1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:07,000 Downloaded from YTS.MX 2 00:00:08,000 --> 00:00:13,000 Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX 3 00:00:10,928 --> 00:00:13,597 (tense synth music) 4 00:00:43,126 --> 00:00:46,296 (energetic synth rock music) 5 00:00:55,222 --> 00:00:57,891 (sword whipping) 6 00:01:01,270 --> 00:01:03,272 (man groaning and screaming) 7 00:01:04,690 --> 00:01:06,942 (fighters grunting) 8 00:01:07,276 --> 00:01:08,694 (blade clanging) 9 00:01:10,737 --> 00:01:12,781 (fighters groaning) 10 00:01:13,115 --> 00:01:13,699 -Where'd he come from? 11 00:01:14,032 --> 00:01:15,367 - Where did he go? 12 00:01:15,701 --> 00:01:18,245 (dramatic music) 13 00:01:21,540 --> 00:01:24,126 (gong crashing) 14 00:01:29,881 --> 00:01:32,926 (people chattering) 15 00:01:43,103 --> 00:01:46,398 (people laughing) 16 00:01:46,732 --> 00:01:49,443 (traffic rumbling) 17 00:01:58,910 --> 00:02:01,788 - Here we are on East Broadway in Chinatown, New York. 18 00:02:02,122 --> 00:02:03,707 Right behind me is the former site 19 00:02:04,041 --> 00:02:05,542 of the Sun Sing Movie Theater. 20 00:02:05,876 --> 00:02:08,086 This is where a lot of classic martial arts movies premiered 21 00:02:08,420 --> 00:02:10,172 in the late '60s and early '70s. 22 00:02:10,505 --> 00:02:12,174 This was one of many theaters 23 00:02:12,507 --> 00:02:14,009 that were in Chinatown at one time. 24 00:02:14,343 --> 00:02:17,888 Further down on East Broadway used to be the Pagoda Theater, 25 00:02:18,221 --> 00:02:20,140 Canal Street was the Canal Cinema, 26 00:02:20,474 --> 00:02:24,936 then on Bowery, we had the Music Palace Theater, 27 00:02:25,270 --> 00:02:27,606 which is now a Wyndham Garden Hotel. 28 00:02:27,939 --> 00:02:31,068 Then right around the corner from that used to be 29 00:02:31,401 --> 00:02:34,321 the Rosemary Theater, which is now a Buddhist temple. 30 00:02:34,655 --> 00:02:37,032 All of these theaters are where John Liu's movies used 31 00:02:37,366 --> 00:02:39,034 to play when they came to New York. 32 00:02:39,368 --> 00:02:42,162 And when John Liu came to New York, he made New York Ninja, 33 00:02:42,496 --> 00:02:44,581 and this is the story of that movie. 34 00:02:44,915 --> 00:02:46,083 -Wah! 35 00:02:46,416 --> 00:02:46,917 - Ugh! 36 00:02:47,250 --> 00:02:47,918 (thudding) 37 00:02:50,087 --> 00:02:52,756 - Kicking is a really big deal in Hong Kong movies. 38 00:02:53,090 --> 00:02:54,383 And it's a big deal because there's a saying 39 00:02:54,716 --> 00:02:58,428 in Chinese martial arts, "Northern leg, Southern fist," 40 00:02:58,762 --> 00:03:00,430 which means the Northern style martial arts have 41 00:03:00,764 --> 00:03:02,849 a lot more kicking in them, it's a lot flashier. 42 00:03:03,183 --> 00:03:05,936 The Southern styles, the kicking is low to the ground, 43 00:03:06,269 --> 00:03:09,064 it's very close, and it's mostly focused on punching. 44 00:03:09,398 --> 00:03:11,775 So, in Hong Kong, which is in Southern China, 45 00:03:12,109 --> 00:03:14,069 a lot of the people who are trained in martial arts, 46 00:03:14,403 --> 00:03:16,947 who wound up being action choreographers 47 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:20,283 and doing martial arts in movies, were Southern trained, 48 00:03:20,617 --> 00:03:22,994 so they were mostly concentrated on fist styles. 