Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu (1980)

Ninja bugeicho momochi sandayu: Directed by Norifumi Suzuki. With Shin’ichi Chiba, Hiroyuki Sanada, Etsuko Shihomi, Yuki Ninagawa. In the middle of the 16th century, Hideyoshi, a power hungry warlord sets out to destroy the Momochi clan. He sends his war commander in search of the clan’s hidden gold only to find that two daggers are the key to the hiding place of the treasured gold. Spanning decades, the quest for the missing daggers takes Shiranui through war and ancient tradition.

“It seems that CHIBA was acting as a mentor to the star (just as in ROARING FIRE) and taking a back seat too much, didnu0026#39;t work for me. Of course some of the fight-scenes in this movie are very good, utilizing slow-mo (as in KILLING MACHINE) and some excellent wire work (the spider ninjau0026#39;s moved quite naturally) and the other notable thing is the off-beat jazz/sax/porn music (that despite sometimes not catching the mood of the scene, certainly puts it in a league of itu0026#39;s own) The bottom line is, CHIBA doesnu0026#39;t fight enough, the hero (at one point) dances rather camp-like (whilst training) round a fire (hilarious!) and like most movies of this ilk, the plot can confuse/drag on a littleu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eExcellent fight scenes and score, thoughu003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003e6 out of 10”