Ho and dubber Simon Broad (17:04)
- Ninjamania: How Ninjas Invaded the West. Interview with Chris Poggiali, co-author of ‘These Fists Break Bricks’ (19:04)
- Trailer (3:13) SD
- What's The Story with that Giant Multitude of Ninja Movies Starring Richard Harrison? with Chris Poglia and Featuring Archival Comment by Richard Harrison (8:47)
- Reversible Blu-ray wrap with alternate artwork with artwork by Justin Coffee
If you're looking for an absurdly, totally ridiculous bit of kung-fu/ninja exploitation you need look no further than Godfrey Ho's gob-smacked, cut and paste ass-kicker Ninja Terminator (1986), which will most certainly be your new favorite slice of WTF-ery. Neon Eagle Video's standard Blu-ray edition of the flick is fantastic with terrific A/V, a wealth of extras, and a tasty looking sleeve of reversible artwork.
Screenshots from the Neon Eagle Video Blu-ray:
Extras:
Buy it!
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