Синоби (2005) watch online HD

The comments I've seen for this movie are the sole reason I signed up at IMDb; in order to rebuke some of the harsh criticism given. I haven't seen the Manga cartoon, or read the comic if there was one - so I say unabashedly that I loved this film. I think at least one other comment made was a reflection of bitterness about not having the film remain faithful to the animated series, in whatever form it exists.

That said, for those who are new to it all, I HIGHLY recommend this film to action lovers. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish... from start to finish, I say. Martial arts movies come in three "fu's" by my classification:

"Regular-Fu": the kind that the incomparable Bruce Lee brought us followed by acts like Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, Jean-Claude Van Damme and the like; clean, physical and grounded.

"Wire-FU": This sub-genre has been best epitomized in films like 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' and 'Hero', often used in Jet Li films and even 'The Matrix Trilogy'. It's fast, hyper-acrobatic and aerial.

"Super-FU": This is where SHINOBI comes in. Fighters have very unique abilities that are often much faster and deadlier that Wire-Fu styles. This kind is fantastic, exceptional, and ethereal. If you could not suspend belief enough to watch a film like 'Spiderman', there's little chance you will like SHINOBI.

Now, for the special effects fighting nuts like myself, this film is a really good one. The storyline is most reasonably adequate, I felt . It is terse (stoic) all the way through, and has the action to match... and the acting really compliments that air. And boy, do some of the actors look their parts! There are no wasted sequences of nothingness in this film; the story is coherent, especially when I consider other movies of the same category, like 'The Duel' and 'The Promise'. On this point I disagree with some other comments again.

I don't know if a sequel was planned but I really hope so. I fully enjoyed the film, especially after expecting so little from what I initially read here!

After more than four hundred years of war between the Shinobi warriors of the Manjidani Koga and Tsubagakure Iga clans, the Lord Hattori Hanzou decrees that they must live in peace. Both clans live hidden in the woods and mountain without confrontation and without training ninjas in the shadow art of Shinobi. In 1614, the Lord of the Lords is convinced that the clans are dangerous threats for keeping peace in his lands, and his adviser plots a Machiavellian plan to destroy their best warriors in a contest. Meanwhile, the young Iga Oboro (Yukie Nakama) and Koga Gennesuke (Joe Odagiri) fall in love for each other. When Oboro's grandmother and leader of Iga clan Ogen (Riri) and Gennesuke's father and leader of the Koga clan Danjo (Minoru Terada) kill each other, Oboro and Gannesuke must lead their warriors in the ultimate battle of the Shinobi clans.

"Shonobi" is a wonderful and tragic romance, with drama, action and fantasy. The story slightly recalls Romeo and Juliet, with the impossible love of Oboro and Gennesuke that belong to enemy clans, and X-men, with the dark powers of the Shinobi warriors. The cinematography, the choreography of the fights and the state-of-art special effects are awesome, and the story is engaging and shows an adequate pace. The beauties of Yukie Nakama, Tomoka Kurotani and Erika Sawajiri are amazing, but the romance of Oboro and Gannesuke should have been better explored to increase the intensity of their final act. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Shinobi – A Batalha" ("Shinobi – The Battle")

I FINALLY got my hands on the DVD, and watched it a few days ago. I must say that I hyped this movie to myself for quite a while as I waited and waited for the film to arrive on subtitled DVD. Seeing the movie posters at the cinemas just made me salivate, and as such my view of the film was slightly slanted, and also of slight disappointment.

The film follows the story of the two tribes of Ninja - Iga and Koga, who have obeyed a non-aggression law for many generations. In a period of peace after Japan's own warring states' period, two ninjas from opposite sides meet and fall in love. In true Star-crossed Lover tradition, they have to keep their romance a secret. However, inevitably fate steps in to pull them apart, in the form of a shady tournament, designed by the Shogan's advisors.