49 00:03:23,328 --> 00:03:23,829 (fists thudding) 50 00:03:24,162 --> 00:03:24,996 (fighters groaning) 51 00:03:25,330 --> 00:03:28,125 So, kicking was not super flashy. 52 00:03:28,458 --> 00:03:30,210 So when you saw people pulling off super kicks 53 00:03:30,544 --> 00:03:32,421 and these amazing high kicks and all this stuff, 54 00:03:32,754 --> 00:03:34,673 it looked really, really good. 55 00:03:35,006 --> 00:03:37,300 (kicks thudding) 56 00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:39,177 (fighters groaning) 57 00:03:40,220 --> 00:03:42,931 So, a lot of these super kickers from Korea, 58 00:03:43,265 --> 00:03:45,308 these Korean Taekwondo guys, 59 00:03:45,642 --> 00:03:47,060 came to Hong Kong to appear in movies. 60 00:03:47,394 --> 00:03:48,854 You had people like Hwang Jang-lee, 61 00:03:49,187 --> 00:03:52,566 who wound up being in two of Jackie Chan's early classics, 62 00:03:52,899 --> 00:03:53,984 Snake in the Eagle's Shadow 63 00:03:54,317 --> 00:03:56,194 and Drunken Master as the final boss. 64 00:03:56,528 --> 00:03:58,655 Hwang In-shik, who was in two other 65 00:03:58,989 --> 00:04:01,158 early classic Jackie Chan movies as the final boss, 66 00:04:01,491 --> 00:04:03,368 Young Master and Dragon Lord. 67 00:04:03,702 --> 00:04:06,455 Now, John Liu was Taiwanese. 68 00:04:06,788 --> 00:04:08,665 He learned a bunch of different martial arts styles 69 00:04:08,999 --> 00:04:12,586 from his grandfather, but he wanted to learn Taekwondo. 70 00:04:12,919 --> 00:04:14,045 And he learned it from Tan Tao-liang, 71 00:04:14,379 --> 00:04:16,339 this Korean Taekwondo guy who was actually 72 00:04:16,673 --> 00:04:19,134 a really, really big deal in the world of Taekwondo. 73 00:04:19,468 --> 00:04:21,970 The problem was, John Liu wasn't flexible enough 74 00:04:22,304 --> 00:04:24,806 to pull off these kicks that Taekwondo required, 75 00:04:25,140 --> 00:04:27,476 so essentially, Tan Tao-liang tortured him. 76 00:04:27,809 --> 00:04:31,146 He made him stretch his legs and his groin muscles 77 00:04:31,480 --> 00:04:35,442 for two years, basically, of sheer, unrelenting crotch hell. 78 00:04:35,776 --> 00:04:36,276 (whooshing) 79 00:04:36,610 --> 00:04:37,110 (eggshell cracking) 80 00:04:37,444 --> 00:04:37,944 - Ahhh! 81 00:04:38,278 --> 00:04:38,779 (whooshing) 82 00:04:39,112 --> 00:04:39,863 (egg crunching) 83 00:04:40,197 --> 00:04:41,364 - Ah! 84 00:04:41,698 --> 00:04:42,908 - All kinds of really 85 00:04:43,241 --> 00:04:45,994 sick, perverted, awful ways to stretch out his groin 86 00:04:46,328 --> 00:04:49,414 so John Liu could do these really high, really intricate, 87 00:04:49,748 --> 00:04:52,709 flat kicks with a lot of leg flexibility. 88 00:04:53,043 --> 00:04:55,212 He could grab his leg and bring it right up 89 00:04:55,545 --> 00:04:58,548 to his face so that he could kick people behind him. 90 00:04:58,882 --> 00:05:02,427 And he always worked something interesting 91 00:05:02,761 --> 00:05:05,263 into the films, like in Snuff Bottle Connection, 92 00:05:05,597 --> 00:05:07,307 somebody is coming at him with a sword, 93 00:05:07,641 --> 00:05:10,060 he pulls the sword away from the guy with his foot, 94 00:05:10,393 --> 00:05:12,646 slashes him, and when he comes back around, 95 00:05:12,979 --> 00:05:16,399 Liu stabs him right through the midsection with his foot. 96 00:05:16,733 --> 00:05:19,903 - He made a few movies, but then he had this fateful meeting 97 00:05:20,237 --> 00:05:21,613 with Ng See-yuen. 98 00:05:21,947 --> 00:05:23,990 Ng See-yuen had a great eye for talent. 