Verdict
Summary
Radiance Films recently released a premium two-disc, three-film collection of the first three Shinobi films encased in a handsome hard backed slipcover. The black and white films are presented in high definition for the first time in North America, and special features are plentiful and abundant. This is a limited edition set, so pay attention before it’s gone!
Shinobi: Band of Assassins (1962) Plot:
A ninja is banished from his clan for betrayal and must work his way back to the leader’s graces by becoming a thief.
Review:
In ancient Japan, secret ninja clans became essential in mercenary work for the leaders of the nation, and one clan is intent on trying to assassinate a warlord who has a history of murdering monks and priests. The clan’s leader declares to his followers what they already know: There are strict rules to be followed, and if any of them are captured in their quest to accomplish their mission, they are to “pray for death” and allow themselves to be tortured, but to never give any information whatsoever. When one attempt on the warlord’s life ends with one of the ninjas being captured, the ninja manages to escape after being tortured, but too overwhelmed with fatigue and no chance to make it back to his clan, he commits suicide by slitting his own throat and throwing himself off the building of his enemy. Back at the ninja camp, one young ninja – Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa) – is a vainglorious and prideful man who refuses the sage advice of his master, and what’s worse is that he has a forbidden affair with the ninja master’s wife. When their indiscretion is discovered, Goemon panics, resulting in the death of the master’s wife (she falls down a well!), and instead of being instantly killed, Goemon is banished from the clan and humiliated to carry out a task: become a thief (which goes against the ninja code), sending all the money back to his clan to fill their coffers over a long period of time. After months (maybe even years) of this, Goemon’s reputation becomes an urban legend among the villages throughout Japan, but he grows tired and weary of the same routine. In a moment of weakness, he falls in love with a humble prostitute and marries her privately, which is a grave mistake as now his clan has leverage over him and can threaten his wife (who becomes pregnant) to make him do even more severe and punishing tasks. When war breaks out between the warlord’s army and Goemon’s clan, Goemon finds himself in the middle of the battle, with his wife’s life in the balance.
A very sincere and epic drama with multi-layered characters, set pieces, and large-scale battle scenes, Shinobi: Band of Assassins is very much an integral film in the annals of ninja cinema and martial arts-styled motion pictures. It’s a little slow going, but it always remains interesting with constant shifts in the plot, and while it may not be the best representation of Japanese martial arts film, it’s a great template for what the ninja movie would essentially become later on. It treats it all with the utmost severity, and some of this stuff we see here became commonplace for future ninja movies, even the 007 film You Only Live Twice, which blatantly copies some scenes and elements from this movie. From director Satsuo Yamamoto.
Shinobi 2: Vengeance (1963) Plot:
Ninja Goemon is pushed back into his old way of life when a warlord’s goons mess with his family.
Review:
After a few years of peace, Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa) and his wife and son get a very rude awakening when a new warlord named Nobunaga becomes overzealous and begins burning down monasteries along with the priests within. This angers the ninja clans which have dispersed and regrouped, but Goemon doesn’t feel the heat until Nobunaga begins to hunt down the old ninja clans, offering rewards for the kill or capture of ninjas, with garish crucifixions of captured ninjas being the call to arms. When Nobunaga’s goons find Goemon, they throw his infant into a fire (shocker, be prepared), which is all the rage fuel Goemon needs to get back into the fight. He annihilates those responsible and joins up with his old clan and vows to kill Nobunaga, and when he gets his chance, it’s only the beginning of a whole new era or terror for the ninja clans, who incite a war with a brand new warlord who takes Nobunaga’s place, but is much worse than previous warlords. While he’s off crusading, Goemon’s wife Maki is killed in a massacre, and Goemon loses a portion of his humanity as he becomes unhinged and carless in his task to kill the new warlord. When he’s completely overwhelmed, he’s caught (a very memorable and painful scene where he’s roped in by dozens of enforcers) and the film ends with him being led to his execution … a vat of boiling oil.
Though it ends on a downbeat cliffhanger, Shinobi 2 is more of the same as before, only grimmer, so fans of the first one will enjoy this stuff more than most. It definitely feels like a middle entry of a saga (there were at least 8 of these films), but as a standalone it might not work as well. The violence is often shocking and vivid, and for a ninja film it’s very impactful as it shows that ninjas must be resourceful and cold blooded. It features lots of weaponry (the shurikens with smoke are cool), and there’s even a character named Hotori Hanzo for Kill Bill fans. Satsuo Yamamoto directed.
Shinobi: Resurrection (1963) Plot:
After escaping a death sentence, Goemon spends years planning his revenge!
Review:
Picking up right where Vengeance left off, captured ninja Goemon (Raizo Ichikawa) is glumly walking toward a vat of boiling oil to be publicly executed. But Goemon is clever, and with the help of fellow ninja Hatori Hanzo, he’s able to switch places with another man and escape! With the doppelgänger’s head on display as Goemon, all of Japan can see what the latest shogun does to ninjas as a warning. Meanwhile, Goemon spends years plotting his revenge on the down low, lasering in on his nemesis Toyatomi Hideyoshi, a sniveling, aging warlord who distrusts everyone, even his own son whom he has blamed for a failure. When his son commits suicide, Hideyoshi eventually becomes sick with a disease that will eventually claim his life, and so by the time Goemon cleverly and meticulously is able to infiltrate his heavily guarded compound, the wrathful ninja is overwhelmingly disappointed after years of trying to get this far, that his target is about to die anyway.
Shorter in length but also much slower in the pacing department, Resurrection is a big letdown from the previous two entries simply because there’s a lot less action and ninja shenanigans this time around. Goemon spends most of the film sitting around, lamenting his life and all the tragedies that have befallen him (which means we get some unnecessary flashback sequences to scenes we’ve already gone through in the previous films), and so it pains me to say that this one was more than just a slog to get through. It’s disappointing from start to finish, and fans will be let down by how downbeat and slow it is. Kazio Mori directed it.
Radiance Films recently released a premium two-disc, three-film collection of the first three Shinobi films encased in a handsome hard backed slipcover. The black and white films are presented in high definition for the first time in North America, and special features are plentiful and abundant. This is a limited edition set, so pay attention before it’s gone!
LIMITED EDITION BOX SET SPECIAL FEATURES:
- High-Definition digital transfer of each film presented on two discs, made available on Blu-ray (1080p) for the first time outside of Japan
- Uncompressed mono PCM audio
- Interview with Shozo Ichiyama, artistic director of the Tokyo International Film Festival, about director Satsuo Yamamoto
- Visual essay on the ninja in Japanese cinema by film scholar Mance Thompson
- Interview with film critic Toshiaki Sato on star Raizo Ichikawa
- Trailers
- New and improved optional English subtitles
- Six postcards of promotional material from the films
- Reversible sleeves featuring artwork based on original promotional materials
- Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jonathan Clements on the Shinobi no mono series and Diane Wei Lewis on writer Tomoyoshi Murayama
- Limited Edition of 3000 copies, presented in a rigid box with full-height Scanavo cases and removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings