A martial arts school challenges their rivals to a contest, but the rival school has an ace up their sleeve: a samurai. However, when the samurai loses the fight, he warns the winners that his Ninja friend will come to avenge his death. The school decides to face a challenge sent by the ninja in form of the five classic Chinese elements.
Hence the film title: Five Elements Ninjas.
This 1982 kung-fu Shaw Brothers flick is notable for using the art and tools of the ninja, taking inspiration from Japanese writers on the subject of Ninjutsu.
Starring Michael Chan as Mudou, the Big Bad of the picture.
This flim contains examples of:
- All Girls Want Bad Boys: Senji had Tian Hao spared because she found his childish attitude towards her attractive.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Five Element Formation is beaten and the leader of the ninja is dead, but Tian Hao sacrificed his life to stop him.
- Bloodless Carnage: Nope.
- Elemental Powers: The ninja come in five flavors: Earth, Fire, Water, Wood, and Gold.
- Femme Fatale: Senji
- Good Colors, Evil Colors: The Martial Alliance is in white, while the ninja are all in black.
- Gorn: This film is very bloody.
- Half the Man He Used to Be: The ninja leader gets ripped in half by the heroes.
- High-Pressure Blood: Used a few times in the film.
- Highly-Visible Ninja: The Five Element Ninja, but the gold ninja take the cake with their shiny clothing that in combination with their golden shields is meant to blind opponents.
- Honor Before Reason: The axe-wielding student who loses against the samurai instantly slits his own throat after the samurai tells him in Japan it's customary to kill yourself after losing a fight despite being in China.
- Love Makes You Dumb: Senji's crush on Tian Hao causes her to let him escape from the ninja after they kill his comrades. It also gets her killed.
- The Mole: Senji disguises herself as a girl named Ah Chun to get into the guarded HQ of the Martial Arts Alliance.
- Ninja: Goes without saying.
- Old Master: An old man Tian Hao met earlier teaches him and his allies the way of the ninja.
- Revenge: Xiao Tian Hao decides to get revenge on the ninja that killed his school.
- Rival Dojos: The Martial Alliance faces off with their rivals at the beginning.
- Stock Ninja Weaponry: Used a lot in the film.
- Seppuku: The samurai does this after he loses.
