8 Comments
Comment deleted
Dec 28
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

I take it that would be this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Samurai_(TV_series)

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0199907/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3

http://www.home.netspeed.com.au/reguli/THE%20SAMURAI.htm

Never heard of it before. Movie Paradise doesn't seem to have it. Tracking down the DVD releases mentioned in the last site above would be an interesting project.

Expand full comment
Comment deleted
Dec 28
Comment deleted
Expand full comment

Just found this - 38 episodes! Don't know if they have the English subtitles.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4bY3ETMRvVwYym_NwxdDERbNQ1Tyh7AS

This guy has maybe ten of them in color:

https://www.youtube.com/@steverutherford7171/videos

Expand full comment

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/

Expand full comment

Thanks for the link! I went over to Movie Paradise and they have it! Downloading now.

https://movieparadise.org/movies/mumon-the-land-of-stealth/

Another totally whack ninja movie which I didn't include is the bizarre "Ninja Wars", which also happens to include Hiroyuki Sanada and Sonny Chiba. This movie is full of weird ninja magic stuff including transplanted heads. LOL But it is incredibly atmospheric.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninja_Wars

The synopsis is:

A fortuneteller prophesizes that whoever marries the beautiful Ukio will become the ruler of the world. Naturally, this makes her very popular with those vying for power, particularly the insatiably greedy Lord Donjo. Only the ninja Jotaro can stop Donjo’s plan, but to do so, he must first battle the deadly team of “Devil Monks” serving the lord. Will Jotaro succeed in his mission? And if so, will Ukio marry him, thus making him the ruler of the world?

This is also available at Movie Paradise:

https://movieparadise.org/movies/ninja-wars/

Expand full comment

Sounds wonderfully colourful, like their crazy TV shows, but not up to watching low production 80s movies when I've still got to watch Scorcese's latest. Oh, time, please give me more! But I would squeeze out space if anyone ever made a decent mini-series for each Eric van Lustbader book. I loved him as a kid, and should put at least the original on my bucket list.

Expand full comment

Yes, van Lustbader's books are very good movie material. Surprised they haven't been optioned. I have all of them on my hard drive.

Expand full comment

Eric: "The Ninja” was sold to 20th Century-Fox in 1980 to be made into a film produced my Richard Zanuck and David Brown. After a long process too tortuous to go into here, which included two high-profile directors and three screenwriters, the project was shelved when a new head of production was hired at 20th and put into turnaround all the projects the former head of production had green-lighted. The good news is that the project has been revived, has a director attached to it and is awaiting a screenwriter."

Expand full comment

Good to know. But given the way movies get made, I'll wait until I see a release date or at least what actors are attached to it. :-)

Expand full comment