The romance of the film takes center stage, and it fits well with the sub title "Heart Under Blade". The two main characters, leaders of their clans have to balance their love, and their responsibilities, as the Shogun's plot unfolds.

The Characters are very interestingly designed, and colourful. They all possess unique skills, and have very anime'esquire costumes and fighting styles. Much of the fighting is a combination of CGI and wire-work, and some of it is incredibly cool. The low budget effects will no doubt be critised by many who are used to ILM level of graphics, but while companies like ILM strive to make the fantastic, "real", Shinobi's effects are beautifully stylised. Regardless of how they look, their fresh and innovative look more than makes up for any lack of polish.

Character design in this film may be great, but sadly the personalities underneath have not been as fleshed-out. Except for the main characters, we are given as much as we need to know about each character to accomplish the end goals of the story, and not much more. Even the main pair felt a bit empty, and perhaps some more exploration into their feelings would have built their characters more. Seeing them hug and canoodle certainly showed that they were in love, but in the end I didn't feel it like I had hoped I would.

That said, the acting in the film is quite good. Taking cues from its comic and anime origins, the characters are even larger than life when in motion, and villains and heros are very archetypal, lending them comic-book credentials that probably would have been insufficient in a more serious film.

Perhaps it is the comic book acting, but at times the film, like many lower budget Jidaigeki, looked a little "television". I can only assume that this was due more to filming technology than quality. However, many people that love Asian film will tell you that to fully appreciate it, you have to look past the budget and see its heart. While Hollywood film tries to use the glare from all of its gloss to hide plot and character inadequacies, Asian film doesn't usually have that luxury. What it does often have though are ideas.

Shinobi does things that I have never seen a Hollywood film even try (except for a strange Spiderman like sequence which may have been in the source material anyway), and as such is something to see. It owes an awful lot to anime, and it is indeed based on one. From the character designs of the Androgenous razor whip wielder, and the silent hulking doppelganger, to the Ninja Gaiden like battle sequences, this film is an anime and ninja fans guilty dream. Plus with all of Yukie Nakama's conflicted and fragile expressions, you can't help but wish you could just give her a big cuddle! 7/10

First I should say that I watched the subtitled version of this film but apparently there is an English dub on the North American release. Make no mistake, this IS an action movie. It is not as heavy on plot or characterization as similar films of the genre, and focuses more on matrix-like ninja fighting and great costumes. This is not necessarily a bad thing though as it does these things very well. The special effects are some of the best I've ever seen in a Japanese feature, and the overall cinematography is great. The story is pretty light and you really want to know more about some of the characters who are introduced in a totally classic "Good The Bad and the Ugly" style with their names being displayed on the corner of the screen as they are introduced.

The story centers on a pair of star-crossed lovers from rival ninja clans. The Tokugawa Government has just taken control of Japan and a new era of peace has broken out. To preserve this peace the Shogun decides that the two ninja clans must be destroyed, for their abilities are simply too dangerous and unpredictable. So the Shogun orders the two clans to each pick their five best warriors who will then battle to the death for the favor of the Shogun. Chosen to lead their respective clan's teams are the two unfortunate lovers who thought a new age of peace would allow their love to bloom, as rivalry between their clans was no longer necessary in their view – now in a cruel twist of fate they must battle to the death. This is pretty much where the story ends, and the rest of the film is a cat and mouse game between the two ninja teams as they use their seemingly supernatural abilities against each other. The team members themselves are all very interesting and I found myself wanting to know more about them but was disappointed by the rate in which they are killed off.

Overall the film is well worth watching and is smarter than your average action film, but not by much.

This story comes from the Japanese manga (graphic novel) called "Basilisk," and is heavily edited from it. They cut out half the characters for the sake of easy and time. Although unfortunate, I agree that they had to do it, and they did a good job of making a "short" movie plot out of long series. The special effects are breathtaking. They must have combined computer animation, and paid attention to every little detail down to making the eyes shine and reflect light in the two main characters when they're talking. I liken it to House of Flying Daggers or one of those Chinese flicks that are beautiful and have a lot of attention to detail. I love how they managed the occasional slow motion scenes. The acting is top notch. I hate love stories but I took to this one. It's not all love, and the action scenes are well choreographed and exciting. Ninjas fight, but they're not the kind of ninjas to be clothed in black jumpers with masks. The "special abilities" don't look corny or contrived, which impressed me.

