Once upon a time there were three little kids who went to the ninja academy. This being a movie, they were raised to be super-ninjas, with superhuman abilities, and powers far beyond those of mortal folks. They were two boys, and a girl who would grow up to be devastatingly beautiful – so naturally, both the boys fell in love with her.

Again, this being a movie, this ninja clan didn’t hire themselves out to the highest bidder, but instead performed only missions for the greater good. When the film opens our three heroes are sent to a well-defended castle to convince the local lord to make peace with his rival, thus averting an oncoming war.

If you’ve ever said to yourself, “Gosh, I wish they’d make a modern ninja movie with a kickass soundtrack, stylish directing, good-looking stars, lots of cool effects and scary villains to fight, and it should be the Japanese doing it since an American director would only fuck it up,” then Red Shadow is for you. The direction is decent, with plenty of action and interesting sequences; the humor is a bit too obvious for my taste, but it at least keeps things light-hearted. Kind of a ninja movie for the MTV, post-X-Box generation. Or something.

The DVD I have is an import, but the picture and sound quality are top-notch; I understand the domestic version is equally good. A nice addition to your DVD collection if you can find a copy below retail.

P.S. The young lady ninja, played by Kumiko Aso, is absolutely gorgeous. And most of her screentime she’s running around in a tight little black leather outfit. Rowrrr.