Mirai Ninja (film)
Mirai Ninja | |
---|---|
Directed by | Keita Amemiya |
Written by | Keita Amemiya Satoshi Kitahara |
Production companies | |
Release date | October 1988 (Tokyo premiere} December 2, 1988 (Japan video release) |
Country | Japan |
Language | Japanese |
Mirai Ninja: Keigumo Kinin Gaiden (未来忍者:慶雲機忍外伝, lit. "Future Ninja: Stealth Joy Cloud Device Side Story"), known as Cyber Ninja in the United States,[1] Warlord in Canada and Robo Ninja in the UK, is a 1988 Japanese science fiction action film directed by Keita Amemiya, which was co-produced and released by Namco that premiered on October of 1988 at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival.[2] Two months later, it was released as a direct-to-video film on December 2, 1988. The film is based on the arcade game of the same name which was also developed and released by Namco.[3][4]
Plot[]
In a future time a war is being waged between humans and cyborgs. One of the elite cyberninja of the enemy goes rogue and sets out to assist the royal family after their headstrong princess is captured and destined to become the final sacrifice needed to summon the cyborg legions digital overlord from another dimension. The resistance army sends a small band of soldiers in, among whom is a determined young man out to avenge the death of his brother at the hands of the robots. After suffering many losses and battling towards the enemy castle it is revealed that the cyberninja Shiranui is in fact the lost brother, transformed into the robot and now determined to regain his human body. The survivours must storm the technological castle and rescue the princess before the resistance army fires a super cannon to prevent the summoning of the electronic evil.
Cast[]
Beverly Hills Video Group produced an English dubbed version of the film in 1994 directed by Carl Macek and distributed by Streamline Pictures for a 1995 release in North America.
Character | Original actor | English voice actor |
---|---|---|
Shiranui | Makoto Yokoyama | David Povall |
Princess Saki | Eri Morishita | Juliana Donald |
Akagi | Hanbei Kawai | Michael Forest |
Jiromaru | Kunihiko Ida | |
Kajiwara | Fuyukichi Maki | Edward Mannix |
Dark Overlord | Masaaki Emori | Kirk Thornton |
Shogi | Mizuho Yoshida | Jeff Winkless |
Bishop Raimei | Shohei Yamamoto | Mike Reynolds |
Additional English Dub Voices[]
- Richard Cansino - Clansman
- Carl Macek - Shogi Subordinate
- - Clansman
- Barry Stigler - Clansman
- Daniel Woren - Clansman
Release[]
The film was originally screened in Japan back in October of 1988 at the Tokyo International Fantastic Film Festival for a premiere release and later first released on VHS by Pony Canyon on December 2, 1988. Later it was released in North America Cyber Ninja forVHS on July 25, 1995 with an English dub,[5] and on region 2 DVD in 2003 (Japan, Europe, Middle East, Greenland, and South Africa).[6] The U.S. DVD was released in 2009.
Reception[]
The movie met with mixed reviews from Western film critics. It holds a 44% "Rotten" approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.[7][dead link]
References[]
- ^ ComicAttack. "From Friendly Ghosts To Gamma Rays: Smurfs and Cyber Ninjas!". ComicAttack. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ "WORKS 監督". crowdinc.com (in Japanese). CROWD.
- ^ "Mirai Ninja". flyers.arcade-museum.com. The Arcade Flyer Archive.
- ^ "未来忍者". eiga-chirashi.jp (in Japanese). サイト.
- ^ Yuen Biao. Cyber Ninja [VHS]: Hanbei Kawai, Hiroki Ida, Eri Morishita, Makoto Yokoyama, Fuyukichi Maki, Masaaki Emori, Shôhei Yamamoto, Satoshi Itô, Mizuho Yoshida, Chikara Aragaki, Kiichirou Tai, Hajime Iwasaki, Satou Anada, Hiromi Saitô, Kaori Nitami, Hiroaki Mita, Hideki Sasaki, Keita Amemiya: Movies & TV. ASIN 6303158633.
- ^ "Mirai Ninja (aka Cyber Ninja, Robo Ninja) Original Video [DVD]". Cdjapan.co.jp. 2003-10-24. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
- ^ "Cyber Ninja". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2014-01-11.
External links[]
Mirai Ninja at IMDb
This article incorporates text available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license.
- Japanese-language films
- 1988 films
- Japanese action films
- Japanese martial arts films
- Japanese science fiction films
- Ninja films
- Martial arts science fiction films
- Martial arts fantasy films
- Japanese films
- 1988 martial arts films
- Live-action films based on video games
- Films set in castles
- 1980s Japanese film stubs