NEW YORK NINJA: Behold the Birth of a New Cult Classic

Back in 1984, martial artist and actor John Liu set out to make his American film debut by directing and starring in a little movie called New York Ninja. However, shortly after principal production wrapped, the project was abandoned, and Liu retired from the entertainment industry. It seemed that New York Ninja was fated to become yet another what-could-have-been, lost to the annals of film history…that is until the good folks over at Vinegar Syndrome acquired the original unedited negative and decided to complete the film, nearly 40 years after the production was scrapped.

With no script, soundtrack, or production notes of any kind to work from, Vinegar Syndrome edited reels of 35mm film, recorded dialogue with a cast of cult faves from the 1980s, and enlisted the band Voyag3r to compose and record a stunning, synth-heavy score. The resulting New York Ninja, with directing credit belonging to both Liu and Kurtis Spieler, is a campy, action-packed delight that deserves its chance to finally be seen by the audiences that will appreciate it most.

Gangs of New York

John (played onscreen by Liu, with dialogue recorded by Don “The Dragon” Wilson) is a sound recordist for a news station who is thrilled when his wife tells him she’s pregnant with their first child. However, their joy is short-lived; when his wife sees a woman being abducted and tries to intervene, she is brutally murdered by the perpetrators. John is devastated, but with New York currently drowning under a tidal wave of violent crime, his demands for justice fall on deaf ears. So, he decides to take matters into his own hands, donning a white ninja ensemble and hitting the streets to beat the crap out of any and all criminals he encounters.

John’s vigilante antics earn him the love and respect of regular New Yorkers, who jump at the chance to make shirts and buttons exclaiming I HEART NY NINJA; he basically becomes the 1980s equivalent of a viral meme, with his antics populating the front pages of newspapers instead of social media feeds. Needless to say, the police are much less appreciative of his activities, even as he works tirelessly to rid the city of the muggers, rapists, and other criminals that they’re too busy to deal with themselves. But in challenging the scum of the city, John ends up with a target on his back that pretty much every bad guy in New York would love to put a bullet in the center of—including a mysterious villain known as the Plutonium Killer, whose hands leave radioactive burn marks on his victims. (Yes, really.)

Blast from the Past

Technically New York Ninja is a 2021 release, but throughout the film, it is easy to be tricked into believing that you’re really watching something that played in some of the grimiest theaters on 42nd Street during the mid-1980s—such is the devotion of Spieler and the Vinegar Syndrome team to completing the film in a way that feels authentic to the time period in which it was originally shot. The 35mm print looks absolutely pristine, and the newly recorded dialogue, which in addition to Don “The Dragon” Wilson features the vocal stylings of such genre-film stalwarts as Linnea Quigley, Cynthia Rothrock, and Michael Berryman, will ring true to anyone who has watched old martial-arts movies, even (or rather, especially) in its most obviously overdubbed moments. Yes, all of the acting is a bit over-the-top, but that’s part of what makes it charming—and it works in the context of this weird, wild movie. The retro vibe is further emphasized by the cheeky sound design as well as Voyag3r’s musical score, a cavalcade of shrieking synths and throbbing beats that truly sounds as though it were recorded in the year 1984 in the best way possible.

The footage itself is delightful, a mishmash of nearly-averted violent crimes committed by guys who are all dressed like rejects from The Warriors—lots of weird haircuts, creepy masks, and artfully torn clothing. Liu choreographed the action sequences, which mostly revolve around him dominating these ridiculous-looking street toughs, many of them lurk on the periphery awkwardly shadowboxing while he dispatches them one at a time. You might find yourself wondering why they don’t all just jump on him at once, but you also won’t really care to know the answer, because watching Liu destroy them all—with monogrammed ninja stars, natch—is incredibly entertaining. New York Ninja also provides modern audiences with a proper glimpse of pre-Giuliani New York, all rundown, covered with graffiti, and with much more character than the city has today—something I can never get enough of.

The supporting characters in New York Ninja include John’s colleagues at the news station, a crusading woman reporter and her love-interest camera operator; a police detective who eventually realizes he has no choice but to team up with the ninja; a kid who John rescues from a gang and adopts as his own; and many, many innocent women who find themselves set upon by terrible men. These scenes are generally interrupted by the New York Ninja before they can progress too far, which is good because littering the film with numerous scenes of graphic sexual assault would make it all a lot less fun. One can imagine that there will still be some folks who find these scenes a bit tasteless, but if you were hoping for a film called New York Ninja to be a paragon of cinematic good taste and political correctness, then you honestly should have known better.

Conclusion

New York Ninja feels destined to become a cult classic, the kind of film playing in the background at raucous house parties and neighborhood dive bars that elicits shrieks of laughter and delight from anyone who encounters it. It’s a must-see for anyone who loves outrageous old action flicks, and who appreciates the labor of love that is film preservation.

What do you think? Are you familiar with the preservation and restoration work of Vinegar Syndrome? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

New York Ninja is currently available on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome. A 35mm theatrical run of the film is set for early 2022.

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