Beverly Hills Ninja (1997)

A man tries to rescue a woman with a little help from his half brother.

Director:

Dennis Dugan

Writers:

Mark Feldberg, Mitchell Klebanoff (as Mitch Klebanoff)

Stars:

Chris Farley, Nicollette Sheridan, Robin Shou

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chris Farley	...	Haru
Nicollette Sheridan	...	Allison Page / Sally Jones
Robin Shou	...	Gobei
Nathaniel Parker	...	Martin Tanley
Soon-Tek Oh	...	Sensei
Keith Cooke	...	Nobu (as Keith Cooke Hirabayashi)
Chris Rock	...	Joey
François Chau	...	Izumo
Dale Ishimoto	...	Old Japanese Man
Daming Chen	...	Head Kobudosai
Burt Bulos	...	Mr. Ozaru
Curtis Blanck	...	Billy
Tom Bailey	...	Billy's Dad
Jason Tobin	...	Busboy (as Jason J. Tobin)
Richard Kline	...	Driver

Storyline

Following a ship wreck, a baby is rescued by a clan of Ninja warriors and raised by them as one of their own. But Haru (Chris Farley), as he is called, never quite fits in, nor does he manage to make a worthy Ninja. However, the good-natured and persevering Haru, in his own bumbling way, and with some help from Gobei (Robin Shou), manages to prove himself to be a winner in the end.

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Plot Keywords:

slowness | slimehouse | nunchaku | three word title | place in title | 

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Taglines:

He puts the Mortal back in Kombat

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Genres:

Action | Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for sex related humor, martial arts violence and a humerous drug related scene

Did You Know?

Trivia

Chris Rock's lines in the Haru's hotel room "Ninja?, you're a Ninja?" and "you must be a-a-a 3rd degree blackbelt" are played in the popular Classified song "Inner Ninja"

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Goofs

At the Black Neon, Haru emerges onto the main stage and the camera's shadow is visible in some shots of the stripper.

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Quotes

Haru: Do not worry. A ninja knows when he is in danger.
[Tanley and his men fire machine guns at them]
Haru: Now we are in danger. We are really in danger.

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Alternate Versions

An addition scene set in an antique shop was shown on TBS. In it Haru finds the only other copy of the scroll he destroyed in Japan and accidentally burns it, as well as trashing the antique shop.

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Connections

Referenced in Better Call Saul: Lantern (2017)

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Soundtracks

Tsugihagi Boogie Woogie
Written by Tortoise Matsumoto
Performed by Ulfuls
Courtesy of Toshiba EMI Limited
under license from EMI-Capitol Music Special Markets

User Reviews

You'll Either Love It or Hate It

Beverly Hills Ninja is one of those movies you'll either love, or hate, depending on how one sees this film. The humour can be very childish and silly; on the other hand one might enjoy watching this brand of silliness and absurdity. It won't win brownie points for being original, but still Chris Farley is absolutely hilarious as the bumbling, 'white' ninja that his antics had me in laughing in stitches.

I am not going to say watch this movie, or buy it- Beverly Hills Ninja might have you in hysterics- or it may annoy and irritate you. It rather depends on how you view this film.

Farley plays an orphan, initially adopted by a group of ninjas as a baby- however when he grows up he becomes aloof, overweight, sluggish and what you called say, a buffoon. Anyway, an attractive woman mistakes Farley as a real ninja- which he is anything but a ninja- and he is hired to help the blonde. Haru witnesses a murder and ends up in the US, Beverly Hills-hence the title of the film.

The stupidity of this film stems from Farley's outrageous, and some would say laughable attempts at defeating the bad guys, despite his lack of karate skills at his disposal. If you are expecting a film big on narrative and great acting, don't bother; if you are expecting that this movie will really make you think, don't bother. If, however, you are up for a laugh and you want to watch a film as farcical, as stupid and as insanely funny, without taking this movie seriously, then Beverly Hills Ninja is definitely worth a viewing or two.

Otherwise, watch something else.

I however thought this was daft- very daft but also entertaining, highly amusing and a good laugh.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 January 1997 (USA)

Also Known As:

Le ninja de Beverly Hills

Filming Locations:

950 Mei Ling Way, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$18,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,220,920, 20 January 1997

Gross USA:

$31,480,418

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$31,480,418

Company Credits

Production Co:

3 Arts Entertainment, Beverly Hills Ninja Productions, Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1