An Annotated List of Movies and TV Shows That Have Influenced Me - Part IV
STILL NOT a "movie critic" post...
Well, here is my Christmas present to all of you – the next installment of “An Annotated List of Movies and TV Shows That Have Influenced Me – Part IV!
Which means: Ninjas! Ninjas! Ninjas!
Yeah, I know – you wanted a pony. But if you had your act together, you’d already have a pony. So ninjas is what you get instead. Sorry – not sorry.
Let me reiterate as usual the caveat to this series of posts:
The point of listing these productions here is that they are all, in some respect or another, as noted in the annotations, “educational”, i.e., you can, if you pay attention, learn something from them.
So keep this in mind as you review the list: THIS IS NOT A MOVIE/TV REVIEW!
I want to remind everyone that all of these movies and TV shows except where otherwise noted are available for free download from the Movie Paradise Web site.
Note that the site uses the Rapidgator file sharing service to provide access to the movies. It is advisable to subscribe to Rapidshare – a monthly subscription is available for $17.99 – the price has gone up by $3 recently – if you want acceptable download speed, otherwise the free download will be very slow. It all depends on how impatient you are.
Some TV shows listed later in this series are not available there, but can be obtained via Amazon. Most of the movies can be obtained there as well for the listed prices.
These thirty-two movies all have the same thing in common: Ninjas!
And as someone once said, “Ninjas never go out of style!”
The ninja Wiki at Fandom.com describes shinobi as follows:
Shinobi no mono, or ninja (rén zhê), were military units or single agents utilized by the medieval samurai clans and families of Japan. These were specialists in clandestine and guerrilla warfare, espionage, infiltration, arson, explosives and thievery – areas that all come under the term shinobi no jutsu, or the arts of the shinobi. The shinobi themselves were taken from any social class but tended to come from samurai ranks and worked as retainers for a clan lord. This relationship was either a continued and loyal service or was temporary and mercenary in nature. While still a part of the samurai culture, the shinobi were specialized and few in number when seen in army listings; approximately one for every four hundred men in an army, and should be considered as men who partook in what are known as ‘black ops’ and undercover agents who infiltrated the enemy lines and acted in espionage.
The important takeaway is that contrary to popular belief, ninjutsu is not primarily a “martial art” in the same sense as say, kung fu, or karate; that is, it is not primarily oriented around physical combat. Ninjutsu, or shinobi no jutsu, is an overarching philosophy of survival and espionage. The fighting arts practiced are merely the same arts that were developed by the samurai, called bugei, or war arts. These is also the distinction made, although mostly ignored, between the terms budo and bujutsu. Wikipedia discusses this distinction:
In modern history usage, bujutsu translates as martial art, military science, or military strategy depending on context, and is typified by its practical application of technique to real-world or battlefield situations. Budō, meaning martial way, has a more philosophical emphasis, but in actual usage, budo is considered the general term for all martial arts in Japan.
Civilian vs. military
Many consider budō a more civilian form of martial arts, as an interpretation or evolution of the older bujutsu, which they categorize as a more militaristic style or strategy. According to this distinction, the modern civilian art de-emphasizes practicality and effectiveness in favor of personal development from a fitness or spiritual perspective. The difference is between the more "civilian" versus "military" aspects of combat and personal development. They see budō and bujutsu as representing a particular strategy or philosophy regarding combat systems, but still, the terms are rather loosely applied and often interchangeable.
Art vs. lifestyle
One view is that a bujutsu is the martial art you practice, whereas a budo is the lifestyle you live and the path you walk by practicing a bujutsu. For example, one could say that judo and jujutsu practised as a martial art are one and the same, meaning that the practice of the art jujutsu leads to obtaining the lifestyle of judo (Judo was originally known as Kano Jujutsu, after judo's founder Kanō Jigorō). That would also be true for arts such as kenjutsu/kendo and iaijutsu/iaido.
