New York Ninja (1984) & re-enter the New York Ninja in 2021!
November 29th, 2021 by Mr. C
I was familiar with John Liu from his work in Secret Rivals & Secret Rivals 2 aka Northern Fists – Southern Kicks which was considered a second rate / second tier produced old school Kung Fu film as opposed to films from high budget movie studios like Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest. That being said John Liu and his opposing counterpart villain in most of his films, the venerable Hwang Jang Lee aka Silver Fox always had great fight scenes together! So when I learned about this lost movie, NEW YORK NINJA which John Liu starred & directed in his only American production, I was like whaat!? And that the movie was based in a 1980s New York City, I was like whaat!? How come we never heard of it? New York Ninja was filmed entirely on 35mm in 1984, but the project was aborted during production and over time, all the original sound that accompanied the film was lost.
35 years later in 2019, enters Vinegar Syndrome and so re-enter New York Ninja! They found & acquired the negative footage of New York Ninja untouched in a film lab and lying dormant for decades. The film was never edited, had no rolling credits, no audio, no soundtrack, no script, and no clues about who the cast members of the film & film crew were. To make an interesting long story short, the Vinegar Syndrome team did some research and eventually found John Liu the original director & actor in the film, at least 2 of the original cast members, & a few of the film crew. John Liu gave his blessings & good luck to Vinegar Syndrome with finishing the film! He wanted no part of his film anymore! Ok, where to start with no audio from the film and therefore no idea of what the story, plot, & inspiration was? Answer: write a script, score it, find voice overs, edit film – easy right!? Thank you Vinegar Syndrome for saving this film! I think you did John Liu some serious justice in digging out & fine tuning this hidden gem and awarding us fans with the prize! You can find more details of the behind the scenes of re-enter the New York Ninja on the release of this film on Blu Ray available now on Vinegar Syndrome’s website and hopefully a release to theaters soon near you as well! Note: As of this second on 11/30/2021, it looks like Vinegar Syndrome stopped the website sales temporarily because of the special Black Friday sales. Website orders will be back online in January I’m told! This movie is worth the wait, trust me!
New York Ninja (1984) couldn’t come at a better time with the current situation we have here in the dirty NYC in 2021! We need a throwback comic book like superhero fighting crime with his martial arts with vigilante spirit in a setting from early 1980s NYC. John Liu displayed some pretty impressive fight scenes & choreography including the scene with the villain performing a drunken sword segment & John Liu himself displaying some old school Jackie Chan like comedic kicking routines! The movie also provides a lot of campy, fun cheesy WTF moments as well as having the flare for the dramatic! John Liu’s character begins his NYC nightmare with his wife getting brutally murdered just for witnessing a kidnapping. Our hero tries to get help from NYPD but soon finds that they are no help so our efforts turn to the masked ninja dressed in white – fighting crime on the streets of NYC encountering all types of bad intentions from muggers, pickpockets, rapists, gang members, & some high class thug known as the plutonium killer! Is that the same guy stealing catalytic converters on our block in 2021? Wait, no – that would be the platinum killer!
New York Ninja no doubt possessed the midnight movie vibes deserving of an old times square screening from those Maniac times!
My favorite parts of the film had our hero vigilante fighting on NYC rooftops, chasing scallywags on those iconic water towers, running around deserted dumbo warehouses, scampering in graffiti ladened subways, and fighting stick up kids in the alleyways of NYC! Did I mention a Ninja on roller skates, too!? How about a Chinese ninja dangling from a helicopter!? The production of the film looked along the lines of Miami Connection but in a more gritty & frightening Charles Bronson Death Wish type of way. Some familiar voice overs in the film by Cynthia Rothrock and Don The Dragon Wilson authenticates those 1980 & 1990s martial art vibes! The soundtrack of the film was scored by Voyag3r. The tunes added edgy period correct 80s synth to the action & suspense! It complimented the movie very well! You can get the soundtrack & other merch by Voyag3r on their website. Listen to the “Battle on the Rooftop” by Voyag3r below!
If you love martial arts or vigilante films and/or are nostalgic for 1980s New York City, you have to watch New York Ninja! Go buy it at Vinegar Syndrome and watch the bonus extras as well! I couldn’t tell you when the last time I remembered having so much fun watching a movie! I heart NY NINJA! Hooray for NY Ninja! Find your white ninja suit and get some popcorn! By the way, the cover art for the Blu Ray release of New York Ninja is done by Kung Fu Bob O’Brien. The artwork is rad and jumps off the cover! Bob is a great artist and veteran of poster art and DVD/Blu Ray martial art movie covers. He’s also a real knowlegeable dude in films and martial art films in particular. You can buy his artwork and T-shirt designs here: https://www.36styles.com/kungfubobsart/
Tags: john liu, martial arts movie, new york city, new york ninja, vinegar syndrome
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