This movie rules so hard. It's an incredible adventure. Twist and turns with super fun fights. More people need to see this. Hold on tight, you're in for a wild ride.
2 Reviews
This movie rules
tylerowenparsons25 January 2022
Great little Classic Super 8 Gem.. The AGFA Blu-ray is stacked with Bonus Material too! Time & Money well spent!
haggyhoulihan14 November 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Had an absolute blast watching William Lee's 1987 cult classic "Treasure of the Ninja". Both the film and the audio commentary which is so informative & funny.
First off it's amazing seeing the amount passion, knowledge & understanding that William has for filmmaking, cinema & martial arts. It's also incredible seeing William as a young black filmmaker making kung fu films since the early 80's in a predominantly white industry. I can't think of any other black filmmaker then or even in the 40 years since who's worked creating in the genre of American made kung fu films. This makes William Lee's work stand out as an auteur, innovator & a true original.
I always have a massive respect & adoration for filmmakers who've shot on actual celluloid film for countless reasons. Something so many of us filmmakers today in the digital age take for granted, with how much more effort & care went into the entire process from filming & post production. It should also be noted that this film was made during his final year at graduate school in film, who at the time was an employee at the WSU radio station & shot on location in those facilities without permission on the weekends.
The film "Treasure of the Ninja" is an absolute gem that any fan of kung fu films & DIY filmmakers will get a lot of entertainment & knowledge from. The fact this was made for under $1500 with a 1 hour 45 minute runtime just shows how efficient William Lee was back then and how effectively he handled his limited resources with most of the budget being spent on the positive reversal film stock.
Love watching anything that's shot on Super 8 & here visually you get all that charm from that format such as the vibrant colors, the film grain, the black lines, the cigarette burns, the scratches etc. The cheesy ADR & funny dialogue makes the film feel like an authentic Asian kung fu film or even a European film with it's use of dubbing. The entire sound design here is so effective & there's so much detail put into the sound effects here and every little nuance and action sequence is amplified by it.
Can clearly see William's influence from Bruce Lee films and the film is so unbelievably ambitious in it's approach despite being made on such a miniscule budget. The storyline despite being the cliche good guys vs bad guys actually has something different going on here. The character Magneta Faze is paired with a 14 year old girl who's a genius & gets stuck into a fair amount of the action & saving the day herself, which was a rare dynamic to see here. Both of these characters are government agents & sent on a mission to take out some deadly ninjas.
There's a lot of cool filmmaking techniques that pay homage to 70's cinema which I absolutely love & are rarely used today such as the long lingering zooms in and out which are used nicely. I always love seeing footage from films shot in 1980's New York such as "Driller Killer", "Maniac" & "Frank Henenlotter" films. There's quite a few scenes showing the urban area reflecting that period of time here. I should also mention one particular song from the soundtrack which I first heard in the trailer will get stuck in your head immediately & it's played several times throughout the film.
The athleticism & fight choreography is extremely hard hitting. William Lee & the performers (ninjas) are doing such agile stunts & there are countless fighting scenes repeated throughout the runtime. Plenty of high flying roundhouse kicks, countless fighting sequences with excellent sound design & sound effects reminiscent of the most popular kung fu flicks. Copious gun shots, sword battles & even a supernatural ninja who has the ability to behead those who he comes into combat with.
I can't get over how well done the fighting choreography is done here. Nobody looks like they're pulling back on the punches or kicks here. The long takes with minimal cuts & edits during these fight scenes just show how gifted William Lee's talents as a martial artist are here along with every other member of the ninja cast. Quite a few scenes here are honestly on par with the biggest budgeted kung fu and action flicks of all the time in how everything is orchestrated. There's some serious knowledge & evident craft put into every fight that's seen here.
This honestly is such a cool unique piece of film history that has been captured here & beautifully preserved with this AGFA Blu-ray release. This Blu-ray is absolutely stacked with extras. Including another feature from William Lee titled "Dragon Vs Ninja", " The New Chinese Connection" & "The Willie Jack Series". Pick up the AGFA Blu-ray & make a night of it! There's hours of entertainment to enjoy here!
First off it's amazing seeing the amount passion, knowledge & understanding that William has for filmmaking, cinema & martial arts. It's also incredible seeing William as a young black filmmaker making kung fu films since the early 80's in a predominantly white industry. I can't think of any other black filmmaker then or even in the 40 years since who's worked creating in the genre of American made kung fu films. This makes William Lee's work stand out as an auteur, innovator & a true original.
I always have a massive respect & adoration for filmmakers who've shot on actual celluloid film for countless reasons. Something so many of us filmmakers today in the digital age take for granted, with how much more effort & care went into the entire process from filming & post production. It should also be noted that this film was made during his final year at graduate school in film, who at the time was an employee at the WSU radio station & shot on location in those facilities without permission on the weekends.
The film "Treasure of the Ninja" is an absolute gem that any fan of kung fu films & DIY filmmakers will get a lot of entertainment & knowledge from. The fact this was made for under $1500 with a 1 hour 45 minute runtime just shows how efficient William Lee was back then and how effectively he handled his limited resources with most of the budget being spent on the positive reversal film stock.
Love watching anything that's shot on Super 8 & here visually you get all that charm from that format such as the vibrant colors, the film grain, the black lines, the cigarette burns, the scratches etc. The cheesy ADR & funny dialogue makes the film feel like an authentic Asian kung fu film or even a European film with it's use of dubbing. The entire sound design here is so effective & there's so much detail put into the sound effects here and every little nuance and action sequence is amplified by it.
Can clearly see William's influence from Bruce Lee films and the film is so unbelievably ambitious in it's approach despite being made on such a miniscule budget. The storyline despite being the cliche good guys vs bad guys actually has something different going on here. The character Magneta Faze is paired with a 14 year old girl who's a genius & gets stuck into a fair amount of the action & saving the day herself, which was a rare dynamic to see here. Both of these characters are government agents & sent on a mission to take out some deadly ninjas.
There's a lot of cool filmmaking techniques that pay homage to 70's cinema which I absolutely love & are rarely used today such as the long lingering zooms in and out which are used nicely. I always love seeing footage from films shot in 1980's New York such as "Driller Killer", "Maniac" & "Frank Henenlotter" films. There's quite a few scenes showing the urban area reflecting that period of time here. I should also mention one particular song from the soundtrack which I first heard in the trailer will get stuck in your head immediately & it's played several times throughout the film.
The athleticism & fight choreography is extremely hard hitting. William Lee & the performers (ninjas) are doing such agile stunts & there are countless fighting scenes repeated throughout the runtime. Plenty of high flying roundhouse kicks, countless fighting sequences with excellent sound design & sound effects reminiscent of the most popular kung fu flicks. Copious gun shots, sword battles & even a supernatural ninja who has the ability to behead those who he comes into combat with.
I can't get over how well done the fighting choreography is done here. Nobody looks like they're pulling back on the punches or kicks here. The long takes with minimal cuts & edits during these fight scenes just show how gifted William Lee's talents as a martial artist are here along with every other member of the ninja cast. Quite a few scenes here are honestly on par with the biggest budgeted kung fu and action flicks of all the time in how everything is orchestrated. There's some serious knowledge & evident craft put into every fight that's seen here.
This honestly is such a cool unique piece of film history that has been captured here & beautifully preserved with this AGFA Blu-ray release. This Blu-ray is absolutely stacked with extras. Including another feature from William Lee titled "Dragon Vs Ninja", " The New Chinese Connection" & "The Willie Jack Series". Pick up the AGFA Blu-ray & make a night of it! There's hours of entertainment to enjoy here!
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