The bugei is also described in Wikipedia:
The Bugei jūhappan ("Eighteen Kinds Of Martial Arts") is a selection of combat techniques and martial arts used by the samurai of Tokugawa-era Japan. Established by Hirayama Gyozo, the concept is based on earlier Chinese traditions, such as Eighteen Arms of Wushu.
Eighteen arts
The Eighteen Arts consist of a mixture of native Japanese and imported Chinese martial art techniques and tactics. Within each art, various Ryū developed, with different methods of performing that particular art. Certain Ryū, in turn, influenced the martial arts that were included in the list, Asayama Ichiden-ryū, Kukishin-ryū, Shinden-Fudo-ryū and Tagaki Yoshin-ryū. The exact list varies, but is commonly held to include:
Kyūjutsu, archery.
Sōjutsu, fighting with a yari (spear).
Kenjutsu, fencing.
Iaijutsu, sword-drawing.
Tantōjutsu, knife-fighting.
Juttejutsu, fighting with a jutte (truncheon).
Shurikenjutsu, throwing shuriken.
Naginatajutsu, fighting with a polearm, usually a naginata.
Hōjutsu, shooting (with firearms).
Bōjutsu, fighting with a bō (staff).
Kusarigamajutsu, fighting with a chain-and-sickle.
Hojōjutsu, tying up an opponent.
Bajutsu, horseriding.
Suieijutsu, swimming in armour.
Ninjutsu, espionage.
Other arts that were often included in the list are:
Chikujōjutsu, fortifying a castle against siege.
Yawara, wrestling.
Fukumibarijutsu, needle-spitting.
Yabusame, mounted archery.
Mōjirijutsu, fighting with a barbed staff.[6][page needed]
Yadomejutsu, deflecting flying arrows.
Saiminjutsu, hypnotism.[7]
Jūjutsu, grappling and fighting unarmed.
The point is that the so-called ninja were not merely fighters, but more properly should be considered as a combination of strategists, espionage agents, and special operations soldiers, sort of like combining Sun Tzu, Jason Bourne and a Navy SEAL.
We’ll be going into this in more detail in the future, as the overall concept is applicable to modern times – in spades. For now the takeaway is that these early Japanese films give a fairly decent depiction, albeit rather dramatized, of how the shinobi operated during the warring periods in Japanese history. They are in any event much more “realistic” than the Hollywood depictions we’ll mention later.
Wikipedia has an enormous list of ninja films where at least one ninja character is featured.
First up are some of the classic Japanese ninja movies from the 1960’s:
Shinobi No Mono 1 (1962)
Shinobi No Mono 2 - Zoku (Return Of Ninja) (1963)
Shinobi No Mono 3 - Resurrection (1963)
Shinobi No Mono 4 - Siege
Shinobi No Mono 5 - Return Of Mist Saizo (1964)
Shinobi No Mono 6 - The Last Iga Spy (1965)
Shinobi No Mono 7 - Mist Saizo Strikes Back (1966)
Shinobi No Mono 8 - The Three Enemies (1966)
Shinobi No Mono 9 - Shinobi No Shu - Mission - Iron Castle (1970)
'Shinobi no Mono', A.K.A 'Tales of The Ninja' or 'The Ninja' is a series of eight Japanese historical dramas which were released in Japan over a four year period from 1962 to 1966 by Daiei Pictures. The plot of the first few films focuses on a ninja named Ishikawa Goemon and his struggle to survive during Japan's warring states period. The films star Ichikawa Raizo (of Nemuri Kyoshiro / Sleepy Eyes of Death fame) who plays Ishikawa Goemon as well as several other characters throughout the series, such as Kirigakure Saizo, Hattori Hanzo & Fuma Kotaro. Wakayama Tomisaburo (of Kozure Ookami / Lone Wolf and Cub fame - which we’ll discuss later) also appears in the first four movies.
