Like any graduate, Cole is anxious to put his new found skills to the test in the real world, so he packs up his crisp white Ninja uniform and leaves the temple behind in search of adventure. Everyone is happy, save for Hasegawa, who feels the Westerner has not truly earned the right to be called “Ninja” (think this will come into play later?). Congrats, you’re a Ninja! Here’s your diploma. After cutting his way through the Ninjas, besting the smartly attired Black Ninja (Hasegawa), and cutting off the head of an old man standing guard outside of a temple, the White Ninja enters and we learn that this has all merely been an absurdly elaborate test.
![movie enter the ninja movie enter the ninja](https://resizing.flixster.com/NESP1U8BZxTqyV0_YFvGb3UK9fU=/740x380/v2/https://statcdn.fandango.com/MPX/image/NBCU_Fandango/879/979/59200.png)
Unless they’re sneaking around a giant candy cane, red and white outfits seem like bad choices to me. Now, I ain’t no Ninja, but I always thought that part of their job description was concealment. The opening scenes feature our hero, clad in white, skulking through the forest with a gaggle of Ninjas, all wearing bright red, in pursuit. Yet such is the ferocity of that kick the mere intent to actually connect sends Hasegawa reeling. This is interrupted when our hero, Cole (usually played by bar-hopping practitioner, Franco Nero, but likely by his stunt double here), comes flying in from screen right and delivers a flying sidekick that misses Hasegawa by the length of a slip-n-slide. The title sequence features an impressive weapons display by one of our villains, Hasegawa (played by actual Ninjitsu practitioner, Sho Kosugi). Our first example of the sheer, unmatched power of Caucasian Ninjitsu comes about a minute in. Like listening to Beatles on vinyl, something about watching this on VHS just felt right, so I hit “buy” and waited for the Ninja to enter my mailbox. When I searched Amazon, the cheapest copy available just so happened to be VHS - the original release, no less.
![movie enter the ninja movie enter the ninja](https://dvdnewsflashthereviews.files.wordpress.com/2017/05/img_20170530_0004_new1.jpg)
![movie enter the ninja movie enter the ninja](https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1351/2613/products/IMG_4641.jpg)
Much to my shame and dismay, I didn’t already own Enter the Ninja.
#Movie enter the ninja movie#
Which brings us to this, our first entry in the Monthly Midnight Movie Exchange: Enter the Ninja. In the early 80s, Ninjas were mysterious. There was a time, not so long ago, when the word “Ninja” evoked images other than those of a certain foursome of anthropomorphic pizza-eating adolescent reptiles.