The Challenge of the Lady Ninja (1983)

Redundant and unnecessary.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Fantastic!

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

I have to say that I was expecting the worst when CHALLENGE OF THE LADY NINJA began and the Filmark production company name popped up; they were known for ultra-cheap and trashy fare. Still, this Taiwanese ninja flick it better plotted than you might expect, and quite old-fashioned in terms of storyline. It still has all of the cheesy ninja stuff that you expect from a Godfrey Ho movie, but there's actual concrete narrative to back it up too. A female ninja trains up to take down the man who killed her father, but there's a twist in store. The cast is undistinguished but there's plenty of action and a nice little supporting role for Shaw Brothers legend Chen Kuan Tai.

The ninja stuff (magic tricks & abundant wirework) is mostly cheesy and ridiculous, but there are some enjoyable parts to this movie: the training sequences (these ladies ARE flexible), one's woman specialty which seems to be seductive stripping & dances performed by a mirage of her (you can definitely see why no man can resist her), some of the fight scenes when they stay on the ground, and a couple of outrageous plot twists near the end (which pretty much cancel the entire film!). The arguably most impressive fighter is a henchwoman who is identified as a Tae Kwon Do expert; she has a fight against the Lady Ninja of the title that soon turns into a water-y wrestling match. And although I have nothing against water-y female wrestling matches, I do have to wonder if it was done this way simply because our lead could not keep up with the TKD expert in a straight fight. ** out of 4.

I am lucky enough to have a friend who has this movie, and I have got to say that anyone who loves B-movies MUST find this somehow. Just look at this list!Bad English dubbingInconsistent and unexplained plot elementsRacial prejudice against Japanese (this was made in Hong Kong, after all)The kicker: The Empire's theme from Star Wars is the introduction musicIt begins immediately. No credits or anything, you pop in the tape and the movie starts immediately. Stuff happens, most of which has been mentioned by the other reviewer. I won't bother to explain all of it. Suffice it to say, FIND THIS MOVIE NOW!

Challenge of the Lady Ninja is a good example of a film that is so bad it is entertaining.In the Dubbed English version it deals with a Chinese woman who has taken the controversial step of training to use the Japanese skill of of Ninjitsu. We are treated to one wire-fu scene of this taking place, to be sure she is the best of the best, and has earned more then a few enemies among the other trainees.She returns to Hong Kong to find that her brother has become a Japanese collaborator. That is when we find that despite the modern clothing, and large late 70's sedans this film is set in World War II. To stop her brother she pulls together a team of female warriors each with her own unique style. The most amazing of which is a prostitute who by spinning about is able to cast an illusion of herself in a bikini that overcomes any male with lust.The team then goes up against an opposite team of bizarrely dressed Japanese villains. They are almost defeated a number of times but are saved by the timely intervention of a mysteries masked hero.An amazing bit of over the top bad film making, I recommend it highly.