The trailer for the first in the series can be found on Youtube, as well as the movie itself:
(trailer)
(movie)
Shadow Warriors - Hattori Hanzo (1980)
Hard to find a good synopsis of this one, but the LetterBoxD site has the following:
The tale takes place around 1650, after the death of the third Tokugawa shogun, when ronin were expelled from Edo, the military capital. During the political instability following the death of Iemitsu Tokugawa, Hanzo's Iga ninja clan battles against the Koga clan as various factions vie to seize power. The child shogun Ietsuna is kidnapped but turns out to be hidden under (or over) everyone's noses in a castle turret which is reinforced by a comic book villain, the fire-spitting black ninja. The good ninja has to get through all the traps & save the child.
This one is pretty good, although a certain amount of time is spent on inter-family drama with Hanzo’s female relative who he wants to fob off on “Upper Hanzo”, a more senior relative. But again, this film shows how ninjas operated in the political context of the times. There is a rather bizarre sequence with a fight between two opposing groups of ninjas wearing helmets which looks very much like a weird football match, but otherwise the film is well worth watching for more or less “authentic” -or at least plausible - ninja history.
Two more movies span the time from 1964 to 1982. The first movie was filmed in 1964, and a remake, virtually scene by scene, was done in 1982 for Japanese television. The latter film, of course, has somewhat better cinematography given the improvement in film making technology.
Ninja Gari (Ninja Hunt) (1964)
Ninja Hunt (1982)
The Make Mine Criterion Web site describes the plot as follows:
When the corrupt Tokugawa shogunate seeks to abolish the Matsuyama clan during a transition of power and seize its wealth, it deploys its sinister Koga ninja to destroy an official proclamation that would confirm the clan’s new heir. Aware of the shogunate plot, the Matsuyama clan hires four ronin whose clans were dissolved in similar plots and charges them to protect the proclamation and ferret out the ninja spies by any means. These masterless samurai, led by the elder swordsman Wadakuro (Jûshirô Konoe), pursue their vengeance against the Koga ninja with brutal and single-minded intensity. A masterpiece of the ninja film craze of the 1960s that remains little known outside of Japan, Tetsuya Yamauchi’s first film is a highly suspenseful and bitterly violent thriller.
The trailer for the film can be found on Youtube and gives a flavor for the film.
Next we have a series of Japanese films.
Shinobi - 01 - Law Of Shinobi (2005)
Shinobi - 02 - Runaway (2005)
Shinobi - 03 - Hidden Techniques (2005)
Shinobi - 04 - A Way Out (2005)
Fandompost.com has this synopsis and review:
Kagerou is from the village of Shiroyama. He is strong, fast and extremely intelligent - the best in his class. But therein lies the problem, for Kagerou's birth predestines him to the lower class of Shinobi. His friend Aoi finds herself in the same situation, and together they will be forced to question not only themselves, but also some of the most sacred edicts of the Shinobi hierarchy. They must choose between their mission and their lives, and between their destinies and the Law of Shinobi. Kagerou and Aoi soon become fugitives, pursued by the Shinobi of Shiroyama, and assassins hailing from all the families of Iga.
This series of four movies is not remotely as good as the earlier Japanese movies. The acting is not particularly good, the writing is not great, and the crappy English voice overs don’t help a whit. But it is still an engaging action movie series. The important character is the lead, Kagerou, who has as they say an “attitude problem” as depicted in this clip
And kill a lot of people he does in every episode. The emphasis in these movies is conspiracy and duplicity and being on the outs with the society you were raised in. Kagerou’s attitude is simple: kill whoever comes after you.
