User Reviews

This grand MA flick was here on in theatres back in 19XX - sorry, don't remember the exact decade. That was a nasty experience, to tell the truth. Was it impressive? You bet! Especially then, while it was the time when ninja warriors ruled our minds. We sucked into our inner world each ninja movie we could see and this one was so special. You don't watch North Korean films about ninjas every day, do you? Ninja movies in general were never stupid to us. We even had heated conversations concerning how to write down "ninja" in Russian ("ninza" or "nindza") and which colour for ninja camouflage was groovier. Some of us even made those "stars" (used by ninjas in combat) and threw them. We also knew how to put a T-shirt on in order to make a real ninja-looking head cover. Glorious times! The plot of the movie goes below.

Korea, the time when the Japanese warriors robbed and killed people on the continent (at least it goes as the background in the movie). A little kid and his mother are being attacked by some local thugs in the forest. A tough situation. Luckily, a very old man appears to defend the poor woman and her child. He is old but he is a Tao master (martial arts). A few movements and all the thugs are left frozen in different positions (the old man has just shown off some "acupuncture" technique). The little boy (his name is Hong Kil Dong) is so amazed that he kneels in front of the old man begging him to teach this fighting style. After some conversation the old man agrees. Then years are passing: the boy grows up practicing the art of combat every day. After all those years he can jump over the trees, kill with a flute, and move like no other human can. Ninjas come to Korea to rob and kill (a usual treat for them). But now the people of Korea have somebody to protect them - Hong Kil Dong, a boy with insane fighting skills. Before fighting the ninjas, the boy has a "serious talk" with the native thugs. After this "talk" they become friends and can now act as one deadly team against the ninjas. The fight begins. The ninjas are running underground and the positive heroes are killing them off by piercing swords into earth - the fountains of red blood are to follow. Finally only the evil ninja leader remains. He is to be slaughtered as well, but he can also jump as high as Hong Kil Dong. This last fight of the movie is beautifully shot: these two rivals are doing their utmost to show what they are capable of. The ninja is defeated after all, but the hero is not left unharmed.

Great movie, great acting, beautiful scenery, fine music, and cool action sequences with blood spraying in all directions - all leaving very warm reminiscences. Maybe, it is a bit childish, if judged by the standards of serious cinema, but it is groovy.

These old movies are not Matrix-like, but they have a peculiar solemn style of their own which does not fade away (in my humble opinion).

Is there anything not to like? Well to me it's always the high jumps. Realistic jumps are all right. But ridiculously high jumps even in fairy tales make me cringe. That's why minus 1 point.

9 out of 10 – it's a national phenomenon, skip it at your own risk. Thanks for attention.