Search - Ninja Assassin on DVD

K. K. (GAMER)
Reviewed on 4/9/2022...

Solid plotline and stellar fighting and CGI scenes. A must watch!

David V. (rahxephon) from ELIZABETH, NJ
Reviewed on 7/10/2010...

Plot wasn't that good, there was some unnecessary story parts and some missing too, but action/fighting was, although I would have liked more ninjutsu stuff.

2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Michael G. (mgmirkin) from PORTLAND, OR
Reviewed on 5/26/2010...

Not impressed with this disc, either the movie or the features.

This movie was hyped to be the end-all, be-all modern ninja / assassin movie. Honestly, that said, I wasn't impressed. Not because it lacked impressive special effects or lacked choreographed fight sequences. Honestly, the effects were impressive and the movie was in large part one long drawn-out fight sequence. What it lacked was a point and a plot. It felt like it didn't offer anything of substance. It was just one long blood and gore fest from start to finish. Just about everyone loses life or limb at some point, quite literally. Some people lose many limbs. Some people end up as little more than a pile of bloody rubbish on the floor.

I had hoped for some kind of plot or subterfuge or twist, but, for me, there was nothing but a fine red mist. Maybe this will be someone else's cup of tea. There were effectively no special features. Considering how hyped this had been for being a ground-breaking special effects piece for the martial arts / ninja / assassin genre, I was REALLY hoping for a making-of featurette or two on how they innovated, what they felt they did bigger or better than their competitors. Nothing. A few extra deleted scenes. That's it. If they'd have added some featurettes / commentary, it MIGHT have saved the disc (though not the movie) for me. I tend to like exegesis on the film-making process and some of the technical aspects, creative aspects, getting inside the director's or writer's or special effects guys' heads. Knowing what they're aiming for, what they're trying to achieve and whether or not I feel they succeeded. Perhaps if a future special edition comes out with more actual features I'll give it another watch in light of those. Until then, I'll have to pass it along.

2 of 2 member(s) found this review helpful.

Turkey isn't the only thing being carved this Thanksgiving

Monkdude | Hampton, Virginia | 11/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"If you want some extremely bloody ninja action, you'll get enough for three movies with Ninja Assassin. I can't think of a film that has as many limbs being cut off or higher body count than this one. Maybe the first Kill Bill flick and that's really saying something. After reading a lot of reviews from the critics, I expected a horrible story and acting to go along with the carnage, but neither were that bad. I never heard of the lead actor, played by Rain, but he is suppose to be a big singer in Asia. His performance was on and off, but his physicality stole the show. I felt the scenes that showed the main character's training from a young boy to a man at a secret assassin fortress added some depth. That sensei doesn't mess around!

Even though ninjas prefer to engage in combat in the dark, I like how you can still see what is going on in most of the fights. The many action scenes are the highlights for sure. They are brutal beyond belief, but some of the blood was a little too CGI for my tastes. Still, there were many creative kills using various slice and dice weapons. The opening scene has the most memorable kill, setting the tone for the rest of the film. And how can you not love seeing massive ninja stars being thrown at a machine gun rate of speed?

The story is your typical martial arts fare and the acting ranges from pretty good to mediocre, but you should know better than to watch this for either of those elements. I remember a couple of weeks ago saying how the destruction of the Earth, as seen in the movie 2012, won't likely be surpassed. Well, I doubt there will ever be another ninja film that throws as much violence, gore and action into just a little over 90 minutes. If there's a sequel, you can count me in.

"

For Those of You that Want a Completely Honest Review

Kuro Tsurugi | Tokyo, VA USA | 03/11/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"1. Are you a fan of the ninja mythos? If yes, continue
2. Do you like awesomely executed choreography and to be Entertained? IF yes, go on
3. Are you one of those people that sit back and watch ALL movies looking to be enlightened on the meaning of life and anything that doesn't make you think disgust you? If yes, Stop, you don't belong here. If yes, Continue...

