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Released by: BCI Eclipse
Released on: 1/10/2006
Director: Godfrey Ho/Yang Tao
Cast: Richard Harrison, Don Wong, Shoji Kurata, Barry Chan, Liu Ping
Released: 1985/1973
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The Movies:
Continuing with their budget oriented Kung Fu Theater line of martial arts double features, BCI presents an interesting pair of fight films that make for an unlikely due but that still manage to entertain in spite of a few issues…
NINJA THUNDERBOLT:
The only thing you really need to know about this one can be summed up in three points: 1) Godfrey Ho 2) Richard Harrison 3) Ninjas On Roller Skates. Everything else, save for those three points, is superfluous when talking about this film as it really makes no sense - just know going in that it's one of the many oddball Ho/Harrison 'collaborations' in which the former male model has been edited into some other movie to add some star power to what is essentially the cinematic equivalent of a chop shop job. The end result, as is the norm with these movies, is a complete mess but one that proves to be pretty enjoyable none the less.
The plot, if you can call it that, follows Li Chieh, a ninja who finds himself in hot water when he's busted trying to break into a safe to steal the goods. He makes a break for it but a tough cop named Harry is hot on his tail and determined to bring him in. The resulting car chase finds Li driving off a cliff into the ocean below, but the police investigation that follows turns up no corpse, leading Harry to wonder if he Li isn't still alive. Shortly thereafter, a young girl named Sarah finds the ninja washed ashore and not really realizing he's an evil ninja, she takes him home with her (“Mom, can I keep him?â€) to help him recover from his injuries. When Sarah and her father report their valuable jade statue to be missing, Harry is called in on the case and he figures that they're trying to pull an insurance scam until he finds out that Li might be around after all…
The plot sounds way more coherent than it really is. The top billed Harrison, here playing a cop named Richard, isn't really in the film much at all, his character kind of wanders in and out of the story at random adding nothing but cult appeal and unintentional hilarity whenever he pops into the frame for no apparent reason. The action scenes are terrible and the fight choreography more or less non-existent but a few stand out set pieces make the film worth checking out for fans of psychotronic martial arts films. A ski chase, something you don't often see in ninja movies, adds some flair to the location shooting but the highlight of the film is when a gang of ninjas chase down Harry's car while on rollerskates. Yes. That's right. Rollerskates. Throw in some completely unnecessary sex scenes (one of which is actually quite long and graphic) and a drug dealer who stores his doobies in his mouth and you've got yourself a movie. While it's not as off the wall or insanely entertaining as other Ho-Harrison films like Ninja Squad or Ninja Terminator, the rollerskate scene redeems the whole thing and makes it all worth while.
INVINCIBLE HERO (a.k.a. THE MEAN STREETS OF KUNG FU)
The second feature stars Barry Chan in an early role, who would later show up in Snake In The Crane's Shadow. Here he plays a kung-fu student eager to learn from the school he attends in 1930s China. A nasty local crime boss, Chow, played by Liu Ping, wants to move in and take over the school that is so near and dear to Barry's ever loving heart, but the teacher at the school wants nothing to do with him or his gang of thugs.
The crime boss decides that he's going to get the school whether the teacher wants him to or not so he sets them up to make it look like they're responsible for a local murder. To make matters worse for them, Chow also manages to convince one of Barry's fellow students that their teacher is no good and that he should turn over to the dark side and fight with them. When those tricks fail, Chow resorts to murdering Barry's teacher and it's at this point that we find out that he's finally had enough and he decides to track down the boss and make him pay. It won't be easy though, as the cops are after Barry as they figue he's responsible for his teachers death and for the death of a local officer of the law.
A fast paced film, Invincible Hero has all of the cliches that the martial arts genre is known for. A lone student has to avoid the law and avenge his teachers death against someone who wants his school for his own. We've seen it before a few times over and we've seen it done better than it is done here, but even with those strikes against it the movie is an enjoyable time killer. Barry Chan shows he's got some decent moves and his technique looks good in front of the camera. His character is likeable enough and he handles the sympathetic aspects of the storyline and of his character well enough that we're able to get behind him and root for him to beat Chow at his own game. With that being said, a lot of the fighting is repetitive and despite the odd moment or two where some of the musical cues from Brian DePalma's Carrie and from Ridley Scott's Blade Runner show up on the soundtrack, a lot of it is strictly standard and therefore not particularly remarkable.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Well, both movies are presented fullframe, though neither of them were shot to be shown that way and whatever interesting compositions that might have been are sadly no more as this is pan and scan all the way. To add insult to injury, both movies have been taken from VHS source that weren't in the best of shape to start with and as such, they look a mess. Aspect ratios aside, the colors are faded, there are tape roles here and there, and there's very little fine detail present in the picture. Black levels are either muddy and grey or way too blotchy, covering up anything else in the picture. Reds bleed throughout, and everything is really, really ugly looking.
Ninja Thunderbolt and Invincible Hero are both dubbed into Dolby Digital Mono English tracks, and poorly. If you're familiar with Godfrey Ho's ninja movies in which Richard Harrison stars, and if you're not you should be, then you'll know what you're getting into. Lips don't even come close to matching the dialogue but it doesn't matter as none of it makes any sense anyway. Everything is pretty muffled sounding and there's hiss throughout. Invincible Hero fares just a little bit better in that the dubbing isn't quite as ridiculous, but it's close.
The only real extra feature on this release is found on the Ninja Thunderbolt disc and it's an on camera interview with one of the film's stars, Don Wong. Don talks about his education in the United States, how he got into the entertainment industry and some of the movies that he has worked on. It's a moderately interesting talk, even if it isn't really all that Ninja Thunderbolt specific for most of its running time (which, coincidentily, runs about thirteen minutes). Aside from that, both discs contain a trailer for the Pride Fighting Championship DVD available from BCI, which is sort of a Ultimate Fighting Championship style dealio and which has nothing to do with either film.
The Final Word:
A goofy Godfrey Ho mish-mash and a decent old school kung fu entry get a medicore double feature release from BCI. If you're able to look past the poor presentations, however, both Ninja Thunderbolt and Invincible Hero deliver some seriously fun entertainment value, and you really can't go wrong with ninjas on roller skates.