Space Ninja: Sword of the Space Ark (1981)
Sci-fi meets martial arts in this lively chronicle of a warrior pilot who returns to his native planet to find it controlled by a wicked tyrant Captain Kogar. He also finds his family has been slaughtered and so now it is up to him and his pals to kick the heck out of Kogar and return the planet to its rightful rulers. This film was assembled from episodes of the Japanese TV series, Message from Space: Galactic Warriors (which in itself was a spinoff from the feature Message from Space).
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Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.
There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes
I actually paid money to see this in the theater when it was released in the US. The TV advertisements made the film look like another Star Wars. Problem was they used all the best scenes in the movie for the commercial. I knew we were in trouble when we walked in the theater and there were only two other people. One in the front row and one in the back throwing a Frisbee back and forth to each other. It was certain when the opening credits rolled in Japanese. The film is a blast to watch if you know what you are getting into. We had fun counting the strings you could see on the space ships and people catching space butterflies.
As the VHS box says, it is a laser blast of martial arts, Bruce Lee meets Luke Skywalker. My favorite character is Captain Eager, leader of the Gavanas Rangers. His derision for the protagonists is surpassed only by his penchant for swordplay. And he can hide in the ceiling without being detected which is pretty cool. The fight scenes are extremely well choreographed and the costumes are what I would wear if I was a member of a 25th century imperial army. I never figured out what the sail on the spaceship was for, I didn't think there were air currents in space, but I am not an expert. Altogether, one of the most overlooked movies of the 20th century.*** SPOILER *** I don't like the part where Hiato's dad gets killed, it really upset me for a few days, and still stirs up emotion even after seeing the movie 38 times. Still, on close examination you will notice that the blade wobbling in his back is a standard kitchen knife with a wooden handle, which makes me wonder if the director was trying to use symbolism.Also, at the beginning where the Gavanas take over Hiato's home planet, all the Gavanas had laser rifles while the citizens only had what appeared to be 19th century rifles, which I think will not bear out as accurate centuries from now.
One look at the box cover will convince you of the cheapness of this TV flic. The self-proclaimed "Lazer blast of Martial Arts and Sci-Fi, Bruce Lee meets Luke Skywalker"Don't ever see this dreadful film. Go rent "Plan 9 from Outer Space" or "Robot Monster" instead. Those are more entertaining since they are funny and "Robot Monster" is in 3-D to boot!!!