by Flack » Tue Apr 19, 2022 9:49 pm
When I first dipped my toe into the world of Kung-Fu cinema many years ago, I noticed a wide gap in quality. Many of the classics came from production companies like the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Very far away from those films on the other end of the scale are the works of Godfrey Ho, sometimes referred to as "the Ed Wood of Hong Kong cinema."
Throughout his career, Godfrey Ho wrote, directed, and produced more than 100 films under (at least) 40 aliases. Ho is best known for his "cut and paste" method of filmmaking which involved taking previously released movies, filming and splicing in new scenes (almost always involving ninjas), completely redubbing the dialogue, and re-releasing them as new films. As one might imagine, very rarely did this result in award-winning (or even comprehensible) films. Because he reused and recycled so much footage, actors were often surprised to learn they were appearing in new films. He was also known for stealing music from other films and television shows without permission. Because most of his movies were re-released under different names in different markets, Ho has admitted in interviews that he doesn't know exactly how many films he officially released. According to Flickchart, some of Ho's most popular films included Ninja Terminator, Golden Ninja Warrior, Clash of the Ninjas, Zombie vs. Ninja, Ninja the Protector, Full Metal Ninja, and Ninja Death Squad.
Ninja Masters of Death, released as Ninja Project Daredevils in the UK, is not one of Ho's top 10 films, and might not be one of his top 100.
I'm not actually sure what the plot of Ninja Masters of Death is. There are some guys in the military who have a secret, or something. Two-thirds of the film is a Chinese war film. The remaining third consists of crazy ass ninja fights. There's a group of white ninjas, led by a gold ninja, and a group of black ninjas, led by a purple ninja. Along with all the normal ways ninjas typically engage in combat, the purple and gold ninjas -- who I think might have been brothers -- have lots of ninja tricks up their sleeves, including smoke bomb grenades and landmines.
Watching this film is like being forced to watch television while someone else flips channels back and forth between two unrelated movies filmed in a language you don't understand. Trying to make sense of even the most basic plot points was like trying to read technical manuals after drinking a bucket of cough syrup and being hit continually in the head with a rubber mallet. To be fair that doesn't make particularly unique in the overall pantheon of Godfrey Ho's library... it's just that when baking this particular fortune cookie, Ho added a bit too much dialogue and went a little light on the ninja action.
If there's any part worth watching, which there really isn't, it's the final showdown between the gold and purple ninjas. The epic battle takes up the final four minutes of the film, and anyone who watches it will see something... unique. Like, something I've never seen in a ninja film, ever. Something I still don't completely understand. The link below should jump right to the final battle.
If someone ever made a master list of every movie ever released and rated them from best to worst, you wouldn't make it down to any of Godfrey Ho's films before you died. Watching one of Ho's films feels like running your tongue back and forth over a popcorn kernel stuck between your teeth, even when you don't want to.
Especially when you don't want to.
When I first dipped my toe into the world of Kung-Fu cinema many years ago, I noticed a wide gap in quality. Many of the classics came from production companies like the Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. Very far away from those films on the other end of the scale are the works of Godfrey Ho, sometimes referred to as "the Ed Wood of Hong Kong cinema."
Throughout his career, Godfrey Ho wrote, directed, and produced more than 100 films under (at least) 40 aliases. Ho is best known for his "cut and paste" method of filmmaking which involved taking previously released movies, filming and splicing in new scenes (almost always involving ninjas), completely redubbing the dialogue, and re-releasing them as new films. As one might imagine, very rarely did this result in award-winning (or even comprehensible) films. Because he reused and recycled so much footage, actors were often surprised to learn they were appearing in new films. He was also known for stealing music from other films and television shows without permission. Because most of his movies were re-released under different names in different markets, Ho has admitted in interviews that he doesn't know exactly how many films he officially released. According to Flickchart, some of Ho's most popular films included Ninja Terminator, Golden Ninja Warrior, Clash of the Ninjas, Zombie vs. Ninja, Ninja the Protector, Full Metal Ninja, and Ninja Death Squad.
Ninja Masters of Death, released as Ninja Project Daredevils in the UK, is not one of Ho's top 10 films, and might not be one of his top 100.
I'm not actually sure what the plot of Ninja Masters of Death is. There are some guys in the military who have a secret, or something. Two-thirds of the film is a Chinese war film. The remaining third consists of crazy ass ninja fights. There's a group of white ninjas, led by a gold ninja, and a group of black ninjas, led by a purple ninja. Along with all the normal ways ninjas typically engage in combat, the purple and gold ninjas -- who I think might have been brothers -- have lots of ninja tricks up their sleeves, including smoke bomb grenades and landmines.
Watching this film is like being forced to watch television while someone else flips channels back and forth between two unrelated movies filmed in a language you don't understand. Trying to make sense of even the most basic plot points was like trying to read technical manuals after drinking a bucket of cough syrup and being hit continually in the head with a rubber mallet. To be fair that doesn't make particularly unique in the overall pantheon of Godfrey Ho's library... it's just that when baking this particular fortune cookie, Ho added a bit too much dialogue and went a little light on the ninja action.
If there's any part worth watching, which there really isn't, it's the final showdown between the gold and purple ninjas. The epic battle takes up the final four minutes of the film, and anyone who watches it will see something... unique. Like, something I've never seen in a ninja film, ever. Something I still don't completely understand. The link below should jump right to the final battle.
If someone ever made a master list of every movie ever released and rated them from best to worst, you wouldn't make it down to any of Godfrey Ho's films before you died. Watching one of Ho's films feels like running your tongue back and forth over a popcorn kernel stuck between your teeth, even when you don't want to.
Especially when you don't want to.
[media]https://youtu.be/DMJfGAQ558Y?t=4744[/media]