Top 5 Ninja Movies You Must Watch Before You Die

There is just something about ninja movies that make them iconic – memorable to an entire generation. Full of martial arts and action, you really cannot go wrong with a ninja film!

Although ninjas are a common part of pop culture it is important to remember that Ninjas were a real thing. In feudal Japan, many rural clans were hostile to the concept of being ruled by nobles, particularly as they were enforced by the oppressive samurai.

Unable to stand up to the samurai in the traditional way because of the samurai’s heavy armour, the clans developed their own unique martial-arts techniques in order to even the playing field. They were so successful at this that they were hired for becoming spies and mercenaries.

Ninja training often began from childhood, with students learning martial arts, survival techniques and information about poison and explosives. There is also evidence that ninjas had medical training too.

Ninjas were driven by a deep sense of loyalty to their villages, and “right-mindedness” was especially important to them, which was all about having the right attitude when undertaking their role. It is exceedingly difficult to know more about ninjas as the very nature of being one was secretive, so there is little recorded data about them. They have slowly become a mythical concept and have now been pop culture icons for centuries, and this tradition has been continued in the modern art of Ninja cinema.

There are so many great ninja films out there, but here are the top five that you should watch before you die.

1. Ninja: Shadow of a Tear

In this film, martial arts expert Casey Bowman chases an assassin for vengeance, with the help of a smart and sneaky sensei. His survival rule is fight everyone and trust no one now that his perfect domestic life was shattered by a horrifically violent act.

Casey has to push his fighting abilities to the next level, and even uses deep meditation to feign his own death. Prepare for the ultimate battle, Casey must become an incredible fighter, worthy of being called a ninja but just as he believes he has succeeded, an unforeseen twist reminds him that he cannot trust anyone.

2. Duel to the Death

Ching Siu-Tung’s debut as a director gave us this incredible film that divided critics and audiences at the time but gave us a whole new take on ninja films and began Hong Kong’s action cinema’s transition into the modern era.

The film is about an international martial-arts contest between the best swordsmen of China and Japan, but whilst the tournament is taking place, experts are being systemically abducted by ninjas as way for Japan to steal China’s kung-fu secrets. The film is full of action, sword fighting and aerial attacks, and its innovation at the time makes it worthy of a place on this list.

3. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a now a hugely successful franchise, but this all began back in 1990 as a film set in gritty New York. Four sewer turtles were transformed into talking, crime fighting ninjas by radioactive slimes and are trained in the art of Ninjutsu by a rat named Splinter.

Michelangelo, Donatello, Raphael and Leonardo must put an end to the antics of a wicked rogue ninja, who was a former student of their rat sensei. This movie is full of action and contains genuinely thrilling battles that blew the minds of a whole generation.

4. Ninja Assassin

Released in 2009, this film is certainly one of the newer films on this list, but it is just as good as the older classics.

A Europol researcher in Berlin present proof to her boss about the existent of an assassin ninja network, tasked with the assassination of politicians. She is then targeted by ninjas and defended by ninja Raizo.

Raizo was fostered by the Japanese Ozunu Clan and was cruelly groomed since infancy to become a callous murderer by his master Ozunu. Raizo is drawn to a gentle woman named Kiriko since his childhood, but when she tries to flee, she is captured and killed by Raizo’s ninja brother. Raizo has his revenge and slashes Ozunu’s face, but now he is being pursued by his ninja brothers too.

The film is full of twists and turns as we wonder whether they will ever be able to withstand an attack by the Ozunu clan.

5. The Five Element Ninjas

Directed by “The Godfather of Hong Kong Cinema,” Chang Cheh, this film is one of the best of all time. The expert in a Chinese martial-arts school fights and kills a Japanese rival, leaving his students to be stalked by five vengeful ninja teams. The five teams’ attacks and fighting techniques are based on the elements of water, fire, earth, wood and gold, which popularised the idea of a “colour-coded” ninja.

Cheh uses a wide variety of real and imaginary weapons and styles to give us some incredible action sequences. The final twenty-minute scene shows the students taking down all five teams in an epic showdown. This film is certainly not one to be missed off your must-watch list!

As you can see by just these five films, there is so much to be gained from watch ninja films!

6. Ninjai – The Little Ninja [Bonus Movie]

This animation series is one of the most awaited web shows, it has already made waves with the Ninjai trailer released. It is a story about a small ninja boy set out of a self-realization journey. He travels through jungles and meets a lot of friends and foes. He has a lot of charismatic qualities – he is sharp, focussed, unkind to demons, intensive.

You can very well witness the sword fighting skills in the fight scenes and after a while to all of our surprises you will see he is spending time together with one little bird fiend on a branch of tree. This web series is going to be very educative. Even the scenes are being very provocative, but they are done so for a good reason. There is a lot to learn – calm, patience, resilience and leadership. It is a must watch for every ninja lover. At present little is known about the Ninjai movie. Stay tuned for the full movie release.

This list has not even scratched the surface of how many amazing ninja films there are out there, and each one is filled with action and adventure. Start with this list and make sure you watch these ninja films before you die, but do not stop there!