Ninja Hicho Fukuro No Shiro (Castle of Owls) (1963)
Aikido of Montclair Village, Shindo Dojo posted this synopsis - and the film itself - on Facebook:
The Iga ninjas are a dying breed as Toyotomis rule allows Japan to experience some peace. Juzo, an Iga ninja who had vowed revenge for the death of his family, is hired by a rich weapons merchant to assassinate Toyotomi, restarting his quest for blood. In his way are rival ninja, and his once best friend who has decided to become a government vassal. The main plot centers around the conflicts that confront Juzo. The largest of these is the conflict between Juzo and his oldest friend, Gohei. Then there is the conflict each of these characters has with their respective women, whom are also Ninja in their own right. Finally Juzo is faced with the ultimate conflict between duty and happiness. Can he complete his mission of assassinating Toyotomi? Or will he choose a life of happiness and fulfillment with his woman? There was a remake of this classic in 1999 entitled Owl's Castle, but for people that have seen both versions, this first version, Castle of Owls, stands as the penultimate adaptation of the classic Ryotaro Shiba novel "Ninja hicho fukuro no shiro".
I have both versions. The 1963 version is indeed very good. Check out this clip (substitles not provided for the clip, but are of course available for the movie.)
Seventeen Ninja / Jushichinin no ninja (1963)
Seventeen Ninja 2 (1966)
Part of the Japan On Film Web site review goes like this:
Made fairly early in the ninja craze by a different studio than the Shinobi-no-mono films, it treats the ninja more as spies than as assassins and, with one absurd exception, grounds them in absolute reality.
These ninja are dedicated to their clan and will sacrifice themselves for their mission, but they have no supernatural powers. You will see no magical leaps, no disappearances and reappearances in a different place, no flying from roof to roof, no acrobatics, no walking up walls. Only the one woman uses the shuriken stars and she always misses. Their major weapon is the spear, and when that fails, the short sword is used. No secret poisons are dropped down a string, no smoke bombs mask their movement. When they need the cover of darkness, one man runs down the alley knocking over the lamps or throwing rocks at the lampstands. When they finally scale the wall of the castle, they do it with careful hand holds, pitons, and ropes, and once inside their objective they hide among the salt cases, not the rafters. If they were not dressed all in black, we would hardly know they were ninja.
As with so many spy movies, the goal is to get The Papers. The oldest Tokugawa is dying and his younger son is preparing a plot to attack his elder brother from his stronghold, and for some reason, the idiots have written it all down. The ninja team is sent to steal the plans, which can be used to force the younger son to commit harakiri. The papers are inside an impenetrable castle, so it becomes a kind of Mission: Impossible during which the ninja are picked off one by one as they attempt to gain access.
The opposition is led by another ninja from a different clan, but his orders are often over-ruled by the castle samurai, who see him as a mere hireling who does not understand true honor and who will, in any case, be assassinated himself as soon as the crisis is over. In a caste society, being right is no protection and is often a danger, and he has a propensity to brag about the superiority of his particular clan of ninja that may cloud his own judgement as well. This leads to his downfall when he counts the woman as the seventeenth ninja and thinks he has foiled the plan; according to their particular clan, however, a woman can’t be a real ninja, so there is still one left to complete the mission; hence, the title.
As the review says, this is more a case of representing ninjas as burglars rather than superhuman warriors. But it is instructional in terms of the subtlety and complexity of intelligence operations and how nothing is ever what it seems.
The LetterboxD Web site describes the second film as follows:
In a Toei all-star effort, Matsukata Hiroki, Otomo Ryutaro, and Konoe Jushiro combine to create an exciting black and white sequel to the classic story of 17 Ninja, one of the most famous films from that noted studio. In the year 1651 the Kishu clan is about to rise against the Tokugawa shogunate using a stash of muskets being guarded by Jinza the leader of the Koga ninja. The Iga ninja are called upon to stop the revolt under the leadership of Hattori Hanzo setting off a spy versus spy battle of silent ninja stealth. Through all the turmoil, Shizaburo and Yuka have broken the taboo of ninja falling in love and strive to achieve the forbidden life of happiness that is denied to all members of the ninja class.
One can be forgiven for ignoring the romantic drama substory and focus on the dual of wits between two master spies.
The next seven films are also classics. They are not “ninja movies” per se, but ninjas occur in them frequently. They are based on a famous Japanese manga (comics) series.