I hope it is subtitled into English soon.

Since young, I'm thrilled by Kung Fu action flicks and looks like I will be continuously entertained by the big screen when studios keep producing films like this. The Japanese is a culture that is very deep rooted. As such, to escape, their minds have to venture way way beyond the logic and realism. Look through the genres of Japanese anime and fantasies - they are so extreme! I would not say that this movie belongs to the very extreme, but it is at the right level for grown up audience. It has all the right ingredients - beautiful settings and sceneries, romance (the Chinese style) and most of all out-of-the-world Kung Fu powers and actions.

The story has a slow start. But as it progresses, the extraordinary skill of each fighter is revealed. You can't help but get glued to the screen for the next ninja to fight. The ending was sad but satisfying.

As someone mentioned, he said that the movie was awful because it contained only 10% fighting scene. Well that person exaggerated too much. Obviously this movie is a romance just because the title is SHINOBI and does not mean it contains lots of violent / fighting scenes. Instead, this movie focuses more on the romance side rather than the violence side. and That is why the theme song is a ballad. This movie is very beautiful. it has good romance just like Romeo and Juliet. If you are a person who likes romance, than this is the right movie. and if you are a person who is looking for violence, than this movie is not the right one for you.

Nothing but my undying affection for martial arts movies made me watch this. Well, that and plus the tag line read that "Shinobi" is a cross between X-Men and Romeo and Juliette. X-Men just happens to be another extreme favorite of mine.

Shinobi had a very warm feeling to it even though the movie is about special warriors. The movie consisted of very little dialogue but a lot of emotion. The CGI and special effects were used in just the right dosages. The CGI and special effects were necessary to properly display the particular talents and skills of the shinobi from the Iga clan and the Kouga clan. I was more interested in the battle scenes but the portentous drama scenes did not drag the movie down. Nothing was really overplayed from the plot. The love between Gennosuke (Jen-o-skay) and Oboro was not drawn out and overplayed, nor were the fight scenes. The director definitely went with a quality over quantity approach. The dramatic and romantic scenes between Gennosuke and Oboro as well as the fight scenes were few in number but very well done. The fight scenes were especially well done considering that this movie most likely did not have the bloated budget of your typical American action film.

I thought this movie really came through with its style and its message. "Shinobi" reminded me of the Jet Li movie, "Hero", where warriors put aside their personal grudges and beliefs for the common good. Of course, lives were lost from the Shinobi warriors, which can be viewed as sad. But, when you watch enough films about fighting and honor, you come to realize that the warriors are just weapons and dying in battle is the only acceptable end for them.

I must disagree with the other comment, this is one of the best movies I've seen lately. It is not meant to be a ninja story, nor a love story, but a love story between two ninjas. It is one of the most romantic movies i've seen, without being lame and girlish. It has beautiful sets, good music, and an end that will make you think twice about the difficulties of life, and honor. I can only say i cried twice on this movie, and i don't cry that easily. I saw the movie because of the video game with the same name, i hadn0t heard of this film before, and I'm so glad i saw it.

It's worth seeing, if not for the story or action, then for the great, great places they show...

Shinobi is a story about 2 Shinobi tribal villages that must went on a deadly fight. The Lord of the Lords is a man that runs a neutral faction among the Shogun Kingdom but that everyone is bond and obeys, and when he, under clerical/military advice, promotes and proclaims that the 2 Shinobi villages must choose each 5 of their great warriors to battle until death, things turn awry.

