User Reviews

Ninja Killer is apparently a Hong Kong produced action movie about '70s gangsters who import fake antiquities. Got nothing whatsoever to do with ninjas, that's for sure. The movie is dubbed in English (and not too badly, actually), but the main character, a cop, is some white dude - can't find his name. Anyway, this movie is incredibly boring and bad. It features enormously long sequences of people walking, running and frolicking at the beach - scenes with no story-advancing function.

The story itself, and the characters, are equally meaningless. Bolo Yeung has some nice moves, but he's apparently just some sissy who keeps getting his ass kicked - enough to make one go "huh?" Bolo is supposed to be cooler than that.

I was puzzled as to why the main character starts an affair with the Chinese girl since he's happily married (hm, on second thought, maybe that was just his sister that he was living with) - but I guess it was so that he'd still have a woman after his wife got killed. Hong Kong script logic? I dunno.

The fights in general were pretty bad, but I have to admit the long one on the roof at the end wasn't too bad. Still, not much of anything to get excited about here, believe me.

Oh, one thing, though: the soundtrack! Very sprightly, filled with loud '70s pop-versions of classical favorites, incl. Bolero, Albinoni's Adagio, etc. That was actually quite fun. Couldn't save the movie from being a complete yawn-fest, though.

My rating: 2 out of 10.

This film's title literally translates as KARATE ON THE BOSPHORUS although it's been re-titled NINJA KILLER for VHS release. This is purely because of the scene early on in which three guys in balaclavas attack - there's nothing else to do with ninjas in it. The film itself is a Hong Kong/Turkish production, made at a time that Hong Kong producers were keen to team up with other countries to help spread the popularity of kung fu around the world, hence the Shaw Brothers/Hammer Horror feature LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES.

KARATE ON THE BOSPHORUS is something of a culture clash and, like the later Godfrey Ho ninja films, it feels like two separate stories rather than one combined whole. There's a separate storyline filmed in Hong Kong which makes up about a third of the running time while the main action is set in Turkey. The Turkish scenes feature a couple of Chinese actors in support but is otherwise a straight-up action vehicle for Turkish leading man Cuneyt Arkin.

Fans of Hong Kong cinema will be delighted by the pairing of Bolo Yeung and Chiang Tao for the Chinese moments. They both play villains who variously fight and team up, and the action is brief but effective. It's a pity that these guys didn't go off to Turkey themselves but then you can't have everything. The Arkin stuff is more of a typical police procedural but it does have near-constant movement and action to recommend it. The Turkish buildings and locations used as a background for the tale are utilised very effectively making this a visual treat. The quality of the fights isn't the greatest but at least there are plenty of them. The soundtrack is also very interesting, updating classical favourites with a 1970s-era groove. It's not a great film, but fans of global action cinema will be interested to see it nonetheless.

In a movie titled Ninja Killer, you may be surprised to find that this film contains no ninja's per say. When I think ninja, I think guys dressed in all black with their faces covered apart from a gap for their eyes. The closest this movie has is when three blokes in balaclava's burst into some guys house and start attacking him and his mates. The bloke looks like he's made of plastic, and smokes a nice big cigar. However, as impressive as may sound described like this, nothing can prepare you for his fighting style. He looks away from his opponents, and fights them sideways, like his peripheral vision is better than his normal vision.

He ends up losing to the guys in balaclavas, and helps some people out smuggling something, I think. I don't really recall many people getting killed, let alone ninja's getting killed. none of the guys in balaclavas die, and they, as I already mentioned, are the ones most resembling ninjas.

This movie is pretty dirt, as you can probably tell because I've not even gone into detail on any other part of the story, but it really is worth buying just for the one fight scene when he's fighting people out of the corner of his eye. genius. I think it's a Godfrey Ho movie (perhaps as one of his alias') so it's well worth a watch. Kudos Mr Ho