Lone Wolf and Cub: Sword of Vengeance (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades AKA Shogun Assassin 2: Lightning Swords of Death (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in Peril AKA Shogun Assassin 3: Slashing Blades of Carnage (1972)
Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart in the Land of Demons AKA Shogun Assassin 4: Five Fistfuls of Gold (1973)
Lone Wolf and Cub: White Heaven in Hell AKA Shogun Assassin 5: Cold Road to Hell (1974)
Shogun Assassin (1980) (Re-edited version of earlier films)
The overall story concept of the franchise is as follows:
Lone Wolf and Cub (Japanese: Hepburn: Kozure Ōkami, "Wolf taking along his child") is a Japanese manga series created by writer Kazuo Koike and artist Goseki Kojima. First published in 1970, the story was adapted into six films starring Tomisaburo Wakayama, four plays, a television series starring Kinnosuke Yorozuya, and is widely recognized as an important and influential work.[3]
Lone Wolf and Cub chronicles the story of Ogami Ittō, the shōgun's executioner who uses a dōtanuki battle sword. Disgraced by false accusations from the Yagyū clan, he is forced to take the path of the assassin. Along with his three-year-old son, Daigorō, they seek revenge on the Yagyū clan and are known as "Lone Wolf and Cub".
Without doubt, the important character in these movies is indeed the main character: Ogami Itto. The Writeups site has this description for the character as represented in the Dark Horse comics series:
Ogami follows a harsh and largely impenetrable ethic, foreign to the modern Western mind. His word is absolute. He will pursue his objectives regardless of risk, and no matter who stands in his way. He often kills people he clearly admires, and without apparent regret.
Even his contemporaries sometimes find his motivations and philosophy baffling. For example, he has discarded much of his former samurai ethos, and attaches no special importance to his sword. It is a tool for killing, nothing more, and Ogami habitually hurls the Dotanuki in combat. This tactic is unthinkable to most samurai, and many have died astonished as a result.
Despite his inscrutability, Ogami is, on the whole, sympathetic. He clearly loves Daigoro, even though that love is secondary to his mission. He can be merciful (although this is extremely rare), and he will occasionally use his deadly skills to protect or avenge chance-met strangers. But he would make for disturbing company, were he a real person.
Again, we see a character consumed by purpose, intent and focus. The films illustrate this to an amazing degree. One scene has Itto’s child kidnapped by Yagyu assassins and tossed in a bucket dangling over a well. The assassins demand Itto surrender. He refuses and proceeds to cut down the assassins’ men, even as the bucket goes tumbling down the well. He manages to step on the rope before the bucket reaches the bottom of the well, saving his son at the last instant.
Definitely a character to emulate in terms of purpose, intent and focus.
From classic ninja and samurai movies, we move on to more modern, if less historically accurate, depictions of the ninja.
You Only Live Twice (1967)
You Only Live Twice is a 1967 spy film and the fifth in the James Bond series produced by Eon Productions, starring Sean Connery as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond...
In the film, Bond is dispatched to Japan after American and Soviet crewed spacecraft vanish mysteriously in orbit, each nation blaming the other amidst the Cold War. Bond travels secretly to a remote Japanese island to find the perpetrators, and comes face-to-face with Ernst Stavro Blofeld, the head of SPECTRE. The film reveals the appearance of Blofeld, who was previously only seen from the neck down. SPECTRE is working for the government of an unnamed Asian power, implied to be the People's Republic of China, to provoke war between the superpowers.
In this movie, Bond works with Japan’s Secret Service, which has a unit which operates as ninjas. One of them is a traitor working for SPECTRE who sneaks into Bond’s rooms at night when Bond has been sleeping with his Japanese female partner, and uses a classic ninja trick of sliding poison down a thread into her mouth from the ceiling.
Later, the Secret Service unit attacks the enemy headquarters located in the bowels of a volcano in scenes which include both high-tech “rocket guns” and sword play.