The problem is that one beautiful woman of one of the villages falls in mutual love with a man from the other village. Love and war collide. Is the love between them so strong that can stop the war? Shinobi is a movie packed with astounding nature scenes, (I wonder if still exists such nature landscapes thru Japan...) a surprisingly impressive fight choreography and a fair story.

I really advise everyone to see this movie!

I really like this movie when I first saw it, because it is like a Ninja version of Romeo and Juliet with some West Side story ( without the singing. Odagiri Joe and Nakama Yukie gave it all they got to make this movie successful and I think its great that they did that. They also have a previous mini series together called Kao. If you movie action movie lovers are hoping for multi action in this movie, you are wasting your time, because this movie is not all about action and it barely shows it, but a lot of scene's in this movie are really strong and great. The meaning and plot of this movie is trying to tell the viewer's about how a great love and easily be torn apart by useless war and family/clans feud's against each other. Anyway this movie is really good its is the only great movie that I have seen this year.

This is one of the best Japanese movies i have ever seen.I loved it and i recommend it to anyone who knows what a good movie is.I didn't expect to be this good but it exceeded my expectations by far.I've seen twice in one day and I still want to see it again.It captured me with the story.From the title i expected an action packed movie but the beauty of the movie doesn't stand in the fight scenes but in the love story between the two 'shinobis'.The end left me speechless because I didn't portrayed it in my mind this way and it gives the movie another quality upgrade for the dramatic type of it.The characters are great and the actors outstanding...It has a 10 from me

I'll be honest - I did not have much expectations for this film. After sitting through movies such as Azumi, Azumi 2, and Princess Blade...I somewhat lost hope for Japanese ninja movies. However I was pleasantly surprised by "Shinobi". Sure, there is the cheese factor in the film, but hey, you can't help it with this types of movies. I found "Shinobi" to be far superior to "Azumi" and "Azumi 2" in all aspects. Acting is much more bearable. Plot is existent. Character design is interesting. Action is far, far more exciting.

I give it 8 out of 10 stars. I'd definitely recommend to give this movie a chance.

Actually, 8.5 - a extra for the hotness factor of Yukie Nakama (Oboro) and Tomoka Kurotani (Kagero). ^_^

Shinobi. Hidden somewhere in the mountains of ancient Japan 2 villages of rival ninja clans are being forced to battle each other once again when the shogun (who is afraid of the legendary shinobi warriors with their supernatural powers after watching a demonstration of their skills) breaks the pact that made the clans live in peace for several ages. 5 warriors of each clan will face each other in combat and the surviving clan member(s) will be rewarded by the shogun himself. Each warrior possesses a unique skill (a woman who has been fed poison since she was a child and is now able to deliver "the kiss of death", a wolf/bear like creature with retractable claws, a man who can take the shape of his victims, a 300 year old immortal,...). The only problem...the two clan leaders have been secretly entangled in a romantic relationship for several years. The movie can be described as a crossover between "Romeo and Juliet", "Spider-Man", "X-Men", "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" and "Tekken". This movie is a pleasure for the eye from the opening shot till the final credits. The photography is stunning, the special effects are excellent, the make-up and costumes are amazing and the screenplay is simple but effective and thus entertaining. All of this is set against the beautiful and misty landscapes of Japan with some excellent shots of the "rising sun". Shinobi is a must see movie for the fans of manga comics, video games, superhero movies and martial arts productions. The cast and crew delivered a one of a kind movie that will have set the tone for future productions. Mr. Shimoyama; i salute you!

While many see "Shinobi" as either a superb CGI visual feast or a Romeo and Juliet tragic romance transported to a Ninja setting, a broader and deeper view is possible. Recall in "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) how the character played by Charles Bronson who once earned hundreds of dollars for a gunfight assignment is reduced to being willing to accept a job at a poor village that can only pay him a miserly wage. Even more appropriately, recall in "Shichinin no samurai" (1954) (for that is the film from which "The magnificent" is adapted) how the character played by MIFUNE Toshiro longs to become a samurai, only to find that it is a dying, obsolete profession. In "Shinobi", we hear more than one character's vehement vow that he or she has been brought up and trained to do only one thing – fight. "Without an enemy to fight, we're worthless", laments one of them.

