Having not seen the previous two "Jaka Sembung" films yet, I found the anti-imperialist plot of this one easy enough to follow and well-intentioned, but slow and even dull at times. The fight sequences almost make up for that: I say "almost", because two of them are shot at night and it's VERY hard to see what's happening (at least on the current prints; maybe a remastered version would improve the situation), especially in the first one where the black-clad Ninja Girl takes on about a dozen of black-clad opponents. It's a shame, too, because in the second major fight scene, shot in broad daylight, it's clear that the Ninja Girl knows what she's doing. The fight quality is somewhere below the Hong Kong, but somewhere above the American, standards of the era. Some things that differentiate this Indonesian production is the inclusion of magic powers (that often prove to be the downfall of those who have them), a man who is fighting exclusively from the sitting-down position, and some memorably gory bits (face ripping). All in all, average martial arts fare. ** out of 4.
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gridoon202431 May 2010
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sirarthurstreebgreebling II3 April 2002The Superb Barry Prima stars in this second adventure at the folk hero "Jaka Sembung" this time he has to join forces with the man that the evil Dutch believe that they have sent to kill him, but little do the dutch know that their plans are about to be thwarted.
Not to be put off lightly the Dutch enlist the help of some "evil women" and a Spritual type and send them to kill Jaka and "bring his head on a platter" to the Dutch headquarters.
Things start too look bad for Jaka but with the help of Bergola he may just live to fight another day
A heady mix of super hero antics and good ole "revenge". Prima looks like the real thing and has a real presence on the screen and with the mix of film genres from Fantasy to Adventure makes this a entertaining ride thats gore soaked and action packed. -
I'm not sure what this guy was thinking. I caught a late showing of this movie on lifetime, network for women, and I just didn't buy it. There was no good cinamatography, it was visually unstimulating, and poorly acted, the actors couldn't even speak english and it had to be dubbed. Even so the most obvious flaws in this film were in the writing. As if a warrior could defeat a ninja ever. No matter how good the warior was with swordplay he wouldn't even get close to the ninja. Because of 1 simple word, "Ninja Star."
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Leofwine_draca1 December 2016The third and final episode in the Indonesian WARRIOR trilogy ends the series on a high note, with another impressive combination of martial arts action with black magic weirdness. Once again folk hero Jaka Sembung returns to the fold to take action against the Dutch oppressors and this time he finds himself up against more foes than he can cope with. Thus, as the title suggests, he teams up with a female ninja, whose presence is undoubtedly inspired by the myriad ninja flicks from China, Japan, and America which filled cinemas and video racks in the mid '80s. The film has even more consistent action than the previous two entries in the series and the fast pacing never drags. Scene after scene of hard-knuckle martial arts violence are played out and the fighters battle with a fine degree of well-honed skill, making the on screen antics unmissable.
Barry Prima reprises his role as the high-kicking Jaka Sembung, once again on top physical form as he spends the film fighting off numerous opponents, both human and magical. A bonus scene copied from The Pit and the Pendulum sees Prima nearly getting sliced in half in a torture chamber before being rescued by his feisty female companion. The bad guys are a mixed bunch and spend the film over-acting and brutally murdering the good guys, either stringing them up or just shooting and torturing them to death. The glamour content is high with dozens of Indonesian beauties parading their wares for the camera as the latter half of the movie turns into an outright orgy (don't expect any nudity though, other than from an old woman!).
THE WARRIOR AND THE NINJA is just as impressive as the two predecessors in terms of special effects. In fact the movie opens with a volcano explosion that is superbly done, mixing live action effects with miniatures for a hugely entertaining result. There are also plenty of bizarre characters and situations to complement the sometimes superhuman action on screen. One character for instance is an evil fighter who, having been beaten by the forces of good, goes to pray inside a volcano for years. When he comes out his skin has turned to iron making him an unstoppable foe, that is until he falls in a lake, turns rusty and literally disintegrates before our very eyes. Fantastic stuff.
All the best bits are saved for the lengthy climax, which offers sustained action, gore, and outrageous special effects. For instance there's a witch known as the 'Mistress of Evil' who spends an age fighting with our heroic ninja, before she gets caught off guard. Not content with simply killing her, the ninja decides to rip all off the skin off her skull in a brief but ultra-graphic moment. Prima takes time out to fight a crippled black magician, whose years of yoga have resulted in his legs being atrophied. The magician uses the evil eyes technique on Prima until his own magic is reflected back resulting in his messy dissolution. Once again unbeatable entertainment. Although simply offering more of the same as THE WARRIOR and THE WARRIOR AND THE BLIND SWORDSMAN, this third and final film is fantastic entertainment and a must-see for fans of Indonesian action. It doesn't disappoint and the effort is 100% credible. Congratulations for Prima and his crew for making such a great movie and such a heady brew of a mondo macabro magic.