Nine Deaths of the Ninja (1985)

Director:  Emmett Alston

Writer:  Emmett Alston

Composer:  Cecile Colayco

Starring:  Sho Kosugi, Brent Huff, Emilia Crow, Blackie Dammett, Regina Richardson, Vijay Aritraj, Lisa Friedman, Kan Kosugi, Shane Kosugi, Bruce Fanger

More info:  IMDb

Tagline:  The Ninja Master... is now The Ninja Avenger

Plot:  Two anti-terrorist agents are assigned to free a busload of American schoolchildren in the Philippines who are taken hostage by terrorists.

My rating: 5.5/10

Will I watch it again? No.

It starts with a pre-credit sequence followed by a cheesy pop song during the opening credits trying to be like Bond.

It also stars Vijay Aritraj who was in OCTOPUSSY (1983) just two years earlier (this is his second film role).  After than it goes into standard B-picture action movie mode.  Sho Kosugi provides the best action.  At least the camera lingers long enough on him and his opponent for a while so you can see the choreography.  It's not always a good idea to do that because it can show the slow beats each fighter hits to make it work.  There is no nudity.  Booooo.  But you do get this...

Is she doing it for you?  How about these little fellas?

That scene's not nearly as entertaining as it should've been. And that's one of the issues I have.  Scenes like this little guys fighting the one dude should have been longer and more fun.  This flick needed more creativity.  It's got some decent moments but there's an underlying vibe of just making a movie and not making "the best movie we can".  Had the filmmakers gone that extra mile, this could be a cult classic.  But they'd also have to ditch the guy who plays the main villain who acts like he things he can copy Peter Sellers from DR. STRANGELOVE (1964) because he can't.  He's so fucking annoying that he brings down the picture.  This would've been the kind of movie I would've watched with friends in high school on a Friday night and had a blast with.