Customer Reviews

Shaolin Vs. Ninja [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a movie with such a generic name, I didnt know quite what to expect. I was surprised to find that the movie was everything I could have hoped for in a movie called "Shaolin vs. Ninja" The movie is not just some knock-off with passing references to Shaolin temple and ninja warriors. There are fights galore of shaolin masters amd students taking on slews of ninjas. The fighting is first rate, intense, and everything you're looking for. The video would have been better in its original widescreen format, and the very ends of subtitles are conseqeuntly cut off. The only distraction is the audacious, shameless dubbing with not the usual voice talent we've come to expect in our classic movies. The dubbing was clearly done in the 90s, with the dubbers substituting improbable names, such as Shaquille,Bob, Raymond, Sylvester, and Tommy boy, for the actual character's Chinese names, which can be read in the subtitles. The dubbers also add many lines of improbable improvisation, such as references to Beverly Hills, Las Vegas, and airbags. Inexplicably, the Japanese boss is voiced as a supremely cheesy 70s blaxpoitation pimp...really!... Some might find this comical, but it in essence made the dialogue spoof-like. The actual subtitled dialogue is actually all serious and coherent. But dont let the dubbing issue keep you from adding this video to your collection. Phase out the laffable dialogue, and follow the subtitles instead and you are in for a real treat. If you like first-rate Shaolin figting and ninja culture, this video is a true winner.

This is an old school Kung Fu Collecters but unfortunetly no effort has been put into making this old school flick look better.I have not seen Ground Zero Entertainment's version but AVOID! Lion Video's version it is so bad I only paid $7.99 for it and i still returned it because the screen would jump,picture brake up,bad Editing ,and it looked like it was copied from a copied VHS. The sound sucks,no widescreen, and only in English dubbed. I can make a better DVD without trying just give me the tools . I'd rather pay $20 for a good version than Lion's version for FREE! We didn't buy a DVD to watch VHS quallity movies, DVD distributers hear me out! Anyway enjoy Shaolin vs Ninja and try to focous on the Kung Fu so you can forget how bad the quality is.

The shaolin monks and the japanese ninjas are intwined in a confusing mystery of murder. While trying to figure out the culprate, a question of power and ability comes into play. The Ninja's believe that their martial arts is far superior to that of the monks. A tournament is set up between the two parties involving 7 fights each groups best fighters going head to head. As the two show off there weapons, and styles and shapes, the real murderer is suddenly brought into the open. Now the two groups must drop everything and deal with the evil power. another great martial monk film.

I collect martial arts films on DVD. This one is a bomb and a half. The dubbed voices don't even match the actors and they're so bad you can't stay interested in the movie. The movie cuts out to blackness quite a few times, which is really annoying. The picture fades from color overkill to hardly any at all. I bought the Lion Video version. I have other Lion DVD's that are great, but this one shouldn't have been put out like it is.

Not to blame the movie but this was in very poor quality, my friend has paid a buck for some in better viewing condition. This movie had good fight scenes worthy of watching. The time it took to get to the actual challenge the story is based upon I flipped to some cartoons to kill the time. Feeling guilty about missing scenes while watching cartoons I scanned back and watched the skipped over scenes, I didn't miss anything.
The fight scenes make this movie worth it, fast forward through the rest.

When this movie started out I didn't know if I was going to be able to sit through it. The story line, well there is no storyline. It is just Japanese Shaolin vs. Chinese Shaolin, that's it. Lo Rei is the top fighter on the Chinese side and Alan Chui(baddie in 7 Grandmasters and Last Hero In China) leads the Japanese. Since there is no story, the fights are the only thing to talk about. Lo Rei and Alan Chui have a great match against each other. The highlight of the film is a martial arts tournament against the opposing sides. First up is a grappling match between Lo Rei the huge muscleman senior monk from Shaolin vs. Lama. In the second match director Robert Tai steals the show against a high kicking opponent. Tai has a sweet technique where he uses beads as a weapon. This scene is literally worth the price of admission alone. It doesn't hurt that Wong Chi Sang has an amazing weapons fight also. You may recognize him as the first guy that Lo Rei fights in Shaoolin vs Lama and the first guy Ghostface Killer fight in Mystery of Chessboxing. There is also a pole fight that contends with any fight scene in the entire movie.

I think that if they would have put a little more time into the story and put some emotion into it, there is no way I would not be able to give this a 5/5. But it is just mindless fight scenes, fine by me.

I have a bootleg VHS of this and it is only like 70 minutes. Anyone know if a company out there distributes the full version?

This flick turnd out not to be what I expected,,,however, I walked away entertained by Alexander Lo Rei!! It was just an o.k flick,,,many fight scenes and the choreography satisfactory. If you love you old school kung fun,,,you're safe with his one!!

The editing was poor to say the least. The film just shut down and went black for a few moments while the sound kept going. However, I must say in only blacked out four-five times, and only once in an interesting point. The color went a little hazy at times but would quickly shift back to normal. Would I buy it again? Yeah. Good flick with cool Kung-Fu. Without the editing burps, I would have given in a four.

This movie is definitely a classic. The plot is sometimes confusing, but it is pretty simple in general. Ninjas are trying to take over a shaolin temple for its assets, and of course there are many battles. Then the Japanese royal monk, who is visiting the Chinese shaolin monastery, is murdered by the ninjas. The ninjas blame it the monks, and Japanese shaolin monks come to get revenge for the murder. My favorite part is the scene where the Japanese and Chinese monks are having a competition-- the fights are amazing, and fluid, and there are an assortment of weapons being used. In fact, all the fight scenes in this movie are good, they are fast, well filmed, and well choreographed. One character uses nunchaku, a weapon rarely seen in kung fu movies. Another character has amazing staff techniques, sometimes they are even comical. After all, shaolin is famous for its staff techniques.

The abbot of the shaolin monastery (I don't know the actor's name) is excellent. He only has one or two fight scenes, but they are really good. He also accurately expresses the philosophy of shaolin and Buddhism, unlike in some movies where shaolin monks are portrayed as villains or thugs.

I am a little stingy with stars, so if a movie were to get 5 stars from me it would have to be perfect in my eyes. I really like this movie a lot, but there are a few things I don't like that prevent it from getting 5 stars. One thing that bothers me about this movie is that the filming is sometimes bad, things are cut out of the shot. But in the fight scenes the filming is always good, none of the shots are so close up you can't tell what's happening. Also, some of the costumes are corny, but overall the costumes and settings are good, and are in the style of the Ming Dynasty which is when the story takes place. I would recommend this movie highly, it is one of my favorites. I have seen this movie so many times I could probably recite all the lines, but I never get tired of watching it.

this movie is sooo sweet, the action is intense and all the audio is superb, not a fault to be seen.