The Octagon (1980)

Directed by Eric Karson.

Ninjas, terrorists, assassins, and mercenaries. Where do I start? How about with Scott James (Chuck Norris) - a retired World Karate Champion who's approached by an heiress (Karen Carlson) regarding a potential job as her bodyguard, but is subsequently lured into a dangerous situation involving terrorists who are being trained at a Ninja training camp called The Octagon by his estranged Japanese half-brother, Seikura (Tadashi Yamashita). Iconic tough-guy actor Lee Van Cleef plays McCarn - a militant rightist who leads a group of American mercenaries in a battle against terrorism, so you can bet he comes into play somehow when the shit goes down.

Once Scott realizes that there are Ninjas running around (the Ninja were thought to have been a long-forgotten thing of the past, mind you), he spends a good chunk of the movie trying to find them with hopes that he can infiltrate their training camp, but seeing as they're Ninjas after all (ie. stealth and hard to find), his search becomes complicated. That is, until he meets and teams up with a woman named Aura (Carol Bagdasarian), who actually trained at The Octagon and later deflected from the group of terrorists. Aura's an interesting character in that there weren't a lot of women being portrayed as tough, female-Rambo type characters in mainstream American cinema at the time. Considering THE OCTAGON was written by a woman, it's safe to assume that this strong female character was no accident.


Not to jump the gun or anything, but I did like THE OCTAGON a lot. However, it's not to say that the film is without flaws and mind-boggling WTF moments. First of all, one thing I never understood about the heiress character, who attempted to hire Chuck Norris as her bodyguard, is why she was a big deal in the first place. She was obviously so important that people apparently wanted her dead, or were at least willing to go out of their way to threaten her, but it turns out that she only inherited a publishing company. According to this woman, she started receiving threats because people wanted her to change certain editorial policies. Huh? I'm sure I must have missed something, but I went back a couple of times to learn more about her and still couldn't find anything. Also, actress Karen Carlson has a few scenery-chewing moments in the film which are quite amusing.


Another strange element to the film, or rather an odd trait of its lead protagonist, is that Chuck Norris's character hears voices. Well, just his own voice, but it almost comes across as this hidden psychic ability that he's tapped into. Throughout the film we hear Scott's thoughts out loud, but we hear them as these really slow whispers with some sort of creepy vocal effect added on, and sometimes his thoughts even warn him of impending danger, which we see during the film's initial Ninja attack (a WTF sequence in and of itself). But perhaps the most unusual thing about film is its structure. The plot tends to jump around on numerous occasions, which is fine and somewhat interesting in terms of how non-linear it is for a presumably accessible Action movie, but what's frustrating is how the characters are established. More often than not, someone will be introduced and you're not quite sure what it is exactly that this person does in the big scheme of things, but then it ultimately (and gradually) makes sense as the story unfolds. Don't get me wrong, I love movies that don't insult their audience's intelligence and feel the need to explain everything, but in this movie's case, it was kinda confusing at times.

As far as the eponymous Octagon, there are certain things about it that are a bit silly, but for the most part it's also quite fascinating in terms of how it looks and how it ultimately comes into play during the film's third act. And what I mean by "silly" is that the terrorists who show up there to train are the most un-Ninja group of people I've ever seen, for lack of a better term. Most of Seikura's trainees look like a bunch of hicks and ex-cons, and it becomes quite obvious not long after they're introduced that most of them don't know how to fight. Overseeing the training with Seikura and is this film's Boba Fett: a crimson-hooded Ninja named Kyo (shown on the film's poster). Played by Aussie actor/stuntman Richard Norton, Kyo is a silent character who occasionally steps out of the shadows to discipline some of the more lackluster trainees at The Octagon. In one scene, he disarms a froggy student and turns his own weapon against him in the blink of an eye. According to director Eric Karson, he slowed the footage of this scene down during production, watched it frame by frame, and was still unable to figure out how Norton did this maneuver so quickly.


Make or Break Scene: Easily the fight scene involving Richard Norton (as Kyo) and Chuck Norris towards the end of the film. Honestly, it looks a bit too choreographed at times, but nonetheless it still looks really good. One of the reasons I love this fight scene as much as I do is how long it's drawn out. Kyo is basically a "mini-boss" of sorts and another obstacle that Chuck Norris has to get through before he faces Seikura, but the scene is treated as if Norton's character were the main villain in the film. What sealed the deal was the impressive fire stunt at the end of the scene.

MVT: Chuck Norris. It's gotta be Chuck. He roundhouse-kicks Ninjas into oblivion in the film, and he also played an important role behind the scenes with the fight choreography and stunts along with his brother Aaron (who also stars a small part in the film).

