In which Shaw Brothers enters the Ninja dome and delivers one hell of a knockout punch when it comes to over-the-to-top clenched-teeth martial arts mayhem!
Directed by Chang Cheh and featuring solid performances from Cheng Tien-Chi and Lo Meng, Five Element Ninjas (also known as Chinese Super Ninjas) is what happens when Chief Hong (Chan Shen) challenges his rival, Yuan Zeng, for the title of martial arts master. When the students are wiped clean , a samurai is called in but even he is no match for the whiz-kid acrobatics of the rival school and kills himself.
And then the ninjas issue a challenge to Chief Hong’s school: kill us all or be wiped off the earth.
But the school, angered over what has happened to their master has no idea what they are up against as the ninja clans - masking themselves with different elements who attack from fire, sun, wood, water, and the ground - attack without warning and slaughter a whole lot of the students while a fishnet stockinged Chen Pei Hsi who plays Shenji tries to seduce Chief Hong’s best students for even more information on the school.
Can the surviving members of the school win the war against the ninjas?!
With the action at an all-time high and the use of weaponry completely off the charts, this martial arts extravaganza is definitely not to be missed. There's a whole lot of blood and some seriously great fighting choreography as the battles flawlessly seem to never stop. We even have some solid acting from the top cast as there’s betrayal and seduction . . . and a whole lot of ninjas in some excellent costumes.
The surprise attacks are deadly and so much fun to watch, too. From the water; the fire; the sun; from wood; from earth, they spring constant surprises upon the martial arts students. Stabbing upwards from the ground and wounding all sorts of inner thighs or disguising themselves so that they can blend in with the trees, these ninjas are deadly as hell.
And Chang Cheh delivers another undisputed masterpiece of martial arts mayhem!
Five Element Ninjas is now on blu-ray thanks to Shout Factory’s Shaw Brothers Collection, Vol 4 which includes another 12 classic martial arts films that highlight this explosive box set comprised from the famous Shaw Brothers' library and featuring some of their greatest stars including The Five Deadly Venom’s stars Phillip Kwok, Sun Chien, Lu Feng, Chiang Sheng, and Lo Meng and A Better Tomorrow's Derek Yee and Ti Lung. Many of these visually spectacular films are debuting for the first time on Blu-ray. Heroes meet villains in edge-of-your-seat duels in this exciting array of some of Shaw Brothers' best!
Time to trip over your own intestines!
Home Video Distributor: Shout Factory
Available on Blu-ray - December 19, 2023
Screen Formats: 2.35:1
Subtitles: English
Audio: Mandarin: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono; English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono
Video: MPEG-4 AVC
Discs: Blu-ray Disc; 12-discset
Region Encoding: Locked to Region A
To showcase his incredibly agile new star, Cheng Tien-chi, venerated martial arts movie director Chang Cheh made this spectacular, internationally popular favorite. Evil ninjas (who attack with and from fire, sun, wood, water, and the ground) brutally slaughter a noble Chinese kung fu school's students. The one survivor finds a teacher and four students who are ninjutsu experts. The five graduates take revenge. With this strong structure and exceptional kung fu choreography (from the star and co-star Chu Ko), Chang Cheh created one of his very best films.
Video
Five Element Ninjas arrives on Blu-ray from Shout Factory sporting an HD remaster sourced from the original 35mm camera negatives and looks wonderful. Interiors are strong. Colors pop throughout, but it is the blood effects - burning bright in the transfer - which seal the deal on this one. It’s full of great atmosphere thanks to the quick-footed script and looks visually eye-popping due to the 1080- upgrade. Black levels are strong throughout, bringing out nice details in both the loud and quiet moments of this epic adventure. The tracking shots are glorious to behold in 1080p. Blacks are solid and shadows maintain their lines. Even the costumes are noted stitch by stitch.
Audio
Fans get a Mandarin Mono DTS-HD track with new subtitle translations and an English Dubbed DTS-HD track with SDH subtitles.
Supplements:
Commentary:
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See below for the breakdown of this release.
Special Features:
Loaded with plenty of satisfying supplemental items, this release slaps with a lot of martial arts madness!
- NEW Audio Commentary With James Mudge, Veteran Hong Kong Film Critic At easternKicks
- NEW Audio Commentary With Film Historian Brian Bankston
- NEW “In His Element” – An Interview With Veteran Actor Chu Ke
- NEW “Enter The Ninjas” – An Interview With David West, Critic And Author Of Chasing Dragons: An Introduction To The Martial Arts
- Original Theatrical Trailer
- Celestial Trailer
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Composite Blu-ray Grade
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MPAA Rating: R
Runtime: 107 mins
Director: Cheh Chang
Writer: Cheh Chang; Kuang Ni
Cast: Tien-Chi Cheng; Tien-Hsiang Lung; Meng Lo
Genre: Action | Drama
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote:
Distributor: Shaw Brothers
Official Site:
Release Date: April 21, 1982 (Hong Kong)
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: December 19, 2023
Synopsis: A Chinese martial arts school is infiltrated and destroyed by ninjas. Tian Hao survives the massacre and seeks to uncover the trickery of ninjutsu in order to beat the Five Element Ninjas and avenge his family.
