New York Ninja: The Return of John Liu

When Taiwanese-born martial arts star John Liu started filming his first American production, it captured the violent grittiness of early 1980s New York. It was roughly thirty-seven years before that film finally screened for audiences, but ironically, it currently feels just as representative of the lawless city, as it did then. We need his masked martial arts avenger now, more than ever. Fortunately, the new rights-holders at Vinnegar Syndrome restored and re-edited the unseen footage, recording an entirely new audio track. It might not exactly match Liu’s original vision, but he still cleans up the big apple in the re-conceived New York Ninja, now credited to directors Liu and Kurtis Spieler, which had its world premiere at this year’s Beyond Fest.

No scripts or records of any kind survived after the production was halted, apparently due to conflicts with the production company. All that was left was a pallet of film cans. However, what Spieler and his associates saw in there still had value to cult film fans, especially Liu’s signature high kicks and the street-level scenes of New York, in which viewers can often see the World Trade Center as Liu’s characters practices his moves along the waterfront.

The story, as re-written and re-edited by Speiler, follows John, a mild-mannered news crew sound tech, who happens to be highly skilled in the martial arts. Tragically, his pregnant wife is murdered by a gang of human traffickers when she witnesses the abduction of their latest victim. Enraged by his grief, John dons the white garb of a good ninja to do the dirty work the cops just won’t do. Soon, he breaks up enough of their kidnappings attempts to get the attention of the gang’s radiation-mutated boss, now known as the Plutonium Killer.

The acting and production values of NY Ninja are not that different from what can be seen in Y.K. Kim’s The Miami Connection, but Liu’s high-kicking skills are still impressive. It is also cool to watch time-capsule-like footage of New York, including pre-Giuliani Times Square (where we see Ninja III: The Domination is playing—one of the hit Cannon Ninja films NY Ninja was clearly trying to cash-in on). If you check out NY Ninja for the right reasons, you should have fun, but if you are looking for sensitive drama and finely turned performances than maybe not so much.

Shrewdly, Spieler recruited a who’s who of genre favorites for the voice ensemble, starting with Don “The Dragon” Wilson, perfectly cast as John. Likewise, his old pal Cynthia Rothrock fittingly gives voice to the martial arts proficient cop, who gets kidnapped by the traffickers. For 1980s action fans, it is a real treat to hear Penitentiary’s Leon Isaac Kennedy dubbing her detective colleague, who has been investigating the abductions (his last prior credit goes back a ways). Michael Berryman nicely suits the weirdness of the Plutonium Killer, while Linnea Quigley is so good as TV reporter Randi Rydell, the original actress, Adrienne Meltzer (one of the few identified cast-members) thought her audio had survived.

Indeed, Meltzer proves to be a good sport in the interview segments she recorded for Michael Gingold’s Re-Enter the New York Ninja, the behind-the-scenes re-making-of featurette that screened with Ninja at Beyond Fest and will be incorporated in the film’s eventual physical release. Gingold’s experts provide a lot of useful background and context on Liu’s career. At the time, he really was a Kung Fu connoisseur’s favorite, so Ninja might have found a small but appreciative audience had it been released at the time. Instead, Liu went completely off the grid and his film was entirely forgotten, until now. It is a shame, because it obviously had a deranged spirit that plays well around midnight.

It might have been a crazy low-budget operation, but a lot of effort still went into New York Ninja, so it is nice to see it finally get some attention. Despite its limitations, NY Ninja is far superior to Miami Connection and Liu himself is probably due for a resurgence of genre fan interest. At the very least, the film scratches your 1980s action nostalgia itch. Recommended for what it is (and what it might have been), New York Ninja has risen from movie purgatory, following its world premiere last night at Beyond Fest.

Mark Dacascos’s Showdown in Manila

Maybe Trump shouldn’t have asked for so many encores from Duterte, the Mindinaoan Fog. Ordinarily, you would think when an American FBI agent is gunned down on the beach of the Philippines’ most exclusive tourist hotels, the cops would be slightly keyed up to catch the killers. Unfortunately, his widow will have to retain the services of an unlikely private investigator, Russian Nick Peyton, a former Manila copper and his American sex addict partner, Charlie Benz, in Mark Dacascos’s Showdown in Manila (trailer here), which opens tomorrow in Los Angeles.

How did a Russian stiff like Peyton get on the Manila force in the first place? Apparently, it was his fast-and-loose approach to due process and that kind of stuff. These days, he mainly works divorce cases and his partner Benz causes them. Mark Wells’ new widow is a bit frustrated with the local cops. Everyone knows he was gunned down by the notorious drug lord Aldric Cole and his men. She can even whip up a portrait of him, since she is a former police sketch artist.

