I’ll watch any Hong Kong movie so I don’t really need a hook. But Tony Ching’s directorial debut is a good one and a ninja movie from Hong Kong is an even sharper one. Ninjas were everywhere in the early ‘80s so they became a bit generic in Hollywood. But to China, they were historically the oppressors.
Plus you combine ninjas with Hong Kong choreography and it just flows. Dynamite suicide bombers precede WWII kamikazes. Practical and animated effects are used to bring ninja tricks to life. And we take some of these wirework tricks for granted now but these were early innovations in wire assisted balancing on water and bouncing off airborne objects.
New and archival interviews cover three of the actors and a co-writer. In his commentary, Frank Djeng gives cultural context beyond production facts for the stuff westerners might not appreciate.
An archival documentary on wirework really gives it an in depth focus after all these movies we’ve enjoyed the technique. It uses clips from Bruce Lee and Yuen Woo-Ping films to illustrate, plus shows a wire team in action.
Two essays on the unsung Tony Ching and the subgenre of ninja films accompany the physical booklet. It’s also very small print but at my age I need reading glasses for my phone too so they helped me read them.