The plot is simple: two Ninja clans living in adjacent villages hidden from the world are released from the decree that has forbidden them to fight in the last 400 years. Indeed, they are now encouraged to fight, and the winner will have the honour of serving the Emperor who is on the verge to bringing Japan completely under his rule. The two young successors soon to lead the clans, as ill fate would have it, are lovers after a chance meeting some time ago.

While the royal decree is for each clan to send five top Ninjas in head to head combats, obviously you wouldn't expect to watch something like a sumo wrestling match in unimaginative symmetry. All the fights in fact take place en route to the capital, as the leader of one clan tries (against some of his team members' wishes) to persuade the Emperor to change his mind and abort the senseless duels. As to the CGI-heavy action, all I need to say that if you have enjoyed the X-men series, you will absolutely enjoy "Shinobi".

Not enough screen time has been given to the development of the love story – on that much most people agree. But maybe it's not a bad idea to leave that to the audiences' imagination. After all, we have the best looking pair on any screen – NAKAMA Yukie and ODAGIRI Jo – and that itself is convincing enough.

Footnote: This is just to remind myself of the five fighters on each side, and wouldn't make any sense unless you've seen the movie.

On his side – thousand flying blades, claws, face off, poison woman

On her side – indestructible silver hair, sleeves, glowworm, hood

"Shinobi" is one of those movies that thinks the mere act of killing off a character automatically brings a sense of gravitas or emotion to the story. Unfortunately, for the audience to actually care about the people dying, you have to develop the characters, otherwise all you have is a bunch of random acts of violence. The problem is especially compounded when you have TONS of characters, all of whom die.

OK, so if you can't be bothered to make the characters memorable or sympathetic in any way, you can at least make the REASONS for why they die plausible, right? Nope. Here we have a war between two ninja clans, with neither side really knowing WHY they are fighting each other. They kill each other because the emperor says so. Yet even well after it becomes glaringly obvious that the emperor wants ALL of them dead, they still refuse to abandon their meaningless missions. That's not stubbornness... that's just plain dumb.

Fine, fine! There is no character development, and the plot provides no reasonable rationale for fighting. At least they die fighting in cool action scenes, right? Yet again, NO! In fact, many of the fights aren't even fights at all: super ninjas that the movie spent so much time and effort introducing die suddenly (and lamely, in my opinion). I'm talking about things like, "Lalala, I'm walking along and I- *neck gets slashed*." THE END for that character. Not even halfway through the film, I threw my hands up in frustration at the ludicrousness of it.

If all you're looking for are some great superhero-style fight scenes and cool visuals, listen to the people who give Shinobi a high rating and then fast-forward to the battles, because they kick @ss. Most of the characters have interesting powers and the movie isn't too bad when they're actually using them.

Overall, however, the film is slow-moving and the plot is extremely annoying. About 40 minutes of this film should have been left on the cutting-room floor, especially at the beginning and the end.

Shinobi is the kind of movie where every single character must do the dumbest thing possible at every opportunity to keep the story going. Seriously, these are the stupidest ninjas* who ever lived. To make matters worse, the two clan villages are full of the weakest, most oblivious ninjas-in-training who ever lived.

The hero and heroine are excruciatingly passive and unbelievably gullible. They never take a stand for or against anything -- they're too busy trying to pretend the movie has a message. You end up rooting for them to die just so they'll stop moping about things they can easily change.

The Romeo and Juliet comparison sounds catchy, but it only applies in the most general sort of way. This movie fails miserably as a romance because of the one-dimensional, apathetic natures of the two "star-crossed lovers." They repeat that phrase about 50 times in case you somehow forget, which is easy to do since there's very little keeping them apart. They simply prefer their angst to each other.

