Alien vs. Ninja (2010)

Director:

Seiji Chiba

Writer:

Seiji Chiba (screenplay)

Release Date:

23 July 2011 (Japan)

Genre:

Action | Comedy | Fantasy | Horror | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

Seriously.

Plot Keywords:

Sixteenth Century | Shuriken | Rainstorm | Stomach | Syringe

Cast

Shûji Kashiwabara	...	Yamata
Mika Hijii	...	Rin
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ben Hiura
Kôji Inagaki
Hajime Inoue
Katsu Itagaki	...	Alien Suit Actor
Taro Kanazawa
Shuya Mashita
Masanori Mimoto
Hideaki Morikawa
Hidetaka Nishio
Yûki Ogoe
Kenji Saito
Kyosuke Sasaki
Kentarô Shimazu
Isamu Sugihara
Yumiko Tomokura
Donpei Tsuchihira
Koji Ueda
Hideto Washizu

Directed by
Seiji Chiba

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Seiji Chiba		screenplay

Produced by
Scotty Atkins	....	co-executive producer
Seiji Chiba	....	producer
Yoshinori Chiba	....	producer
Kôji Inagaki	....	assistant producer
Emiko Kawai	....	assistant producer
Kôichi Maehashi	....	associate producer
Akifumi Sugihara	....	executive producer
Takuji Yukuhiro	....	associate producer

Original Music by
Kuniyuki Morohashi

Cinematography by
Tetsuya Kudô
Ryô Uematsu

Film Editing by
Seiji Chiba

Costume Design by
Sôichi Umezawa		(ninja costume)

Makeup Department
Miyuki Chikuma	....	hair stylist
Miyuki Chikuma	....	makeup artist
Tomoko Miyazaki	....	additional hair and make-up
Sôichi Umezawa	....	special makeup effects artist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Yoshichika Goto	....	additional assistant director
Mikio Hirota	....	first assistant director
Jun Ishii	....	additional assistant director
Hiroyuki Ishikawa	....	second assistant director
Kuniyoshi Ono	....	trainee assistant director

Art Department
Mai Endo	....	human & alien dummy maker
Kakusei Fujiwara	....	human & alien dummy maker
Tamotsu Hoshikawa	....	human & alien dummy maker
Chinatsu Kaki	....	human & alien dummy maker
Kazuhiro Kanamori	....	trap maker
Hiroyuki Mukunashi	....	human & alien dummy maker
Takuya Murakami	....	human & alien dummy maker
Mayumi Nakanishi	....	human & alien dummy maker
Mai Obatake	....	human & alien dummy maker
Kensuke Sonomura	....	weapon props
Toma Takano	....	human & alien dummy maker
Reiko Tanaka	....	human & alien dummy maker
Izumi Tobari	....	human & alien dummy maker
Sôichi Umezawa	....	alien design
Akira Yamada	....	human & alien dummy maker

Sound Department
Tomohisa Ikeda	....	sound mixer
Hirokazu Kato	....	sound re-recording mixer
Yoshio Nakamura	....	sound effects editor
Mihoko Oya	....	studio engineer
Yoshiyuki Umehara	....	additional sound crew

Special Effects by
Yosuke Komiya	....	special effects
Hajime Uno	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Satoru Ichikawa	....	cg artist
Tsuyoshi Kazuno	....	visual effects supervisor
Hiromitsu Miyashita	....	CG artist
Tôru Mizuishi	....	cg artist
Hidenobu Sasakura	....	CG director
Miyuki Wakamatsu	....	CG artist

Stunts
Hitoshi Fukushima	....	wire action crew
Yuka Hino	....	stunts
Toshinari Horiuchi	....	stunts
Naohiro Kawamoto	....	stunts
Tomoki Kuroda	....	stunts
Yûji Shimomura	....	action director
Jyunya Soma	....	stunts
Kensuke Sonomura	....	action director
Takashi Tanimoto	....	stunts
Umi Tanoue	....	stunts
Tsutomu Uchigasaki	....	wire action crew
Hiroyuki Yoshida	....	wire action crew
Yasutaka Yuuki	....	stunts