The problem isn’t identifying Cole, it’s finding him. Fortunately, Peyton will be able to track him down by laying a beating on several of his known associates. While they are at it, Peyton and Cole will also rescue Kiki, a lapsed recovering teen addict they both seem to take a creepy fatherly interest in.

Thank Heavens, Cynthia Rothrock, Don “The Dragon” Lee, and Olivier Gruner all show up to save the film’s bacon when it is time to launch an assault on Cole’s jungle hideout-meth lab. They are also old colleagues from the Manila SWAT team, or whatever. In any case, when they are shooting the living the snot out of Cole’s men, Showdown is pure 1980s gold.

Unfortunately, it takes about an hour to get to that point. Still, Alexander Nevsky (the actor, not the Thirteenth Century Russian Prince) and Casper Van Dien are tolerably chummy as Peyton and Benz. Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa and Matthias Hues chew plenty of scenery as Cole and his chief henchman, Dorn. Philippine teen idol Hazel Faith Dela Cruz has some screen presence, but as Kiki, she looks totally out of place in this ostensibly gritty story. Of course, Rothrock, Lee, and Gruner do their thing as Haines, Dillon, and Ford, basically the cavalry. However, Dacascos kills himself off too early as Wells, because he definitely still has the moves. As a bonus, that really is Tia Carrere as Mrs. Wells.

Dacascos helms the big action scenes with the sort of lucid professionalism fans prefer. We’ll take the clarity of Isaac Florentine over the shaky-cam of Paul Greenglass every time. Everybody seems to enjoy the big smack down with Rothrock and company, like a sort of mini-b-movie Expendables featurette, for good reason. Indeed, a little less talking, a little less Nevsky, a little more action, and a little more Dacascos and this film would have really been getting somewhere. Worth catching on VOD as a nostalgia trip, Showdown in Manila opens tomorrow (1/19) in LA, at the Laemmle Music Hall.

Old School Kung Fu ’17: Yes, Madam

It was the start of something big, in many ways. It was Michelle Yeoh’s first film as a lead and Cynthia Rothrock’s very first acting gig. It was only the second feature directed by Corey Yuen and launched the loosely connected In the Line of Duty franchise. Some even credit it as the first of the so-called “girls with guns” action movie subgenre, but the basic elements in question seem like perennial fan favorites that have always been with us. Regardless, there is a special place in many fans’ hearts for Yuen’s Yes, Madam, which screens during this year’s Old School Kung Fu Fest at the Metrograph.

When Senior Inspector Ng is your superior officer, you darn well better say “Yes, Madam.” To resolve any doubts, we will watch her handily handle a gang of armored car in the prologue. Unfortunately, Richard Nornen, a friend and colleague from Scotland Yard is murdered to recover a piece of microfilm (remember that Macguffin?) that could incriminate Hong Kong’s biggest Triad boss. Inadvertently, two of the city’s dimmest criminals take possession of it when they swipe the dead man’s passport for their forger crony, embroiling themselves in a world of trouble.

Inspector Carrie Morris arrives from England just in time to land a few blows on the unfortunate punk trying to leave HK using Nornen’s doctored passport. She is the rule-breaking Oscar Madison to Ng’s straight-laced Felix Unger, but they both have mad martial arts chops.

Yes, Madam is just awesomely eighties. Yeoh (than billed as Michelle Khan) looks totally fab in Miami Vice whites and pastels, while Rothrock rocks the Michael Jackson jacket. Technically, it harkens back to 1978, but the cues “borrowed” from Carpenter’s Halloween also reinforce the 80s nostalgia.

Frankly, the screenplay is nothing special, but the morally ambiguous ending still packs a kick. Regardless, the climatic fight sequence entirely justifies the price of admission on its own. Set in the villain’s luxury condo (which is decked out with an unusual amount of glass furnishings and partitions), it features Yeoh’s athleticism and Rothrock’s chops to dazzling, star-making effect.

As added bonuses for the faithful, there is a head-scratching cameo from producer Sammo Hung and a weirdly poignant turn from future action-auteur Tsui Hark as Panadol, the profoundly unlucky forger. Yeoh would come back for the sequel, before turning the franchise over to Cynthia Khan, whose name was deliberately chosen to echo the two Yes, Madam co-stars. Yes, the film certainly has women with guns, but it takes flight when they use their fists and feet. Affectionately recommended for Yeoh and Rothrock fans, Yes, Madam screens this Sunday evening (8/20), concluding the 2017 edition of Old School Kung Fu at the Metrograph.

Death Fighter: Don “The Dragon” Wilson, Joe Lewis, and Cynthia Rothrock in Thailand

It is a prosaic title, but it does not misrepresent the film. So, it’s about death and fighting? Yes, indeed. A rogue FBI agent is out to avenge his mentor and take down a human trafficking warlord, with the help of a grizzled mercenary. As martial arts plots go, it is certainly serviceable, but the real attraction is watching a number of legendary veterans mix it up with young talent in Toby Russell’s Death Fighter (trailer here) releases today on DVD.