Shinobi is definitely not worth buying, because you won't want to sit through it twice. But the fights are fun to watch, so it's worth renting just for that.

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*Technically they aren't supposed to be ninjas; they're magical warriors. Whatever.

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give it 9 out of 10 not because of the movie, but because of the ideas the authors tried to implement in it (and partially did). actually after watching about half of the movie i quit, only to come back after about 30 minutes to watch it to the end and it was worth it. it started out good, but at one point the clichés of this kind of movies became too much for me. and then there was the turning point with the never-dying man's monologue - it was actually meaningful and 'heavy' as a feeling - when you see there's no future for you and your kind and accept that your destiny is to fade away...it is really hard, and this makes a movie.

the music is a very, very weak point - there are some moments in the film, when i just so craved for the music to be able to sustain the mood of the scene, make it more powerful and true, but...

so many scenery scenes that looked like they've been cut from another place and put to fill the gaps between episodes - attempt to replicate the beautiful scenes from other more successful and spectacular movies...

but if you go beyond the visuals, you will see that it is a very good attempt to achieve something significant, its like...Lego - you take standard movie building blocks, add even more clichés, but add also some original ideas which make the difference and build something that fortunately will help you in the future build something beautiful. every creator knows it - you work and work, scrap one piece, then another, but you can see how you come to the ultimate masterpiece, the Chef-d'oeuvre

and although masterpiece Shinobi isn't, i can see it coming

peace

In Shinobi, ninja Romeo and Juliet have to fight each other because the great Tokugawa ordered it. What will it happen? This is a movie that is based , apparently, on a Futaro Yamada novel, called Kouga Ninpu Chou. Both Ninja Scroll and Basilisk anime are based on it. I haven't yet seen Basilisk, but the beginning of the first episode is identical to the beginning of this movie. It might be better to watch Basilisk first to really understand the film.

For me, the more deep meaning of the film was that people are ants, and as long as there is some bigger ant that a lot of smaller ants listen to, individual skills are useless. In the end, Tokugawa justifies his actions by the eternal "you are not really human". Well, isn't that the cherry on the cake? Every war ever fought was based on the idea that your enemy is not human or at least very different. So much for the bringer of peace in Japan.

The action is good, though, you meet interesting ninjas with great skills, then they die. So much training for just one silly moment. I was expecting the two villages to unite and kick some bureaucratic ass, but that was not to be. Alas, in the modern world, the bureaucrats always win.

===== Update =====

I couldn't find the IMDb entry for the animation series Basilisk, so I will just comment on it here:

Oh my God, they killed Taizen! You bastards! :)

It makes sense to continue the comment here, as the plot is almost identical both in the series and the film. The anime has 24 episodes, the idea of each being how different ninjas fight with their special abilities. The characters are a bit different, but mostly the same powers they have in the film they have in the movie. Taizen is really annoying in the series, as well as Oboro, while some of the chicks are drawn really well :) The ending is slightly different, but essentially, if you've seen the movie, there is a high probability you will get bored watching the anime. Watching the anime first, though, would make the film seem rather silly. Anyway, good anime, but not amongst the best.

I think this movie has enough romance and fighting to please most people.. but those wanting to see nothing but action will be disappointed! The ninja techniques are not neglected in this story, these are special techniques and not just those used by the average assassin dressed in black. I don't like fantasy special effects most of the time and I thought these were fine. Some people have said that the main part of the story is the romance, I agree but I think it depends on how much you like that compared to the fighting.

The mix of genres is quite evenly balanced though. In the end you should be quite pleased if you like one particular genre and maybe very pleased if you love them all.

If I had a problem with this movie it would be that I wanted to know one or two characters better, maybe through hearing them talk about something else or seeing a bit of their daily life. They all wanted to show off their ninja techniques instead :) It's nice, I hope you enjoy it.