Camera and Electrical Department
Norikazu Azuma	....	electrician
Takamichi Fujita	....	lighting director
Shiina Hirakawa	....	electrician
Takaaki Inada	....	still photographer
Yasuhiko Kani	....	still photographer
Daichi Matsumoto	....	still photographer
Asami Ogami	....	additional electrician

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Yuki Ikeda	....	costume design
Yuki Ikeda	....	stylist
Natsumi Kameyama	....	ninja costume maker
Motohito Kirihara	....	ninja costume maker
Kengo Kusunoki	....	ninja costume maker
Hiroko Maehara	....	assistant stylist
Kenichiro Nakaoka	....	ninja costume maker
Shiro Tanaka	....	ninja costume maker
Natsuki Uenishi	....	ninja costume maker

Music Department
Toshihiro Hamamatsu	....	bass player
Atsuhiko Shimizu	....	music coordinator
Ryoko Suzuki	....	tsugaru shamisen player
Seitaro Takagi	....	music coordinator

Transportation Department
Takeshi Ichikawa	....	additional driver
Seiichi Yoshida	....	transportation

Other crew
Takaaki Inada	....	making-of crew
Akiyoshi Kuramochi	....	production assistant
Kôichi Maehashi	....	making-of crew
Etsuo Masukawa	....	domestic theatrical sales
Yusuke Nakahara	....	domestic theatrical sales
Shota Oba	....	promotion director
Yoshiki Takahashi	....	poster designer
Minoru Wada	....	location coordinator
Marc Walkow	....	overseas promotion
Takashi Yamauchi	....	domestic theatrical sales
Akiko Yoshiwara	....	location coordinator
Takuji Yukuhiro	....	making-of crew

Production Companies

• Nikkatsu (as Sushi Typhoon)
• North CKY

Distributors

• Nikkatsu (2010) (Japan) (theatrical)
• 8 Films (2010) (Finland) (all media)
• 8 Films (2010) (Germany) (all media)
• CN Entertainment (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD)
• CN Entertainment (2011) (Hong Kong) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• FUNimation Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD)
• FUNimation Entertainment (2011) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Officine UBU (2011) (Italy) (all media)
• Revolver Entertainment (2011) (UK) (DVD)
• Revolver Entertainment (2011) (UK) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Star Entertainment (2011) (India) (all media)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

80 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Company:

Nikkatsu

Goofs:

Continuity: When the alien is about to jump on the woman ninja, he is jumping like he wants to land on his belly in one shot, in the other, he lands on his feet.

It was actually quite cool...

Another fantastic hyperactive movie comes out of Japan. In the wake of the recent years releases of over-the-top movies that come from Japan, "Alien vs Ninja" is right up there along with movies like "Tokyo Gore Police", "Meatball Machine", "Samurai Princess", etc. These movie are amazing with their low budget, excessive amounts of blood and gore, and totally crazy story lines.

The story told in "Alien vs Ninja" is very, very simple. A group of ninjas are out scouting when a meteor crashes near their village. And a vicious alien has come to Japan, spreading havoc and destruction. Now it is up to the ninjas to stop the aliens before it is too late.

"Alien vs Ninja" borrows elements from movies such as "Alien", "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Army of Darkness". The alien, though it looks cheesy, was actually a nice enough touch to the movie. And you just got to love the way it sort of resembles a mixture between Godzilla and the aliens from the famous American sci-fi franchise. Oh, and it was also hilarious the way you could see it was just a dude in a latex suit from the way of the sleeves and pants were reacting to his movements and its general appearance.

Moving on... The outfits worn by the ninjas were actually really cool, lots of nice details and rather cool appearance they had.

The special effects were good enough, though at times it was obviously fake. But with a movie of this caliber, this hyped up speed and action, you don't really mind the low budget effects. And frankly, they were working quite well most of the time. The small creatures that went inside people's nostrils and throats were cool as well.

"Alien vs Ninja" has a lot of fighting scenes in it, and these work quite nicely as well. They are well-choreographed and looks good on the screen (despite the cheesy alien).

All in all, I found "Alien vs Ninja" to be surprisingly good. I was thoroughly entertained throughout the entire movie. Highly recommended for fans of Japanese movies, and for those liking gore and high-octane action.