Ninja in the Dragon's Den

This Kung Fu movie showcased Hiroyuki Sanada's extremely beautiful and graceful Kung Fu techniques. Under the direction of Yuen Kuei, martial arts director for "Lethal Weapon 4", he was more lively and deft than in the hands of his master - Sonny Chiba. Every movement is a delight to watch. The story line also helps to make this movie a top-rate one. I will put Sanada in the same league with Jet Li. A must-see for all Kung Fu movies fans!!!!!.

Without doubt one of the very finest Ninja movies ever made, this film also marked the explosive screen debut of the incredible Conan Lee. Even more amazingly, the said actor had previously no martial arts experience whatsoever prior to filming this although you would never guess this judging by his awesome physical performance here.

The fight scenes (choreographed by none other than the superb Corey Yuen who also directs the film) are absolutely jaw dropping, in fact they are undoubtedly some of the best combat scenes ever committed to celluloid.

Hiroyuki Sanada is the Ninja of the movies title and clearly demonstrates to us all why he is considered to be one of the very best screen martial artists ever, displaying probably some of the most graceful moves ever seen in any martial arts film.

Added to this, and a real treat for fans of old style kung fu, the always superb Hwang Jang Lee, considered by many as the greatest leg fighter ever, turns up at the films climax as, yes you've guessed it – the main villain! (As he was perpetually type cast!)

Special note also must be made of the extremely cool music that cranks up throughout…..highly memorable; it'll have you humming it for days!

It's very strange that after such an explosive screen debut, Conan Lee's fame dissipated so quickly. The actor was in fact even being tauted at the time as the next Jackie Chan. Just goes to show what a fickle business the movie industry is.

This is the sort of Kung Fu movie I love, one with lots of action, plenty of daft, broad, but enjoyable humour, a cracking pace, and a storyline that although it isn't groundbreaking, does hold your interest and give the film a bit of structure. Its also great to see a mix of fighting styles and plenty of weapon use mixed in with the kung fu. This is low budget (although high at the time for a Hong Kong film) with dodgy music and sound effects, and some dodgy lines (although that might have been through translation), but it doesn't take itself too seriously until near the end, so you can't help but love it.

It really hasn't been given enough respect this film, hardly anyone seems to have seen it on any of the Kung Fu fan sites. It is readily available on the Hong Kong Legends series in remastered widescreen format with plenty of extras though, so I recommend anyone who loves old style Martial Arts films (especially ones like Drunken Master) to buy this now!

Corey Yuen is maybe the best martial arts choreographer ever. In this position he worked on the recent Jet Li movies (Lethal Weapon 4, Romeo must Die, Kiss of the Dragon). But the fights in his own movie are even better. He's the director of such classics as "Yes, Madam"(Cynthia Rothrock, Michelle Yeoh) and "Saviour of the Soul".

In "Ninja in the Dragons Den" there are lots of fights. In fact there is almost nonstop action. It's good old hand to hand (and feet to feet) combat here, no wired action. Also the comedy element works better here, than in most other HK movies. If you're a martial arts fan, this is a must see.

one cool movie. japan's sensational henry sanada (in my opinion.. the best ninja beyond sho kosugi and sonny chiba) duel off with one of hong kong's best kung fu man conan lee (who look kind of like jackie chan). fights choreograph by corey yuen kwai...the dude who choregraph most of jet li's modern day movies. take my words for it. it's hella good!!!