Ninja: The Final Duel (1986)

Ninja: The Final Duel

This movie has it all!  It has ninjas, Shaolin monks, Hare Krishnas, a "famous black monk from Harlem," a water spider assault team, naked kung fu fighting, and even the theme song from Ghostbusters!  How could you not want to watch this?  If I had seen this when I was a kid I think my head would have exploded from too much awesomeness.

This is your typical Chinese vs. Japanese kung fu movie, but not all of the Japanese guys are the baddies which is nice to see. 

There was a ninja assault on the monastery at Shaolin which was thwarted by the skill of the monks who train there.  In defeat, the leader of the ninjas committed harakiri which pissed of the ninja clan back in Japan and they swore to avenge his death by annihilating the Shaolin monastery even though the first assault failed.

But there is also a Japanese version of the Shaolin monastery that trains ninjas, and two of the students are dispatched to China to learn the ways of the Chinese Shaolin monks and Chinese Buddhism and bring these secrets back to Japan.  These are the Japanese good guys.

The abbot of Shaolin decides that the monastery has a militant reputation because of all the kung fu tournaments that the monks have been entering so he closes Shaolin to outsiders in order to focus entirely on the study of Buddhism.  Two American Hare Krishna warrior monks arrive at the same time as the two good Japanese ninjas, but since they are not allowed to enter the monastery to train, they fight with each other.  Also, a black monk from Harlem is passing through the area and, after fighting with the good ninja guys because of a misunderstanding, he joins forces with the Hare Krishnas, the good Japanese guys and the monks of Shaolin to battle the bad Japanese ninja guys.  The end.

If you're looking for a serious martial arts film, this isn't it.  However, Ninja: The Final Duel is a bizarre and campy yet entertaining kung fu movie.  Watch it for the lady who fights in the buff or the crazy ninja assault teams or the racist dialogue.  Just don't watch it with high expectations.  Perhaps a drink or two would help, as well.

Violence Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Booby Rating: 2 out of 5

Here's the scene where one of the good ninjas tries to send the Harlem monk to the "ghetto in the sky."

 

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