This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The first must-see film of the year.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

There's an assassination plot afoot for your boss, General Kuang (Ti Lung) no less, so what do you do? Yup, hire people right off the street without asking for credentials. Sure, they're all Ninjas sent to fulfill the plot. Good thing the General's son has sought the Master of the 3 Arts to help protect his father. The Master of the 3 Arts gives te son the names of his 3 top students Tung, Mao & Chu (Lu Feng, Phillip Kwok Chun-Fung & Chiang Sheng respectively).Mao and Chu infiltrate the General's house staff while Tung surveys the perimeter as a time keeper (unsure what the actual title for the job is). It doesn't take long for each to find one of the Ninja spies. Chu deals with a kitchen staffer trying to stab Kuang during dinner. Kuang demands all his guards stay back to permit Chu to show his skills as a body guard. There is the usual enjoyable acrobatics from a Chiang Sheng fight.While Chu is battle the cook, Tung is outside fighting a disguised guard - with a pizza pan. Yup, Tung is using what looks like a pizza pan to defeat the 2nd Ninja. It definitely made me rethink defense techniques if someone breaks into the house. Mao handles the female ninja with a gift box. You're treated to Phillip's tumble and attack style during their fight. A few kicks here and there and one more Ninja bites the dust.The plot says the Ninjas want a Chinese fight book on top of wanting to remove Kuang from the planet. My CC kept showing it as a Ninja fight book, which makes absolutely no sense, unless the Chinese were studying it for ways to defeat Ninjas. No offense to Ninjas, but Chinese Wushu is far superior imho and therefore they wouldn't need a Ninja fight book.The final fight occurs while Kuang is on patrol. His son has been kidnapped by Fukushima Shigeru (who's played the Japanese baddie in a few movies I've seen). Mao, Tung and Chu have to fight through color coordinated Ninjas to reach the General's son and Shigeru. Chu gets the worst of the deal before they eliminate Shigeru. Proving once again, Wushu is the best.Two of the Five Venoms were absent in the film, but the strong chemistry the Venoms have as a team still shined through. I would definitely recommend this to anyone. Even with the ridiculousness of how easily the Japanese infiltrated Kuang's house.

Ninja In The Deadly Trap is a pretty good low budget martial arts movie that is elevated by its all star cast of Shaw Brothers stars Ti Lung and 3 of The Five Deadly Venoms Kou Chui aka Phillip Kwok, Chaing Sheng and Lu Feng. Also appearing as head of the ninja clan is Yasuaki Kurata, who is highly respected and works frequently in Hong Kong movies. While this production is not close to to quality of a Shaw Brothers Production and is not in the same class as director Chang Cheh's similar Five Element Ninjas that came out around the same time, Ninja In The Deadly Trap will please most martial arts fans with lots of crazy ninja action and the excellent kung fu one would expect from The Venom Mob. This was directed by Phillip Kwok and is unknown to me if he choreographed the fights also, but the fight scenes are awesome. Ti Lung is very elegant and has a commanding presence as The General. Most of the Ninja stuff(with exception to some of the more over the top moments) are pretty accurate as far as weapons and the way they went about their business. I think that Five Element Ninjas is superior to this film in every way, but this movie has a better cast and is pretty entertaining and solid martial arts film in its own right. Also, for Venoms fans, this is I believe the only movie that Lu Feng has a completely heroic role. I guess the original title of this film was Heroes Defeating Japs, which is a pretty ridiculous title for all you anti pc film lovers out there. While I can't regard Ninja In The Deadly Trap as a stone cold classic, I did enjoy it and should please most fans of the genre.

This film was put together after the closing of Shaw Bros. production studio by three actors who had achieved fame as members of director Chang Cheh's "Venoms" ensemble. They clearly learned a lot from Chang Cheh during that period, and this film is very handsomely put together and presented, and the acrobatically choreographed martial arts are precisely staged and well photographed. There are a number of weaknesses to the film, largely having to do with pacing; this film seems to go on far longer than it actually does, because the dramatic momentum is diverted toward the three heroes, when it clearly ought to lead toward the general, perfunctorily enacted by Ti Lung, who is given little to do but sit around looking aristocratic. 3 of the original Venoms and Ti Lung? this casting should itself produce electricity; instead, the filmmakers depend inordinately on the ninja to develop suspense, and, except for old pro Kurata, the performances of the ninjas are all pretty flat.Still, as an "old school" kung-fu flick, this is solid entertainment - as fair a means of spending 95 minutes as one could think of, as long as one isn't looking for anything special.

I am constantly pleasantly surprised by old kung fu flicks. Typical of the genre, anti-Japanese sentiment makes for a good action flick, as Ninjas try to bump of the Chinese general who keeps Japanese pirates at bay. With the aid of three martial arts experts, the generals son seek to save the generals life. There isn't much in the way of charater development, and the Ninja spies are pretty obvious, but some of the fight scenes are pretty good, including one of the better sword fights I have seen, between a chinese and a samuri. Well worth a look for the kung fu buffs.