The Killer Elite (1975)
The Killer Elite is a 1975 American action thriller film directed by Sam Peckinpah and written by Marc Norman and Stirling Silliphant, adapted from the Robert Syd Hopkins novel Monkey in the Middle. It stars James Caan and Robert Duvall as a pair of elite mercenaries who become bitter rivals and are caught on opposite sides of a proxy war over a foreign dignitary in the streets of San Francisco.
Here the interesting character is Duvall’s character, George Hansen. He is a mercenary intelligence agent and assassin for hire. At one point in the movie he references the “Six-P Principle”: “Proper Planning Prevents Piss-Poor Performance.” He is in competition with a group of ninjas to assassinate the foreign dignitary. As an interesting aside, the leader of the ninjas is portrayed by Takayuki Kubota, a tenth-dan master of the Gosoku-ryu style of karate which he founded.
Revenge Of The Ninja (1983)
Revenge of the Ninja is a 1983 American martial arts–thriller film directed by Sam Firstenberg, and starring martial artist Sho Kosugi, karate expert Keith Vitali, Virgil Frye and Kane Kosugi, Sho Kosugi’s son. The plot follows a ninja trying to protect his only son from a cabal of ruthless gangsters.
It is the second installment in Cannon Films' "Ninja Trilogy" anthology series, starting with Enter the Ninja (1981) and ending with Ninja III: The Domination (1984). It was very successful at the box office, despite receiving mixed reviews from critics.
Here the most interesting character is the lead character’s criminal opponent, Braden, played by Arthur Roberts. Braden in particular is portrayed as a near-psychotic who assassinates members of an opposing Mafia gang with near impunity using a variety of ninja weapons including shuriken (throwing stars), blowguns, batons with blades in them, as well as a sword. He laughs a lot during the fight in the final portion of the film and struts around calmly as he is pursued by both mobsters, cops and the lead character.
The Octagon (1980)
The Octagon is a 1980 American action martial arts film starring Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson and Lee Van Cleef. It was directed by Eric Karson and written by Paul Aaron and Leigh Chapman. The film involves a martial artist (Chuck Norris) who must stop a group of terrorists trained in the ninja style by his half-brother (Tadashi Yamashita).
Here the most interesting characters are McCarn (Van Cleef) and Seikura, the leader of the ninja terrorist training camp, portrayed by Tadashi Yamashita, a legitimate tenth degree master in Kobayashi Shōrin-ryū Karate and Matayoshi Kobudo, which is the weapon system of Okinawa.
McCarn is a mercenary anti-terrorist and bodyguard who employs several tough apparently ex-military men. He is friends with Scott James, Norris’ character. Seikura is a ninja who was trained by the same man who trained Scott and who blames Scott for having been kicked out by their master for bad behavior (a common trope in martial arts films.) He is a ruthless killer who controls a band of ninja assassins who train terrorists at a remote camp in South America.
The scenes of the training are interesting. One in particular:
Ninja Assassin (2009)
Ninja Assassin is a 2009 neo-noir martial arts film directed by James McTeigue. The story was written by Matthew Sand, with a screenplay by J. Michael Straczynski. The film stars South Korean pop musician Rain as a disillusioned assassin looking for retribution against his former mentor, played by ninja film legend Sho Kosugi. Ninja Assassin explores political corruption, child endangerment and the impact of violence.
The Ozunu Clan, led by the ruthless Lord Ozunu, trains orphans from around the world to become the ultimate ninja assassins. Raizo is one of the orphans. The Ozunu Clan's training is extremely brutal, especially for Raizo since he is to be the next successor of the clan.
The most interesting character here is the lead, Raizo. His physical capabilities, situational awareness, and mastery of classical Japanese bugei are considerable. And as the TVTropes Web site notes: “The commandos from Europol learn the hard way that modern body-armor is not rated against katanas or shuriken.” Which is actually true depending on whether steel plate body armor is used. Most soft body armor is not proof against knives, let alone swords, unless a plastic backup plate is inserted.
