# The best ninja movies

From the 1960s Japanese originals to the Shaw Brothers and the Cannon Films ninja craze of the 1980s with Sho Kosugi and Michael Dudikoff: Taste of Cinema's picks of the best ninja films.

- 45 votes · 11 items
- Jun 2, 2022 · Maria Lim
- https://even.best/en/l/4586/the-best-ninja-movies

## Top 11

1. **Enter the Ninja (1981)** (6 · ▲6 ▼0) — Menahem Golan. Franco Nero and Sho Kosugi; it launched Cannon's ninja films.
2. **Ninja, a Band of Assassins (1962)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Satsuo Yamamoto. Shinobi no Mono: the Japanese film that set the modern image of the ninja.
3. **Gymkata (1985)** (5 · ▲5 ▼0) — Robert Clouse. A gymnast trained as a fighter to win a deadly race.
4. **Ninja III: The Domination (1984)** (4 · ▲5 ▼1) — Sam Firstenberg. An aerobics instructor possessed by a ninja's spirit.
5. **Ninja in the Dragon's Den (1982)** (4 · ▲4 ▼0) — Corey Yuen. A Japanese ninja, Hiroyuki Sanada, against a Chinese fighter.
6. **Pray for Death (1985)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Gordon Hessler. Sho Kosugi as a ninja who moves his family to America.
7. **Five Element Ninjas (1982)** (3 · ▲3 ▼0) — Chang Cheh. Shaw Brothers' gory battle against five clans of ninjas.
8. **The Octagon (1980)** (2 · ▲3 ▼1) — Eric Karson. Chuck Norris against a ninja training camp.
9. **American Ninja (1985)** (1 · ▲2 ▼1) — Sam Firstenberg. Michael Dudikoff as a US soldier trained in ninjutsu.
10. **The Killer Elite (1975)** (0 · ▲1 ▼1) — Sam Peckinpah. James Caan and a final showdown with ninjas.
11. **Revenge of the Ninja (1983)** (-2 · ▲1 ▼3) — Sam Firstenberg. Sho Kosugi as a ninja seeking peace in America.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.