Icarus Tannhäuser Wow. I loved martial arts movies as a kid. I studied Tae Kwon Do and I lived and breathed everything remotely pertaining to Asian fighting arts. I wanted to see this movie way back in the day but we didn't have a VCR and it didn't show in local theaters. The same goes for the Shô Kosugi's next movie, "Revenge of the Ninja." I still haven't seen it. The best I could do was see "Ninja III The Domination (which I'm now afraid to revisit).So anyway, "Enter" was a terrible movie. The movie opens up with a white ninja being chased by red ninjas in a jungle setting. Seriously? White is for snow, red is for....wtf is red for? Anyway, unbelievable. Then when the masks are off, the white ninja is a white guy. No big deal but his body is completely unsuited for martial arts, at least ninjutsu. When you think of ninjas, you think of thin acrobatic men. Franco Nero, the star, is a tallish brutish wrestler-esque dude with a 70s porn mustache. I just have no words. I have nowhere to start because there was so much wrong with this movie from the star to the plot to the lunacy of the movie logic. Hell, in the final 30 minutes, Nero, again in his white ninja outfit in tropical Manila with not a snowbank in 1000 miles, enters the building of the bad guy with two swords, a blowgun, a bow, arrows, sais, shruiken.....it's completely unbelievable. At some point he loses both his swords and yet, he still has another sword. Obviously he has mastered sphincter concealment. I admit that this review sucks because there is just so much not to like I don't know how to articulate it. I hated this movie after the first 10 minutes but I decided to gut it out until the end and now I regret it. If you want to live forever, this movie will make time feel like it is standing still.

jessegehrig Let the Philippines be your backdrop to mediocrity! Come visit the sunny island nation of the Philippines where film production is dirt cheap. Extras will work for booze, like beer or moonshine, I mean it costs next to nothing! Enter The Ninja is indicative of a typical Golan/Globus production- horrible horrible writing and direction, mixed with non-stop sh*tty action, did that sell it for you? Let me sweeten the deal, the acting in this movie is also horrible horrible. Some one got a bargain on white dress-suits, everyone in the movie seems to wear one, perhaps most of the cast was paid in white suits, that's basically the same as money. Goddamn ninjas.

Michael_Elliott 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.

Zeegrade Do you like ninja movies and taking naps? Well have I got a movie for you! Anyone, and I mean anyone, who uses the word "classic" when talking about this movie should be banned from martial arts films for the rest of their lives. Boring, boring, boring! Franco Nero is Cole the only non-Japanese to been trained in the arts of the ninja. When he completes his training and is granted full ninja status (I guess they must serve an apprenticeship) his inclusion is rejected by Hasegawa (Sho Kosugi) who refuses to accept the American as part of their clan. I wouldn't either as the wooden Nero clearly has no martial arts training as every action scene conveniently never shows his face. It's sickening to watch Sho Kosugi play second banana to this empty suit. Cole travels to the Philippines to meet an old Vietnam buddy Frank who REALLY likes cockfights. Frank has become more of a lifeless drunk, at least when he's not cockfighting, which opens an emotional bond between Cole and Frank's bug-eyed wife Mary-Ann. The locals are terrorized by thugs under the control of Charles Venarius who Christopher George takes to cartoon levels of absurdity. When Cole easily dispatches Venarius' men he demands a ninja as if they can be had at any corner store. Turns out Hasegawa has left the clan and has become a mercenary ninja for hire. Slow buildup to the inevitable fight to the death between the former students. Uninspiring action sequences are hampered severely by Nero's lack of fighting ability as well as his complete lack of screen presence. His rigid performance makes Christopher George's so over-the-top that he joins William Beckwith from "Prime Evil" as two of the most campy badguys ever. There a so many movies out there that deliver the true ninja experience better than "Enter the Ninja" that it defies belief that this was even made for the American audience. One of the rare disappointments from the Golan-Globus duo that gave us so many cheesy actioneers in the eighties. Rather take a shuriken to the eye than watch this again.