If we are looking for elaborated Japanese story, this movie is not as elaborated as (for example) Kurosawa's Samurai trilogy. If we are looking for the actions, the movie does not offer much too. This movie is a bit of everything: romance, action, etc.

However, what I really like in this movie is the eastern philosophy. Something like "love is not everything, above love there is honor (of the clan) and the obligation (towards the government)". And also about submitting to fate; like the immortal one who choose to die by inhaling the poison, simply because he accepts that "Our time has passed".

Furthermore, this movie help me to empathically see how difficult it is to be a leader; to change the vision of the members, when the members are not ready to leave the old vision. Gennosuke fails to convince his 4 warriors about the importance of avoiding the fight; I can only imagine how hard it is for a leader to convince millions of citizens to do something different.

" Excellent Fight Scenes, More impressive than the first Matrix "

Didn't know what it was about till i saw it.

It starts off in 1641 Anchient Japan, two villages have been at war for hundreds of years but theses are no ordinary villages. They practice the mystical fighting art of Shinobi. Shinobi is a superhuman style of fighting and each Shinobi warrior has his own Unique power. With the war in the two villages destroying the land The lord of lords lays down a treatie that the 2 Shinobi Villages must sign to stop their fighting and bring peace. But the two villages are loyal to the treatie and keep the peace. 100 years pass and the Lord thinks that peace is finally here. He sends for the 2 leaders of both Villages the Shoguns and they each bring with them a warrior. The lord asks the Shinobi to demonstrate their Arts, as the warriors perform their highly attuned skills the Lord is fearful, fearing that the Shinobi are too Powerful he asks them to compete in a tournament against each other and whoever wins will have their village spared. The lord asks them to pick their 5 best warriors to fight to the death but there is a twist these are Shinobi's and will not be any ordinary fight. 10 warriors all with different fatal abilities go head to head to become the last Shinobi Village With some of the best fight scenes I've ever seen and imagination of high altitude i really never thought they could make such a great film.

9/10 Excellent.

5 Stars.

It is an excellent film that was based on a book by Yamada Fuutarou called Kouga Nimpouchiyou, who passed away 2001. Before the film was released, the book was made into comics as well as animations. It was a visually trilling experience to see how the special effects are done to make the characters come to life, especially with the supernatural skills that the characters can do. The director did a good job balancing between the storyline as well as the acting sequences. The film vivid portrayed how people are trapped within one's own destiny and how that led to a series of unstoppable events. The well-designed costumes moved away from the traditional images of ninjas and created a different but vivid representation of shinobi (ninjas). The film also explores the dark side of human-beings that humans tend to be afraid of the "abnormal" and get rid of them if possible so humans can stay away from "potential harm".

In every tired genre, from cowboy movies to teen angst movies to gangster movies, there is the occasional film that -- while staying firmly in the genre -- reminds you how good a movie can be.

"Shinobi" seamlessly combines elements from Chinese magical kung-fu movies, Japanese Sengoku drama, and "Romeo and Juliet". (In case you are worried that I've snuck a spoiler in, all of this is revealed in the first 30 seconds of the movie.) "Shinobi" masters all of these elements. The special-effect kung-fu is as good as I've seen, the plot is convincing, and the acting behind the drama and romance is strong enough to shine even through subtitles.

But what makes "Shinobi" truly stand out is that it tells a story, and all of the elements are driven by the storytelling. In short, its a real movie, not a series of wire-fighting scenes strung together with clichés.

I've seen a lot of Japanese movies and this tops it all! The portrayal of the characters are all superbly played. Yuki Nakama was perfect for the female lead and Odagiri for her counterpart. This movie gives a sense of history in a fantasy/romance genre that will appeal to young and old movie goers. I wish they taught history class this way so that after watching it you'll feel like you know all the characters in some degree. You learn a little about the history of Japan in a way you don't even feel you are studying and at the same time captivating the senses. I recommend this to everyone, both samurai buffs and those who haven't watch a single Japanese flick will surely love this movie. It is surely a keepers!