Michael Turner’s partner Conrad has been tracking the evil Draco so long, he willingly joins him in an off-the-books operation in Thailand. Conrad’s intel was valid, but “Valerie,” Draco’s chief enforcer-bodyguard was a little too lethal. All the corrupt cops want Turner out of the country, but the only half-way honest one puts him in touch with Bobby Pau, a half-American-half-Thai mercenary who also holds a grudge against Draco (was there ever a character named “Draco” who wasn’t a villain?).

To find Draco, they will have to head into the jungle, which holds a lot of dangers for a city slicker like Turner. However, that is also where they will find Yui, the director of a rural medical clinical, who also happens to have mad martial arts skills. Together with Pau’s quiet right-hand man Otto, they are a force of four, which should be more than sufficient to deal with Draco, Valerie, Peter (the senior henchperson in Draco’s doghouse), and a hundred or so Burmese mercs.

Death Fighter is like old school Cannon films all the way, but it has an apostolic connection to Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris in the late, great Joe Lewis (star of Kill ‘Em All and The Jaguar Lives!), whom the former praised and the latter went 3-and-1 against in official tournament matches. Sadly, as the hard-charging Conrad, Lewis makes a quick exit, but his presence is definitely felt.

But wait there’s more, including Don “The Dragon” Wilson as Pau, the butt-kicking lead, (rather than the cameos or Miyagi-like roles he turned up in recently). He can still throw down, as can Cynthia Rothrock (playing Valerie), whom he frequently faces off against. Stuntman and emerging action star Matt Mullins can’t match the charisma of his seniors yet, but his chops are impressive. The same is true of Thai TV star Chiranan Manochaem, who definitely impresses as Yui. However, it is almost shocking Death Fighter is the only imdb credit for Prasit Suanphaka, because he shows off some spectacular moves as trusty Otto.

Russell (son of provocative director Ken Russell) frames the action well, allowing fans to really appreciate the fight choreography and stunt work. His approach is pretty straightforward—fight, regroup, fight some more, regroup again, and then have it out for good—but that works for us. For martial arts fans, it is straight-over-the-plate good stuff. Highly recommended for patrons of action cinema, Death Fighter is now available on DVD.

Fists of Fury: Kung Fu Clips of Death

In the 1970s and early 1980s, the Kung Fu movies were almost as deadly as the fashions. You will indeed see feathered hair, particularly during a clip for our hostess with the mostess, marital arts legend Cynthia Rothrock. However, her timing and delivery are clearly better suited to action than comedy. Still, there is nostalgia to be found in Charles Band’s Kung Fu clip compilation film Fists of Fury (trailer here) which is now available on DVD from Full Moon Features.

You can’t even call Fists the That’s Entertainment of Kung Fu, because it doesn’t cherry-pick iconic scenes. It merely stitches together vintage coming attractions, sort of in the tradition of Drafthouse’s Trailer War, but some of these films are no particularly obscure. For one thing, there is a lot of love for Angela Mao Ying, but that is understandable, because we have a lot of love for her too. It also makes us think Nora Miao is way overdue for a retrospective of her own.

Not to sound grouchy, but Full Moon really could have at least digitally removed the grainy European subtitles half-visible in some trailers. Yet, the awesomeness still shines through for a number of these films. Frankly, it is nice to see Kao Pao-shu get her due as a pioneering woman director in the trailer for Bandits, Prostitutes, and Silver, starring Mao. It is also cool to see Pan Pan Yeung get the A Star is Born treatment in the trailer for The Story of Drunken Master, which appears to be the only collected teaser that featured original footage.

Fists will definitely make you want to watch many of the films teased by the trailers. For instance, Hammer’s Shatter, co-starring Peter Cushing and Lily Li looks like it would make a dynamite double feature paired with Stoner (not included, but too good not to plug). It is also know before Debbie Allen was directing episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and A Different World, she appeared in more reputable projects, like Ebony, Ivory, and Jade, a martial arts thriller about Olympic athletes sold into white slavery.

However, many of these trailers are probably already available on YouTube, like the one for Wonder Women, in which Nancy Kwan’s Dr. Tsu tells Ross Hagen: “it is possible for me to transplant any body part.” You can insert your own joke when he replies: “any body part?” In fact, you will have to, because there is no MST3K style running commentary and the comedy bits in between are excruciatingly painful. All you’re really getting with Fists is curation and compilation. Still, some of these films are just a blast no matter how chopped and diced up they are. Fists of Fury is not really recommended per se, but once you start watching, it is hard to stop, sort of like the infomercials for 1980s one-hit-wonder compilations on late night television. It is now available on Amazon, so there you have it.