Raizo's preferred weapon is the kyoketsu-shoge, a chain with a curved blade attached to it, which is rarely seen in movies, even ninja movies. It was probably chosen because most people don’t walk around the street with three-foot razor blades, so a chain weapon is (slightly) more concealable. If you look at the bugei list mentioned previously, you’ll find this is called kusarigamajutsu, fighting with a chain-and-sickle.
The Wolverine (2013)
The Wolverine is a 2013 superhero film featuring the Marvel Comics character Wolverine. It is the sixth installment in the X-Men film series, the second installment in the trilogy of Wolverine films after X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), and a spin-off/sequel to X-Men: The Last Stand (2006). Directed by James Mangold from a screenplay written by Scott Frank and Mark Bomback, based on the 1982 limited series Wolverine by Chris Claremont and Frank Miller, it stars Hugh Jackman as Logan / Wolverine, alongside Rila Fukushima, Tao Okamoto, Hiroyuki Sanada, Famke Janssen, and Will Yun Lee. Following the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, Logan travels to Japan, where he engages an old acquaintance in a struggle that has lasting consequences. Stripped of his healing powers, Wolverine must battle deadly samurai while struggling with guilt over Jean Grey's death.
There are several points to make about the film itself which are mentioned in the synopsis:
1) The story is based on the seminal 1982 limited series comic written by Marvel Comics stalwart Chris Claremont and the well-known creator of the “Dark Knight” version of Batman, Frank Miller. This series was probably the best Wolverine stories ever done.
2) The series introduced the Japanese female mercenary, Yukio, portrayed in the film by Rila Fukushima. Yukio was a fascinating character described by Wikipedia as follows:
Within the context of the stories, Yukio is an occasional thief by profession, as well as a rōnin, a masterless samurai. Yukio has been portrayed as a free spirit with an almost careless disregard for personal safety. According to her own philosophy of life, living in danger is the ultimate adventure, while the peace of death is the final prize that awaits for every person who has truly lived. In 2011, UGO Networks featured her on their list of 25 Hot Ninja Girls, commenting: "While her short, black haircut and skin-tight leather outfit make her come off as a nefarious addition to the X-Men world, Yukio has proven to be quite a helpful non-mutant to Wolverine and his friends."
While Yukio is highly skilled in the martial arts, her specialty weapons are scalpel-like shuriken, of which she can hurl up to three at a time with deadly accuracy.
3) The appearance of Hiroyuki Sanada, one of Japan’s premiere actors and a legitimate martial artist, as Lord Shingen. Most recently seen in the movie “John Wick: Chapter 4”, Sanada studied Shorinji Kempo and later took up Kyokushin kaikan karate. There are Youtube videos of his martial arts performances you can watch. As a child actor, his career spans from 1966 to today. I remember him from the TV series “Revenge”, where he played the ninja training Emily VanCamp’s character, Emily Thorne, in martial arts and revenge tactics. We’ll be discussing that show in the next part of my series. Below is a pic of Sanada as he appeared in Revenge. As he demonstrated in “John Wick”, he remains a physically capable actor at age 62.
Ninjas make a considerable appearance in this film, as they did in the comic series. Archery, sword fights (against Wolverine’s three-bladed “claws”), and the use of hojojutsu (the traditional Japanese martial art of restraining a person using cord or rope) all come into play.
So the most interesting characters are Yukio, Harada the ninja who is Ichirō Yashida’s bodyguard, and Lord Shingen. The main villain is Viper, played by Russian actress Svetlana Khodchenkova (who is smoking hot.)
Well, that’s it for this part of the series. The next part will turn to television series of note from “The Prisoner” (the original) to “The Blacklist.” Stay tuned.
Oh, and Happy New Year!
Whilst I could never get through all that, I admire your exceptional effort and interesting angle. The most original ninja movie I've seen is 'Mumon: The Land of Stealth' - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5769414/