The Worst Film Ever

Don't Believe the Hype

As Good As It Gets

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

The Cannon Group's initial entry into the martial arts / action genre is gloriously cheesy and silly stuff, so much so that it's hard to believe that they didn't have their tongues in their cheeks to some degree. Italian superstar Franco Nero is oddly but amusingly cast as Cole, an Army veteran who's spent time in Japan studying to become a Ninja. Afterwards he visits his old Army friend Frank (Alex Courtney), who's got a smoking hot young wife, Mary Ann (Susan George) and a beautiful house & property. However, all is not well in Frank's corner of the world as criminals have taken over the area, and the big daddy of them all is super greedy Venarius (Christopher George, who's a hammy delight), who wants to get his sleazy hands on Frank's property. Good thing Frank has Cole on his side, and Cole takes on all comers, including his old rival from his training days, Hasegawa, played by Sho Kosugi. Sure, this may not be "Enter the Dragon", but as directed by Cannon head honcho Menahem Golan, it's very agreeable entertainment that, at the very least, is never ever boring. Champion martial artist Mike Stone, who authored the story, is also the fight and stunt coordinator and double for Nero, and he makes sure that the action scenes are all reasonably exciting. Slick, colourful cinematography, by David Gurfinkel, and plenty of local flavour make this a pleasure to look at, while the fun factor remains high throughout. The movie offers so many laugh out moments that it's hard to imagine people not chuckling once during a viewing, especially as Hasegawa evilly chortles while doing dastardly things, or as Cole dispatches a very large amount of utterly worthless thugs (one of them played by future American Ninja Michael Dudikoff in an uncredited bit). And while none of the acting is exactly of the Oscar baiting variety, it's still enjoyable. Susan George is a fine scenery attraction, Will Hare has a high old time as jovial street vendor Dollars, Constantine Gregory, Ken Metcalfe, and especially Zachi Noy are a hoot as assorted henchmen of bad guy Christopher George, who has one of the most epic final scenes ever for this sort of thing. Nero may not be terribly expressive in the lead, but he *is* still fun to watch. You take all of that into account, as well as a pleasingly large body count, and it adds up to a fine diversion for genre fans. Eight out of 10.

Any movie with the same cliché plot as "Ernest Goes to Camp" is gonna be a real stinker - particularly if it tries to be serious. Evil corporation tries to bully virtuous protagonist into selling land. Snooze.The characters are paper thin. There is no backstory to any of them - aside from the two main guys being former war buddies. Where did the poofy-haired character meet his British/Australian wife? How did they fall in love? Where did they meet? And most troublesome - how does a former soldier have the money to live in a mansion with beautifully landscaped gardens? Yikes.What war or mission in Africa did the ONE flashback come from? This was supposed to show the bond the two male characters had, but all it did was confuse me even more. What part of Africa (a huge continent)? What war? How did the war turn out? What did they end up doing after the war? Why is he living in the Phillipines? Why is the British/Australian wife so attached to the land? As she said herself, there is nothing but crime, gangsters, and poverty in their rural "town." Why would she want to stay, particularly since they're offering her and her husband millions of dollars for their house? Everything in this movie was confusing. Could have been written and directed and acted by college freshmen. 3/10.

Enter The Ninja came out on the now famous Cannon label. It was the start of Cannon's legendary action movies and also Enter The Ninja is the godfather of the American ninja flicks. It started the craziness of ninja flicks in the eighties. So it took me exactly 30 years to discover this flick due that I'm collecting VHS and came across many Cannon flicks. This one is luckily available on DVD but so many Cannon's aren't. Don't expect to have a real gem hear. The actors weren't that good and it's more about the fighting scene's that you watch it. The effects used were the real stuff, CGI wasn't available back then for a flick that only costs a million and half dollars to make. But it is a classic and also a Franco Nero classic. Many do find the fight scene's laughable and stupid but again, this was made by a label known for low budget flicks, exploitation and horror (Lifeforce "Tobe Hooper" was their first outcome). Just watch it for fun.

Any person, claiming this movie to be a ninja classic film, must have seen this movie before the middle of the nineties or he was less then 10 years before he's seen it. Otherwise I can't explain this 'classic ninja movie' title.The fight scenes in this movie are just intolerable. Instead of casting Franco Nero as the ninja, they could hire some experienced martial artist instead. In any way the acting skill is not important in that kind of a movie. Nero's fighting ability is barely of some street fighter in a bar. His kicks and punches are lame.There's enough of old action movies with good action. This is just a waste of time.