NINJA: THE FINAL DUEL is a fun and cheesy ninja movie from Taiwan's Robert Tai, a man you can rely upon to churn out shlocky but highly entertainment. This film is no different. A squad of evil ninjas are skilled in various different disciples and decide to destroy the Shaolin Temple. Much action ensues, and a big influence seems to be Chang Cheh's FIVE ELEMENT NINJA.Some of the ninjas have claws and can climb trees like a cat; others use ropes for rock and tree climbing. Certain ones use spades and straws to burrow and live beneath the sand. Best of the lot are the ones riding giant amphibious spiders in scenes which mark the movie's cheesy highlight. The main ninja bad guy hides a natty pair of navy shorts beneath his billowing white robes.Against this evil group are the stock heroes, including Alexander Rei Lo in what is a very typical performance for the star. Half of the running time seems to be extremely random, with one lengthy sequence involving a couple of western actors (including Toby Russell, Ken's kid, and Silvio Azolini) playing Hare Krishnas who turn up to seek solace at the the temple. Eugene Thomas has a fine turn as a peace-loving monk who ends up kicking backside regardless, and Yi-Min Li has a smaller role as one of the elder monks.Inevitably there's a ton of action here, most of it cheesy and amusing, with basic camera tricks used to portray the secret skills of the ninjas. The film isn't gory but there are a few bloody moments and at least one decapitation. Listen out for music ripped from GHOSTBUSTERS and RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II as well as sonar effects from DAS BOOT. High art this isn't, but entertaining it certainly is.

A rather extreme example of screw loose Chinese film-making from the 1980's. An era where HK and Taiwanese films were fast-paced, illogical exercises in frenetic film making, this one really takes the cake and sits on it.The plot is threadbare and indecipherable at the same time. The scenes unfurl to strike the film makers fancy not to move the story along. It's really clear that the people who made this didn't care if the legendary spider boats obviously don't work or that the film is set in some sort of time warp between the 1920's or the 1980's. The American monks seem to be parodies of the Hare Krishnas that used to plague the airports and the Black Monk of Harlem is inspired by "The Last Dragon" but everything else seems to set in old China. The digging ninjas are first shown struggling with their small shovels, then suddenly they are drilling thru the ground at 50 miles per hour. The producers of the film didn't take this seriously and neither should the viewer.The unusual nude fight scene is the first example I've seen of Taiwanese film nude kung fu that I had heard about from a friend who lived in Taiwan in the late 1980's. He had collected a number of these films which were subsequently confiscated by HK customs when he came back. Apparently these scenes were the rage for a small time in Taiwan. My friend had actually acted in one film (as a stock white bad guy) where he had to fight a heroine who practiced "Iron Chest". You can guess how that was used. The scene in this film is more of a shock then good. Most of the nude part of the fight involves the actress being flung around while she tries to cover herself with a sheet. She finally starts to fight back but the choreography seems to have been designed to cause the most amount of jiggle instead of an effective fight scene. And the jiggle isn't that good either. Eventually the actress must have said "enough" and she is suddenly clothed in a two piece bikini she somehow creates from the single sheet. The next scene she is in, she is killed off. They probably couldn't afford her anymore.Good for a laugh with a group of friends, that's it. Except for the nude fight even my wife enjoyed the film and she doesn't like kung fu films.

NINJA: FINAL DUEL packs an awful lot of zany fun into its ninety minutes running time. With its naked kung fu chicks, water spider assault teams, jive-talking black monks, ninja swastika formations, cackling bad guys and long-eyebrowed Shaolin monks, this movie sounds like a dream-come-true for fans of trash cinema; but, thanks to a complete lack of a cohesive narrative, it ends up as something of a disappointment. Whilst I am the first to admit that a strong storyline isn't always a major requirement for a martial arts film, when a film feels as disjointed as NINJA: FINAL DUEL did, then I'm gonna start deducting points!A team of nasty ninjas plot to take over China, but are defeated by the legendary monks of the Shaolin Temple. Disgraced, the ninja leader commits Hara-kiri. After this failure, another team of fighters is gathered together for a new attack.After he is not picked for the new team of ninjas, talented fighter Wang Chi Chung travels to China to try to learn the secrets of Shaolin martial arts. When the evil ninjas finally launch their attack, Wang Chi Chung switches allegiance and uses his skills to help defeat the Japanese invaders.Pieced together from footage excised from a TV series, NINJA: FINAL DUEL really feels like a 'Frankenstein's monster' of a film, leaping awkwardly from one scene to another and introducing new characters at the drop of a hat. A dreadful voice-over introduces viewers to the ninjas at the beginning of the film, explaining their methods of training, but after that we are on our own; I strongly suggest forgetting about following the story and just concentrate on enjoying the crazy happenings and impressive acrobatic fight scenes.Better still, consume several pints of lager before watching; it can only improve your viewing experience.

Ninja The Final Duel is a very entertaining ninja/kung fu flick, it has some great fights, a naked chick that fights, bloody deaths, ninjas, monks from all over the world and so on.The story is about the shaolin temple and its monks who are attacked by ninjas.On the one hand, the monks fight beautifully, and they also have a typical shaolin master who looks totally silly. Alexander Lou is some sort of a monk and a ninja. He usually hangs out with his friend who is categorized like him( His friend is the little Chinese guy who participated with Lou in Mafia Vs Ninja). Actually, his black friend who participated in Mafia Vs Ninja, The Super Ninja and Ninja The Final Duel appears later, and he fights well as he does in the other films.On the other hand, The ninjas have a great time of ninjas who can jump onto water spiders that can fight against the monks. Those ninjas know how to disappear mysteriously. Moreover, the ninjas have an evil leader who makes them slaughter monks and other Chinese people.Ninja The Final Duel is actually a fine ninja flick! It has good fights, cheesy and bloody fights, even though that The Super Ninja in which Alexander Lou participated too is much better. Recommended for the fans of cheesy martial art flicks! 7/10