When this movie was being thought up, there was one thing on the mind of the director. "How can I bring back the love of ninjas that I had as a young child?" His answer was to create this movie and update the premise of the ninja with the many cool things that have been done with the genre since the old days of Sho Kosugi's Revenge of the Ninja. This means, take all of the mythological aspects of the ninja:
Shadow walking (or melding with shadows)
The mind of a Ninja (Classic training Sequences that exist in all Martial Flicks
Wicked Sword play and creative use of weaponry
Agility beyond what normal humans have
Add in a little Ninja Magic and Jutsu
= ENTER NINJA ASSASSIN

As with all great movies and concepts this film excels at one thing in particular, Mixing Genres. Within the first 5 minutes of the story, you will realize that you aren't dealing with a strict action movie. There is a great blend of Horror, Suspense, Comedy, and down right Awesomeness. As with all action movies there are some things that people consider weak with the plot but lets not get ahead of ourselves. If you go into an action movie looking to see Schindlers List, you will be disappointed. This movie was made strictly to entertain. If it does not do that for you, then you have no blood in your veins or you should go see twilight and look at the debauchery of vampire myth and swoon over the skin of a killer. Seeing Sho Kosugi again after all these years is amazing, and to see that he is still just as awesome as he was in the 80s when I was a child is Inspirational. Everyone does their job in the film acting wise, and After months of training and choreography and turning his body into a killing machine, Rain pulls it all together. I have actually read the script for this movie and there are some things that I hope are included with the blu ray. The ideas that are touched on in the film would make great stories in themselves and I for one hope that this implies that the Ninja Renaissance is upon us. Its been too long.

The only thing you get from this movie is visceral action, classic ninja cinema, and a plot that fits the moment.

A lot of people went into this movie thinking that they were going to go see the next Matrix film, as they do with any film that has the Wachowskis banner on it somewhere. This has lead to a lot of films by them and their protege McTiegue being overlooked. The biggest crime being the bad press that Speed Racer Received even though it was one of the best family movies ever. Buy Ninja Assassin and you will not be disappointed."

Best Ninja Movie EVER!

The Bus | NC, United States | 11/27/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This movie is completely awesome. You should know that there will be blood, oh boy is there blood. Body parts flying everywhere, heads getting lopped off left and right, hands, arms, legs, torsos being cut in half, and exaggeratedly immense amounts of blood gushing everywhere. People die in this movie, a LOT of people die in this movie, and not in nice ways. There's also more than your fair share of shooting. This is the best Martial Arts / Ninja movie I've ever seen, and I've seen a LOT of them. And what ninja thriller would be complete without an appearance from none other than Sho Kosugi? There is a lot of fighting in the dark, which of course is going to happen where ninjas are involved, and this makes some of the fight scenes a bit hard to follow. However, that just immerses you more into the chaos of the scene. You think it's hard to see what's happening? Picture being in a pitch black warehouse with dozens and dozens of soldiers and automatic gun fire and also barrages of ninjas coming out of everywhere swords-a-cutting and throwing dozens and dozens of throwing stars at anything that moves. Yeah, it's going to be a bit difficult at times to see just what the heck is happening. There is some supernatural-ness to the film but it fits in well with the context of the movie. The surround sound of the movie theater was taken full advantage of with throwing stars coming from all directions, and oh my gosh they threw a LOT of throwing stars. I bet this movie hands down has the most throwing stars used in it of any other movie. And they're not you're regular throwing stars. These babies are about 6" across, four pointed, and razor sharp. It reminds me of those movies that have thousands of archers sending thousands and thousands of arrows at the enemy. This was a similar thing but with barrages of throwing stars instead. If you're into these types of movies, this has to be the best one to date. If you're not into these types of movies, you'll hate this one just as much as any other ninja movie. I personally believe that all other Ninja movies will be compared to this one from now on."