“Enter the Ninja” would be the film that introduced America to martial artist Sho Kosugi and while this is more of a Franco Nero film, for anyone who grew up in the ’80s watching ninja films may feel nostalgic and will please those wanting to see this film once again.
© 1981 Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
DVD TITLE: Enter the Ninja
FILM RELEASE DATE: 1981
DURATION: 100 Minutes
DVD INFORMATION: Color, Dolby Digital
COMPANY: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer/Twentieth Century Fox
RELEASE DATE: October 18, 2011
Directed by Menahem Golan
Screenplay by Dick Desmond
Story by Dick Desmond, Mike Stone
Produced by Judd Bernard, Yoram Globus, Menahem Golan
Music by W. Michael Lewis, Laurin Rinder
Cinematography by David Garfinkel
Edited by Michael J. Duthie, Mark Goldblatt
Starring:
Franco Nero as Cole
Susan George as Mary-Ann Landers
Sho Kosugi as Hasegawa
Christopher George as Charles Venarius
Alex Courtney as Frank Landers
Will Hare as Dollars
Zachi Noy as Siegfried “The Hook” Schultz
Constantine Gregory as Mr. Parker
Dale Ishimoto as Komori
Joonee Gamboa as Mr. Mesuda
Leo Martinez as Pee Wee
Ken Metcalfe as Eliot
Subas Herrero as Alberto
The absorbing martial arts film that exposes Ninjutsu, the lethal, little-known “Art of Invisibility”…which includes the use of hypnotism, explosives and super-human fighting skills.
In 1981, Israeli producer and filmmaker Menahem Golan (“Masters of the Universe”, “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace”, “Captain America”) was known for producing films starring action stars Sylvester Stallone, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme to name a few. But another actor he had worked with is Italy’s Franco Nero (“Django”, “Enter the Ninja”, “Die Hard 2”, “Force 10 from Navarone”) during a time where America was fascinated with ninjas.
So, the film that the two collaborated with each other was “Enter the Ninja”, a film that was popular in the early ’80s among ninja film enthusiasts, especially since it starred real-life martial arts expert turned actor Sho Kosugi (“Revenge of the Ninja”, “Ninja III: The Domination”, “Ninja Assassin”).
The film was released on VHS back in the ’80s but never on DVD until now. “Enter the Ninja” will be released as part of MGM’s “Limited Edition” Collection via their M.O.D. program (Manufactured on Demand). A program in which these are not released in stores but if people purchase it online, the company will press the DVD’s professionally with the best film elements possible. These films do not included special features (maybe just a trailer, depending on the film).
“Enter the Ninja” revolves around a man named Cole (played by Franco Nero) who is completing his training of ninjutsu in Japan to become a Ninja. Cole manages to beat a lot of his fellow ninjas in training and receives the respect from his master. But a proud Japanese man named Hasegawa, a descendant of a family of ninjas, refuses to respect a foreigner become a ninja.
But now since he has completed his training, his master tells him to use his training to help people. But for now, Cole wants to visit his friend Frank Landers (played by Alex Courtney) who served with him in the US Army in the Philippines.
When Cole arrives, he is greeted with a woman with a rifle aimed at him. He finds out that the woman is Frank’s wife, Marry Ann (played by Susan George). Cole is quickly brought up to speed that the couple own a farming land in which a CEO named Charles Venarius (played by Christopher George) desperately wants. He has been trying to get his men to force Cole into selling his property but now it has become violent as Venarius men are threatening the employees with bodily harm.
Immediately, Cole goes into action and continually beats up Venarius’ men but when they discover Cole’s past and him being a ninja, they realize that to beat a ninja, you need another ninja to fight him. So, they hire one man who hates Cole with a passion, his training rival…Hasegawa.
MOD PLAYABILITY:
Part of the worry of viewers who had bad experiences with MOD DVD’s are the printing quality. There are some who can’t get them to play and are literally now just coasters.
With “Enter the Ninja”, it’s printed quite well with printing on top of the DVD, it’s not a plain silver disc with letters. If you didn’t know it was MOD, you would think it was an actual DVD release.
As for playability, I played it on my Sony PlayStation 3 with no problems. I then played it on my Mac, no problems whatsoever.
VIDEO AND AUDIO:
As far as picture quality goes, according to MGM. the film has been manufactured using the best source available. “Enter the Ninja: is presented in widescreen 16×9 and for an early ’80s film, the film does look its age but I would imagine it looks better on VHS. My memory of this film was watching it late at night on cable but for the most part, the picture quality looks good. As for audio, the film is dialogue driven and dialogue is clear and understandable.
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Enter the Ninja” comes with a trailer for the film.
During my junior high years, “Enter the Ninja” and anything featuring actor Sho Kosugi, were so popular among my friends and classmates.
I can easily remember us talking about the films constantly, going to the store and purchasing ninja magazines and some of us going as far as purchasing the ninja outfits and anything we can to be wannabe ninjas. And I can easily remember watching “Enter the Ninja” many times on cable back then!
So, watching this film today, nearly 30-years-later, the nostalgia definitely returned but at the same time, you tend to ask yourself, “did I really enjoy this film as a kid?”.
Not to say it was entirely kitschy but I suppose that back then, I was more into these popcorn action films and never regarded the acting or the action so much. These were typical action films of the ’80s that really captivated those who were fascinated by martial arts. It was a sign of the times and I grew up watching these films.
But today, I can tell you that this is literally an all-out popcorn action film. Some parts of the plot was quite ridiculous. For example, Cole’s best friend, Frank has been unable to have an erection since the military. Next thing you know, we see his wife going into Cole’s bedroom and him turning off the lights. What a great friend Cole is in having sex with his good friend’s wife! I guess they had to figure out how to throw in a relationship angle into the film but that was a bit farfetched.
And of course, before Internet capability, people doing research on Cole manage to find out that he trained as a ninja and they were able to find a ninja immediately to take him on. Again, farfetched.
But I know many people grew up watching this film and are excited or nostalgic in buying the ninja films on DVD via MOD.  And while my feelings toward this film has changed, watching it 30-years-later, I will always remember how much these films influenced me and many of my friends in driving us to learn martial arts. But also the film that introduced us to Sho Kosugui, who would captivate us with his own ninja films that came after this one.
If you love old ’80s martial arts films or just nostalgic for this film, then “Enter the Ninja” is for you!
