Ninja In The Dragon's Den (1982)

Am I Missing Something?

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

This movie is everything what people want from a martial arts movie. It contains incredible stunts sometimes with wire works. It has Kung Fu magic. It's full of ninja trickery and there is a lot of comedy. Ninja in the Dragon's Den therefore is without a doubt one of the best martial movies ever made in history. Still it is very difficult to get a hold of a decent or affordable copy on DVD or Blu ray in the original language. I have watched the film dubbed in English and German. And you know what despite that handicap I was not bothered by this at all. Since the action alone is superb. I know I already said it but let me state it again that the martial arts is more than excellent in this film. A young Conan Lee and Hiroyuki Sanada (The last samurai, The promise) show their magnificent skills whenever they can. Both of them bring to the screen what the fans want. Do I really need to tell you that the story does not matter that much? The introduction of this movie reminded me of several other movies about ninja's made in the Eighties! You know the ones where each ninja show what they are capable of. But something about it is off like it is meant as a parody of (or tribute to) the other ninja movies made around that time. Or maybe I am looking too much into it and I got distracted by the use of the theme music. Perhaps it was just a way to capitalize on the popularity of the Ninja films. Whatever they were going for compared to those cut and paste Godfrey Ho ninja films Ninja in the Dragon's Den is far superior. But how can it not be since director Corey Yuen made sure the action and the stunts were top notch.So do check this one out if you have never done before. It's a martial arts classic that deserves your attention.

Very professional and entertaining blend of kung fu plus ninja action. The film stands out in relation to its two male leads who are both charismatic, good looking and competent fighters. Conan Lee is surely the George Lazenby of the kung fu world, as his physique, technique and English were clearly good enough to allow him to become a major name in kung fu movies. His fairly comedic turn here is contrasted by Hiroyuki Sanada who gives an intense performance as the ninja 'in the dragon's den'. There are a lot of stand out scenes - from the opening montage of ninjas training (and the pop song about the 'legend of the ninja' which goes with it), to the horse-based action, the traps set by Lee for the ninja, (especially the stunt involving jumping into a burning lake - absolutely mental) and the assassination attempt at the water mill. There's plenty of good ideas and neat scenes going on, and the fighting is of a good standard- there's even a surprise twist ending. Probably not a great insight into Chinese or Japanese culture as the film is pretty light-hearted throughout, our hero has a comedy sidekick for example, but this is somewhat contrasted with the more serious ninja side-story. A delightful romp.

This is one of the funniest and well choreographed films I have seen in the genre. The movie evolves around a Kungfu fighter and a Ninja that become rivals. However they have the same master! How could this be you say, well you'll have to watch it to find out. Eventually they have to decide if they are to team up to fight an enemy that is a threat to their master. Personally I like when they mix Kungfu characters with Ninja characters. It provides action from both sides so to speak. I totally disagree with Alangir Miah who gave this film a low score. I watched this with my friends and not only did we laugh at the funny lines. We really enjoyed the excellent fighting scenes. I would recommend this movie to anyone who likes great fighting movies.

This movie has everything and a half. Ridiculous stilt fighting, ninjas galore, the 1/2 sentence plot, God skills, demon possession, the hero fighting the latter half of the movie in a pink outfit, and female anatomy saving the day. Clearly a classic.Actually, it was a definite classic till the middle-end, where it dragged a bit, but the ending picked it back up and saved it.I recognize the guy from Azumi, but the rest of them were new to me. The fighting and stunts were sufficiently impressive - particularly when they were jumping around and fighting each other standing on 5 foot stilts. Now that's talent.The kung fu is fun, the actors are very skilled, and the whole thing is entertaining. If you're into kung fu movies, particularly if plot is unimportant to you, you'll enjoy this one.