Score: 6.5/10

THE OCTAGON leaves much to be desired when it comes to pacing, and, as I said earlier, it can be confusing at times and a little hard to follow, but the Ninja aspect of the film makes it unique in terms of Chuck Norris's filmography at the time, and it also provides for a great aesthetic (seriously, how could you not love Ninjas?). Ominous hooded figures running around at night and leaping out of the shadows is much more interesting than seeing a bunch of plain-clothed henchmen hopping out of pick-up trucks. If you happen to check out the Trinity Home Entertainment DVD, there's a surprisingly in-depth talking-head featurette on the making of the film, which I highly recommend checking out (after you've seen the film).

Ninja (2009)

Directed by Isaac Florentine.

The sensei of a Japanese dojo is on the verge of picking a replacement to take over training, and the frontrunners are his two top students: Masazuka (Tsuyoshi Ihara) and Casey (Scott Adkins) - the latter being a token white guy who sticks out like a sore thumb amongst a bunch of Japanese folks. Without going into too much detail, Masazuka turns bad and eventually assumes the role of a rogue ninja who works as an assassin for a criminal organization. Masazuka later makes his presence known to the sensei, vowing to get revenge for his banishment from the school. The story moves to New York City, which is where Casey and a few other students are instructed by the sensei to transport a chest of sacred weapons for safe-keeping. Masazuka hunts Casey down, the hooded footsoldiers of the criminal organization get involved, and it's not long before the film explodes with action set-pieces, ninja shenanigans, and insane fight sequences that spill into subways, back alleys, and even a police station.

I'm not too familiar with Scott Adkins, but I understand he's becoming somewhat of a star in the straight-to-DVD action market. I saw him in a horror movie called STAG NIGHT a while back but didn't think much of him because of his limited screen time. Now after seeing NINJA, I still don't think much of him... not as an actor anyway. Adkins could probably give Jason Statham a run for his money if he had charisma, but at least he's got everything else down: dude can fight (or at least pretend to fight) and he's built like a brick shit-house.


One thing of note is the criminal organization I mentioned earlier. When you first see them, they look like a Satanic cult in the midst of an initiation ceremony, which is being conducted by the group's leader. Everyone in the room is wearing robes and hoods, and there are symbols of unknown meaning on the walls. In a perfect world there would have been a supernatural twist to the proceedings, but it wasn't the case. Still though, it at least provides an interesting aesthetic when we do see these guys pop in the film. The group's leader seems to be some sort of small-scale wannabe Illuminati figure, and the uniform look of his henchmen provide a subtle but cool gang aesthetic that wouldn't feel too out of place in a modern-day version of THE WARRIORS.


I was initially a little disappointed by the somewhat low-budget look of the film and especially the cheesy logo that pops up during the opening credits (and again when the movie's over), but NINJA ultimately proves to be a surprisingly stylish affair with interesting camera work. Whoever shot the fight scenes (which are all extremely well-choreographed and performed) and later edited them really did a great job of capturing and pacing the action, respectively. A female character assumes the damsel in distress role at a certain point, with, of course, Scott Adkins playing the knight in shining armor and following a familiar path when it comes to action/adventure cinema, but even that aspect of the film is well done. It should be noted that the damsel in distress character holds her own for the most part, even participating in one of the film's better fight sequences (see: Make or Break Scene) and creatively using a crutch as a weapon.


It's been said plenty of times before, but every good hero needs a villain. While Masazuka isn't the most despicable or memorable antagonist I've ever seen, he's still a great contrast to Casey's character. Masazuka is sort of like the wrestling heel who gets "cheap heat"; he may not necessarily seem like a bad guy, but some of his actions automatically make him a villain by default. In Japanese culture, however, some of his actions would undoubtedly make him an undesirable person because of the amount of disrespect he shows and how he spits in the face of honor and tradition, whereas in American culture he could easily be seen as an anti-hero. However you wanna look at Masazuka, one thing can not be denied: he's a bad-ass. Like an ideal ninja, he's stealth and kills without much effort.


Make or Break Scene: The train sequence. It's the first full-blown, over the top fight sequence in the film. There are a few moments of bad-assery leading up to it, but we only get them in bits and pieces, whereas it felt like the train sequence really kicked everything into gear and set the momentum for the rest of the film.

MVT: The fight choreographer, Akihiro Noguchi.

Score: 6.75/10


True story: As soon as this movie was over, I added a ludicrous amount of ninja movies to my Netflix queue. I had enough fun watching NINJA that I developed a sudden interest in ninja films that will most likely be short-lived due to my lackluster attention span. The key word with this film is "fun". If you lower your standards and avoid going into this with a critical mindset, I can't see any reason why you wouldn't at least be impressed with the great stunts and the relentless pacing of the fight sequences.