SHOGUN’S NINJA
aka NINJA BUGEICHO MOMOCHI SANDAYU
aka NINJA SECRET SCROLL
Japan 1980
Directed by: Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Hiroyuki Sanada, Sonny Chiba, Etsuko Shihomi, Yuki Ninagawa, Shohei Hino, Kazuma Hase, Yoko Nogiwa, Masumi Harukawa, Asao Koike, Makoto Satô, Isao Natsuyagi, Tetsuro Tamba, Fumio Watanabe...
Running Time: 117 min. (German DVD)
Covertext (taken from the German DVD) Japan 1581: Auf Befehl des Fürsten Hideyoshi zerschlägt der grausame Samurai Shogen (Sonny Chiba) den Clan der Momochi. Der kleine Takamaru kann dem Blutbad entkommen und nach China fliehen. Dort erlernt er die Kampfkunst. 20 Jahre später kehrt Takamaru (Hiroyuki “Henry” Sanada) in seine Heimat zurück. Bei einem Ninja-Meister verfeinert er seine Technik. Takamaru vereint die Ninja um sich. Gemeinsam wollen sie den Tyrannen stürzen. Die Zeit der Rache ist gekommen… Eine gelungene Mixtur aus klassischem Jidai-Geki und Chambara (Schwertkampf). Fulminante Action und spektakuläre Stunts stehen im Mittelpunkt. Die Darsteller gehen dabei mit Schwert, Handkante und exotischen Waffen nicht gerade zimperlich vor. Eine typische Rächer-Geschichte, bildgewaltig und spektakulär inszeniert, in der Sonny Chiba einmal den skrupellosen Bösewicht verkörpert! Translation: Japan 1581: By order of Prince Hideyoshi the gruesome Samurai Shogen (Sonny Chiba) smashes the Momochi clan. Little Takamaru is able to escape the massacre and flees to China. There he learns the art of fighting. 20 years later Takamaru (Hiroyuki “Henry” Sanada) returns to his home country. At a Ninja master he refines his technique. Takamaru unites the Ninjas. Together they want to bring down the tyrant. The time for revenge has come… A successful mixture of classic Jidai-Geki and Chambara (swordplay). Fulminant action and spectacular stunts take center stage. The actors act with swords, karate chops and exotic weaponry none too gently. A typical tale of vengeance, powerfully and spectacularly staged, in which Sonny Chiba impersonates the unscrupulous villain for once!
My Thoughts
A Japanese Ninja epic, directed by the guy who gave us DABIDE NO HOSHI: BISHOUJO-GARI (BEAUTIFUL GIRL HUNTER, 1979), and starring Sonny “Hattori Hanzô” Chiba and Hiroyuki “Henry” Sanada, SHOGUN’S NINJA is a cool if somewhat campy tale of vengeance that doesn’t make any prisoners. This overlong, often slow-moving actionfest is definitely not for all tastes, but it certainly delivers the goods in the many spectacular action set-pieces, which are said to be choreographed by Sonny Chiba and his Japan Action Club. The epic tale of cold-blooded murder, gruesome revenge, treacherous betrayal and unquestioning loyalty is way too over-the-top to be taken seriously, but it manages to entertain the viewer for almost the whole one-hundred-seventeen minutes. Director Norifumi Suzuki handles the mix between violent fights and calm, dramatic moments rather well, and the long, awesome, bloodsoaked showdown is worth the price of admission alone, if you ask me. Because of a multitude of characters the story becomes a bit confusing at times, and the inserted humour doesn’t really work, but the flick has got a lot of energy, the cast is okay (although Sonny Chiba watches all the horrific goings-on with a stone-faced expression), and the camerawork is top-notch. Hiroyuki Sanada is a likeable hero and he shows off some impressive fighting skills too. Watch out for a very painful and unorthodox torture sequence! When all hope seems to be gone, out of the blue comes a white-bearded old master whom you have rather expected in your average Hong Kong Eastern. He trains our hero and speaks wise words, such as: “You cannot achieve revenge with kindness. You cannot defeat your enemy with compassion. You must wear armour made of anger and pain. You must simply be as an animal.” He’s got I point, I have to admit. The fight sequences, including a lot of swordplay, are very good and energetic, and it comes as quite a surprise to see that there even was some wirework put to pretty good use. What’s annoying, though, is the unusual, inappropriate and - quite frankly - awful score. Thanks to this musical fiasco even the most dramatic fight scenes loose all their effectiveness and impact. Words fail me to describe that disaster. So I’m gonna quote fellow reviewer Ian Jane (http://www.dvdtalk.com): “Imagine if John Carpenter were hired to work alongside Jan Hammer to score an eighties porno movie and the results would probably fall somewhere close the music that this movie makes use of.” Truer words were rarely spoken. Still, SHOGUN’S NINJA is well worth checking out if you like to see Ninjas in action, and besides… any film starring Sonny Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada and a bunch of wild Ninjas falls under the ‘must-see’ category. Director Norifumi Suzuki has made about forty-five movies between 1968 and 1990, among them the outrageous actionfest FURYÔ ANEGO DEN: INOSHIKA OCHÔ (1973), better known under its nice English title SEX AND FURY. That one is an exploitation film fan’s dream come true and one of those unforgettable gems that could only have been made in the 1970s and in Asia. Hiroyuki Sanada went on to star in Corey Yuen’s excellent LONG ZHI REN ZHE (NINJA IN THE DRAGON’S DEN, 1982). He can also be seen in the action classic WONG GA JIN SI (IN THE LINE OF DUTY/ROYAL WARRIORS, 1986), Hideo Nakata’s unbelievably creepy RINGU (RING, 1998 - ignore the crappy US remake!) and the mainstream blockbuster THE LAST SAMURAI (2003). Sonny Chiba, born on January 23, 1939 in Fukuoka, became immortal with his portrayal of Takuma Tsurugi in 1974’s hyper-violent GEKITOTSU! SATSUJIN KEN (THE STREET FIGHTER). Two sequels and ONNA HISSATSU KEN (SISTER STREET FIGHTER, 1974) followed. His other claim to fame is the popular TV series HATTORI HANZÔ: KAGE NO GUNDAN (SHADOW WARRIORS, 1980), where he played a characters called - you gussed it - Hattori Hanzô. He returned as Hattori Hanzô in Quentin Tarantino’s terrific KILL BILL: Vol. 1 (2003). By the way, Hattori Hanzô (as Hanzou Hattori) is in on the action in SHOGUN’S NINJA too, played by Isao Natsuyagi. According to the Internet Movie Database Sonny Chiba appeared in no less than one-hundred-twenty-eight films and TV-series. SHOGUN’S NINJA is neither among his best nor among his worst work, but it’s a fun way to spend two hours of your life. You can do a lot worse, trust me.
© Copyright 04/2007
All text by myself (except for some quotations where mentioned)
All photos are copyright their respective owners and are reproduced here in the
spirit of publicity. All screenshots are by myself.