A lot of fun.

All that we are seeing on the screen is happening with real people, real action sequences in the background, forcing the eye to watch as if we were there.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

Cool-ass action abounds in this Japanese epic of a movie, made with all the verve and skill we come to expect from our Asian brothers. Forget mundane, routine, poorly-done Chinese kung fu movies – and we all know they exist in their droves – and instead feast your eyes on this lavish, exquisitely produced, and extremely stylish adventure yarn. Sure, the plot is little more than "you killed my father and I will get revenge" with frills on it, but this matters not when your film offers up tons of action all the time without any slow spots whatsoever. Not only do you get a Bruce Lee-like invincible hero who kicks backside with his hands, feet, and whatever weapons he has to hand, but you also get a film with samurai warriors and secret ninja-type fighters. Weirdness and wackiness prevail in this senses-pounding assault full of bloodshed, honour, and cheesy dubbing.The film begins with a bloody massacre, followed by a bloody suicide (or hara-kiri) and then a bloody ambush. It follows through with some bloody fight scenes, some bloody training scenes, and then finishes off with a bloody climax. All in all, it's a pretty bloody movie, as anyone who has seen the likes of THE STREET FIGHTER or SHOGUN ASSASSIN will expect. That means guys turning into human pin cushions with arrow attacks, geysers of blood spurting from knife wounds, bloody squib hits, and limb-lopping frenzy. Violence fans certainly get their money's worth with this movie, which contains more deaths-a-minute than COMMANDO and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II put together.The sets and costumes are pretty darned nice and there's a rural feel to the film, with lots of the action taking place in densely-wooded areas full of traps and Spider Ninjas. What are Spider Ninjas you ask? Well, they're guys in camouflage costumes who shinny up trees with weird sound effects and swing from branch to branch like a spider, apparently, and the special effects are darned cool. Unfortunately they all seem to get killed pretty easily by the harder blue ninja types, but not before they burrow under the pebbles and launch numerous heroic attacks on the bad guys.Other movie highlights include the boiling tar set-piece, the forest slaughter, the kick-ass training sequence (including a master who dies to prove a point to his pupil), and the infamous arrow-defence sequence. The whole climax is excellent to, with a dual of the titans that has to be seen to be believed and a pair of evil dwarf types thrown in for good measure. The soundtrack is just bizarre, packed with '70s soul music that doesn't really relate to what we're watching on screen. Acting is a plus, with a great performance from Hiroyuki Sanada as the ass-kicking hero and the ultimate bad-ass, Sonny Chiba as his imposing nemesis. Even SISTER STREET FIGHTER's Etsuko Shiomi turns up to kick a little ass. So action-lovers take note: check out SHOGUN'S NINJA if you wanna watch death, fights, and violence. It's brim-full of pain.

