Enter the Ninja
| Enter the Ninja | |
|---|---|
 Film poster designed by Design Projects, Inc. | |
| Directed by | Menahem Golan |
| Produced by |
Yoram Globus Menahem Golan |
| Written by |
Dick Desmond Mike Stone |
| Starring |
Franco Nero Susan George Sho Kosugi Christopher George |
| Music by |
W. Michael Lewis Laurin Rinder |
| Cinematography | David Gurfinkel |
| Editing by |
Michael J. Duthie Mark Goldblatt |
| Distributed by |
Cannon Films MGM / United Artists |
| Release dates | October 23, 1981 (USA) |
| Running time | 101 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | est. $1–$1.5 million[1] |
Enter the Ninja is a 1981 martial arts film directed by Menahem Golan and starring Franco Nero, Susan George and Sho Kosugi. Production was started in the Philippines with Emmett Alston directing, but when Charles Bronson refused to allow Menahem Golan to direct Death Wish II, Golan, a co-principal of Cannon Group which was producing both movies, took over directing duties of Ninja replacing Alston.[citation needed]
Plot
After completing his training of ninjutsu within Japan as a Ninja, an Angolan Bush War veteran by the name of Cole (Franco Nero) visits his war buddy Frank Landers (Alex Courtney) and his newlywed wife Mary Ann Landers (Susan George), who are the owners of a large piece of farming land in the Philippines. Cole soon finds that the Landers are being repeatedly harassed by a CEO named Charles Venarius (Christopher George) in order to get them to sell their property because, unbeknownst to them, a large oil deposit is located beneath their land. After beginning to thwart Venarius' hired henchmen's attempts to bully and coerce the Landers into the selling of their property to Venarius, Cole eventually finds himself facing an old rival from the days of his training – Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi), who was hired by Venarius as an assassin to eliminate Cole.
Cast
- 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 (as Constantin de Goguel)
- Dale Ishimoto as Komori
- Joonee Gamboa as Mr. Mesuda
- Leo Martinez as Pee Wee
- Ken Metcalfe as Elliot
- Subas Herrero as Alberto
- Alan Amiel as Maroon Ninja
- Douglas Ivan as Maroon Ninja (as amady)
Sequels
Enter the Ninja was popular all over the world[1] and became the first film in a series of Ninja films, the second being Revenge of the Ninja and the third being Ninja III: The Domination, although they are not directly related to one another in terms of storyline.
Home video releases
The movie had been released on VHS and Beta during the 1980s, but an official US DVD release had long eluded the masses until MGM issued as part of its Limited Edition Collection (a series of manufactured-on-demand DVD-Rs) in October 2011.[2] The film had also been distributed on DVD in the UK by Lighthouse (2001) and Optimum Entertainment (2011).
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Andrew Yule, Hollywood a Go-Go: The True Story of the Cannon Film Empire, Sphere Books, 1987 p19
- ↑ "Enter the Ninja FINALLY coming to DVD via MGM’s Limited Edition Collection". InsomniacEntertainment.com. October 5, 2011. Retrieved October 5, 2011.
External links
- Enter the Ninja at the Internet Movie Database
- Enter the Ninja at allmovie
- Enter the Ninja at the TCM Movie Database
- Enter The Ninja at Facemelting Films
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