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Good story, Not enough for a whole film

A Major Disappointment

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The film begins with a very impressive display of weaponry skills by none other than Sho Kosugi in full Ninja uniform, including sai, shinobi-gatana, tonfa, nunchaku, manriki {bola}, blowgun, shiroken, bow & arrow, and spear-staff. Blend into white ninja {color indicative of novice/apprentice} amidst the wilderness undergoing his final "law of the jungle" test until recognized as full Ninja calibre; he is attacked by several red ninjas on his way back to the dojo, expertly defending himself until facing the Shidoshi himself, shockingly beheading him before entering in for judgment."Enter The Ninja" was released during the latter part of the martial arts pop-fascination of the 70's and early 80's, and distinguished itself by presenting Ninpo principles such as the afore-mentioned Kuji-Kiri, indigenous weaponry and some techniques, all under the expert supervision of Sho Kosugi, an actual Ninpo practitioner, who along with Frank Dux, earned some ire from traditionalists in the old country, but did manage to add an enhanced perspective on this enigmatic historical character known as Ninja. Although, the film is long in the tooth and features way too much plot, but the film does deliver a decent amount of butt-kicking and several cheesy moments that will get giggles of joy from bad movie fans. The last half is far more interesting than the first; the action scenes are competently done, though it's obvious Golan was not the action director Firstenberg was.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

ENTER THE NINJA is a film that has a lot to answer for. It remains the most popular ninja film of the '80s as well as being one of the first western films to tackle the subject (preceded only by THE OCTAGON, with Chuck Norris) and therefore is responsible in part for all the hundreds of no-budget ninja films that followed in its wake, usually made by the dreaded Gordon Ho/Joseph Lai/Tomas Tang tag team and starring Richard Harrison - who come to think of it was made to look a lot like Franco Nero in this film, right down to the age and bushy moustache, and who also happened to be a big star in Italy since the '60s. However, ENTER THE NINJA is a lot slicker and bigger-budgeted than the cheap rip-offs that followed in its wake and more a straightforward thriller, with no fantastic flying or special moves silliness that later plagued the genre. Imagine the endless Chuck Norris films that Golan and Globus forever churned out during the '80s, replace Chuck with a ninja but keep the same basic plot, and you have this film.The plot isn't much, bear in mind. It revolves around that old "rich and corrupt businessman tries to buy land from family who won't sell" cliché which in turn became even more clichéd during the '80s and '90s, a plot recycled over and over again ad infinitum. One change here is that the location is the sweaty Philippines, Manilla to be precise, where the film got an exotic foreign-made look but was still relatively cheap to produce, especially as Golan got to hire lots of cheap crew and cast members for minor jobs. The film begins with Franco Nero - dressed up as a white ninja - easily dispatching a gang of red and black ninjas in a huge fight in the woods. He wins, and goes to meet an old Vietnam buddy in the Philippines.Said buddy has now turned into a hopeless drunk, who is powerless against the thugs that an evil corporate man (Christopher George) sends out to beat him over regularly when he refuses to sell his land. Farm workers are terrorised and move away and there's a nasty sleaze ball with a hook for a hand and hired muscle to help him out. Of course it's not long before Franco Nero enters the run-down bars and beats up loads of bad guys in easy non-ninja martial arts action. Of course, Nero was never a martial arts hero, but as all of his opponents are weedy Filipino guys with no training, he looks good as he kicks and pummels them to the ground. Things gradually escalate with more and more hired bad guys being killed and beaten before the sneaky Christopher George sends his henchman to Japan to hire a rival ninja to beat Nero.The man is Sho Kosugi, a huge Japanese star of the 1980s, who starred in a further two sequels to this film - as the good guy no less - and lots of other martial arts films during the period. Things culminate in a final battle in an arena between Nero and Kosugi which is well-choreographed throughout. Like most films from Cannon, the production values are just about passable with able camera-work and soundtrack. Nero is noticeably dubbed into becoming yet another American hero but other than that, nothing rings false.The cast is a good one, with the slimy villains headed by Christopher George as the overacting baddie for a change, making a good job of it. The hook-handed guy is the butt of some cruel humour as he gets his arm torn off and repeatedly humiliated. Nero is experienced and deals well with his heroic leading part, and his martial arts stuff requires him to wear a face mask so the change to stunt double is natural and mostly unnoticeable. Sho Kogusi is excellent as the evil but still honourable ninja, even if he occupies minimal screen time, whilst Susan George just stands around being sexy and sassy in equal measures, and unsurprisingly ends up in bed with our moustachioed hero. Although no classic, ENTER THE NINJA is a fun, pretty violent martial arts outing with a fast pacing and plenty of action and cheesy comedy to counter the bone-breaking acts of violence.

The reason that you've heard the word "ninja" is because of this movie.It's a mid 80's chop sockey film that inspired a huge (sub) cultural movement.Ninjas are to martial arts movies what Zombies are to horror movies...and Ninjas were introduced to us in the west via this movie.Jeez Louise with the negative reviews! I guess you had to be there at the time...but this movie caused a revolution...kids all over the world went from wanting to be Bruce Lee to wanting to be a Ninjas as soon as they saw this.Also, it wasn't really part of a trilogy...the others were just cash ins or vehicles for Sho Kushogi, they bore nothing to do with this movie other than the word "Ninja" in the title.

Enter the Ninja (1981) * 1/2 (out of 4) The first film in the series features Franco Nero as a war veteran who finishes training at a ninja school and goes to visit a friend and his wife (Susan George) and discovers they are getting pushed around by a creep (Christopher George) wanting to force them off their land. Nero is able to keep the bad guys away with his ninja skills but soon the baron hires a ninja (Sho Kosugi) to take care of him. Soon Nero and Kosugi are doing battle. ENTER THE NINJA is the first in the series and clearly the weakest, which is due in large part to the poor direction by Golan. I think it's also safe to say that these American ninja movies were a major, major step down from the brilliance of Akira Kurosawa but you wouldn't know it by Golan's direction. He really thinks he must be doing a serious piece of art and its this serious nature that slows the movie down and in the end kills it. I think the best of these American ninja movies are the ones that know they're corny and just want to deliver entertainment. Sadly this one here doesn't offer much in terms of entertainment. Even the opening where Nero, in his white ninja outfit, does battle against a group of ninjas just comes off flat and deadly boring. From this point on there are many different fight sequences but none of them pack any punches and more often than not you're just sitting there waiting for something exciting to happen but it never does. Nero was trading in his Western gear for this here and isn't all that convincing as the ninja. There wasn't a single second where I believed him in this role and you can tell that he seems rather bored throughout. Susan George offers up the typical George performance but it is worth noting that this was the first film I've seen where she doesn't get naked. Christopher George isn't much better but at least he goes over-the-top with his role and at least manages to get a couple laughs. Kosugi is pretty much wasted as he only appears in a couple sequences including the ending where he does battle with Nero. The direction by Golan is just way too dramatic for its own good and he really doesn't know how to build up any momentum or suspense. Since he goes all dramatic on us it takes away any possible camp moments but I must admit that the neck-breaking sound effects are among the worst I've ever heard. The music score is also downright horrid. Considering the two sequels did manage to get better you can't help but rate this one as a flop.