The Last Ninja | DVD (Visual Entertainment)
More good news for ninja film buffs! Visual Entertainment has released the DVD for 1983’s The Last Ninja, starring Michael Beck (The Warriors), Nancy Kwan (Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story), Mako (The Big Brawl), Richard Lynch (Invasion U.S.A.), and Rob Narita (Ghost Warrior).
This TV movie – produced in wake of the so-called “Ninja Craze” in 1980s – was intended to be an on-going series, but its pilot didn’t quite hit the bullseye (unlike 1984’s The Master, which is also being released later this year).
The Last Ninja is the story of an art dealer, Kenjiro Sakura (Beck) who – after being trained by his adoptive father (Mako) – leads a double life as a martial arts warrior. Teaming up with his sister, Noriko (Kwan), they crush a terrorist attempt without ever revealing their true identities. This act of patriotism intrigues a United States government agent looking for an ally to help with other cases.
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Thrilled that this great TV movie has finally been released on official DVD by VEI. Unfortunately it is missing a full 10 minute segment (just like the screener VHS that made the rounds years ago), but it’s still worth picking up.
This is really fascinating to hear! What was the reason for the ten minutes to be cut – just for the sake of making the movie shorter, or was there some kind of issue with the content?
Always loved Michael Beck in The Warriors. It’s kind of a surprise he never really became a Hollywood leading man.
I’m not sure why the 10 minute segment was cut. It could’ve been done in order to create a version for syndication (84 minutes instead of 94 minutes), or it could be that the reel containing the segment (which ran from one commercial break to the other) was mistakenly missed when they put together the screener version. Either way it’s a real shame it’s missing on the otherwise great DVD release.
The missing segment can be seen on the full uncut TV print that’s on YouTube starting at the 50:15 mark:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cyryHSPia4
Does the DVD have a disclaimer indicating that the movie wasn’t remastered for Visual Entertainment’s home video release?
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