I must confess that I was a sucker for all things Japanese since an early age, especially Samurai, Ninjas, Cartoons and Sushi. There could be no bigger delight but to watch the duo Hiroyuki "Henry" Sanada and Sonny Chiba, be it in "Ninja Wars" or "Legend of the Seven Samurai". That chemistry just couldn't go wrong – until I saw "Shoguns Ninja" for the first time; a little part of my soul died that day.Primarily responsible for this was the soundtrack: what we get here is a pseudo-Jazz soundtrack that the composer MUST have stolen from an illegally imported Porn flick (I suspect a New Yorker production, around the years 1975-76). But that wasn't the worst part yet: They made Hiroyuki Sanada dance to this music! A free-style, 'innovative' dance, like you might expect it in an audition for "A Chorus Line". They made him dance, for a whole stretch of three minutes! Seeing the embarrassment on my heroes face, my heart sunk and I wished that I could likewise sink into the ground and disappear in shame.Did I just write that nothing could go wrong between the chemistry of Chiba and Sanada? There is one exception: "Shoguns Ninja". Well, there is no chemistry and almost no interaction between the actors, at times making you believe that the actors were actually not together on the same shooting.I often would like to view Sanada as "the Japanese Christopher Lee": having come from very humble beginnings, he has added quality to very cheap pictures through his sheer presence; originally with his splendid looks, at an advanced age with splendid acting skills. "Shoguns Ninjas" in a way is to Sanada, what "To The Devil A Daughter" must be to Sir Christopher: In "To The Devil A Daughter" Lee had to drop his pants; in "Shoguns Ninjas" Sanada had to dance! Sony Chiba has often been called "Japans answer to Bruce Lee"; not because he was such a great martial artist but because Chiba had charisma that would keep your eyes glued to the screen. In films like "The Street Fighter" Chiba was grunting, snarling and grimacing like an angry simian while tearing off the testicles of his opponents. In "Shoguns Ninjas", playing the villainous Shogun, Chiba plays it cool – way too cool. In fact, he doesn't do more than move about apathetically like a block of wood with arthritis. Never does a single facial muscle move, not even in his dying scene (Spoiler ahead: the hero kills the villain), when a Sanada thrusts a dagger into his throat. Not a single emotion is displayed. Nothing! But at least it's a Ninja film, the title assures us. That means, at least Sanada – after he's done dancing – will be doing some mystic Ninja-stuff, use freaky hidden weapons and generally decapitate fiends with his sharp katana, right? Not. You see, Sanadas character Momochi grew up China, returning home to Japan having mastered what every righteous Chinese has mastered: Kung Fu. And, presumably also because he grew up in China, Sanada gets to act like a village bumpkin from an early Jackie Chan movie.Yes, the movie has its moments: there are some decent battle scenes and the hand-to-hand fights, although relatively few, are well-done – but again, if I want to see Ninjas, I watch a Ninja-movie; if I want to watch Kung Fu, watch a Shaw Brothers picture and if you want Kung Fu slapstick, go for said Jackie Chan flicks like "The Drunken Master".Alternatively, you might want to watch a dance-film – go for "A Chorus Line", but steer clear of "Shoguns Ninjas". Three points from 10: one for old time sake, one for Sanada (despite dancing) and one for Sonny Chiba (despite doing NOTHING).

... well, if it weren't for Sonny Chiba himself! Good, nobody ever put Chiba amongst the great Shakespearian actors (unlike his protégé and star Hiroyuki Sanada). Let's just say he employed less acting skill than Gregory Peck in 'The Omen' (were ol' Peck at least raised an eyebrow now and again) and Monica Belluci (who may be anything - a fine looking young lady - but not an actor). Fact is, Chiba doesn't act at all! He's simply there in the picture! Not so much as a facial twitch throughout the entire movie! Granted, Japanese heroes are to be cool. See 'The Last Samurai' ... hell, cooler than 'Shack' and Ryan O'Neal put into a bag. But for his role as 'Shogun', Chiba may well have been lobotomized! Second 'Minus' of the film: the horrid dance-sequence of Hiroyuki Sanada, which may well haunt this fine actor to the end of his career. God, if only I had fallen asleep during this sequence and never perceived it at all! But no, there it is, burned right into my memory and causing me to break out into insane giggles during the final battle of 'Last Samurai' ...Then there is the terrible, terrible pseudo-Jazz score, that would have made many-a Porn flick look earnest --- if only the producers would have take a hint from 'Shoguns Assassin', but no ...... apart from all that, the film would have actually been worth viewing ...... WOULD have, I say!

Sonny Chiba plays the shogun in pre-Edo period Japan. He's a bad mofo who eliminates a rival clan and then turns on his master to take over as shogun. Despite this, he fails to kill the rival clan's son who escapes to China and comes back to avenge his family. The kid learns martial arts and carries with him swords that contain a map to the clan's secret gold mine (hence everyone wants to kill him to get them). There was some good karate action in this flick. It's kind of cool to see Sonny play the bad guy and even fight a ninja named Hattori Hanzo (fans of Kill Bill should love this one).My problems with the movie are that it was the same damn plot all over again and the music. I expect bad music in some of these things, but it sounds like 70s porn music. The action sequences were kind of cool, but they have this crappy slap-bass, fake jazz sh*t in the background, so the tension isn't a high as it should be. I dunno, maybe the actual Japanese release had a better soundtrack. The other thing that threw me off was watching the hero dance around a fire. What the hell? It seemed like he was trying to do tai chi, but it looked more like Tommy Tune warming up for some big Broadway production. You don't look like a hard ass when you're spinning and leaping about.Despite all of this, Chiba fans should enjoy his performance. As per usual, Sonny is the glue holding this thing together.