Trivia / Godfrey Ho Ninja Movies

• Amateur Cast: Not a single actor involved in these movies had any prior acting experience aside from Richard Harrison. Pierre Kirby was a Yacht salesman whose appearance and martial arts skills were what Ho was looking for in a new star, while the actors he brought in for dubbing were usually random people who happened to speak English and Mandarin.
• Cast the Expert:
  • Godfrey Ho has said that Pierre Kirby's strong physique and martial arts experience were the reasons he casted him into his movies.
  • The hiring process for dub actors was strictly based on whether or not they could speak English and Mandarin.
• Colbert Bump: The cult status these films obtained can largely be credited to Brad Jones reviewing some of them on The Cinema Snob during the late 2000s.
• Creator's Oddball:
  • Not only were Honor and Glory and Undefeatable among the few mainstream films Ho directed, they also omit his cut and paste methods by being comprised entirely of original footage shot by him.
  • Rather than finish his career with another action or ninja movie, Ho chose to completely abandon these elements by having his final directing credit be the children's animated feature Ali Baba & the Gold Raiders.
• Direct to Video: These films were specifically made for the home video markets in English territories to cash in on the then ninja craze.
• Missing Episode: Because of the sheer volume of Ho's filmography and their easiness to find online, the original cuts to the movies he used are incredibly hard to come by. In some cases the actual name of the film itself is a complete mystery.
• No Budget: Ho could produce three movies for the price of one by filming his ninja scenes back to back and padding them with stock footage from other movies he got for cheap. Often he'd take it a step further by bootlegging his stock materials to avoid payments and use store bought props and costumes for his original footage.^note This explains why you'd here music from ZZ Top and Pink Floyd in some of his movies, or why toy robots and a garfield phone are used in Golden Ninja Warrior.
  • This was also a factor in his casting decisions for each movie. While he would occasionally hire professional actors like Richard Harrison to star in his films, Ho would usually cut corners by casting anyone from off the street who happened to be bilingual in Mandarin and English.
• Real-Life Relative: Harry/Gordon's wife in Ninja Terminator and Diamond Ninja Force was played by Richard Harrison's real-life wife Maria Francesca.
• Reclusive Artist:
  • Ho's longtime producer Joseph Lai has been quiet in the industry since IFD Films' demise in 2001. He has no social media presence and the most anyone's heard from him was an interview he did with Forces of Geek in 2013.
  • Pierre Kirby only did nine movies with Ho before disappearing in 1988. Since no one knew what became of him, rumors sprouted that he was thrown overboard by pirates in 1990 while sailing to the Philippines. This was sadly confirmed 20 years later by Pierre's sister after discovering his filmography and cult following online.