99 00:05:24,324 --> 00:05:25,617 He was a producer and behind the scenes 100 00:05:25,951 --> 00:05:27,577 for the most part, and he's the guy 101 00:05:27,911 --> 00:05:30,914 who saw Jackie Chan being a Bruce Lee knockoff, 102 00:05:31,248 --> 00:05:32,791 doing all these Bruce Lee knockoff movies 103 00:05:33,124 --> 00:05:35,335 and all these really crummy, low budget films. 104 00:05:35,669 --> 00:05:38,004 And Ng See-yuen teamed him up with Yuen Woo-ping, 105 00:05:38,338 --> 00:05:40,715 another one of his discoveries, who was basically 106 00:05:41,049 --> 00:05:44,135 a sort of standard issue action choreographer 107 00:05:44,469 --> 00:05:44,970 with his brother. 108 00:05:45,303 --> 00:05:47,764 We know Yuen Woo-ping now for the guy who did The Matrix 109 00:05:48,098 --> 00:05:49,182 and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 110 00:05:49,516 --> 00:05:51,476 and he spotted John Liu. 111 00:05:51,810 --> 00:05:54,229 And he teamed up John Liu with Hwang Jang-lee, 112 00:05:54,563 --> 00:05:56,898 this Korean Taekwondo guy and another super kicker, 113 00:05:57,232 --> 00:05:59,150 and put them in a movie with Don Wong Tao 114 00:05:59,484 --> 00:06:00,569 called Secret Rivals. 115 00:06:00,902 --> 00:06:01,570 - Ah ha! 116 00:06:01,903 --> 00:06:02,821 (feet shuffling) 117 00:06:03,154 --> 00:06:04,698 (feet thudding) 118 00:06:05,031 --> 00:06:05,532 (fighters grunting) 119 00:06:05,866 --> 00:06:06,950 - Oh, oh, ugh. 120 00:06:07,284 --> 00:06:09,828 (kicks thudding) 121 00:06:11,329 --> 00:06:13,290 It was a really surprise hit. 122 00:06:13,623 --> 00:06:16,251 Then, Don Wong Tao went on to do other movies, 123 00:06:16,585 --> 00:06:17,294 The Hot, The Cool, and the Vicious, 124 00:06:17,627 --> 00:06:18,670 he went away and did his thing. 125 00:06:19,004 --> 00:06:21,214 But Hwang Jang-lee and John Liu stuck together 126 00:06:21,548 --> 00:06:22,632 for Secret Rivals 2. 127 00:06:22,966 --> 00:06:25,969 (dramatic music) 128 00:06:26,303 --> 00:06:28,054 (fists thudding) 129 00:06:28,388 --> 00:06:29,264 (fighters groaning) 130 00:06:29,598 --> 00:06:31,433 (fist thudding) 131 00:06:31,766 --> 00:06:33,268 - It's a more complicated story 132 00:06:33,602 --> 00:06:37,522 than the first movie, but... 133 00:06:37,856 --> 00:06:39,900 it really pays off in the fighting. 134 00:06:40,233 --> 00:06:42,402 But I think a lot of people were disappointed 135 00:06:42,736 --> 00:06:45,280 with Secret Rivals 2 because Don Wong wasn't in it, 136 00:06:45,614 --> 00:06:49,409 so they brought him back for Death Duel of Kung Fu. 137 00:06:49,743 --> 00:06:50,911 - Ayah! 138 00:06:51,244 --> 00:06:51,745 (kicks thudding) 139 00:06:52,078 --> 00:06:54,581 (whooshing) 140 00:06:56,333 --> 00:06:57,083 - Yah! 141 00:06:59,586 --> 00:07:00,337 - Ah! 142 00:07:02,297 --> 00:07:03,924 (kicks thudding) 143 00:07:04,257 --> 00:07:05,967 They made Invincible Armor, action choreographed 144 00:07:06,301 --> 00:07:07,302 by Yuen Woo-ping. 145 00:07:07,636 --> 00:07:08,803 (metallic grating) 146 00:07:09,137 --> 00:07:10,597 (blade whooshing) 147 00:07:10,931 --> 00:07:11,473 - Ah! 148 00:07:11,806 --> 00:07:12,641 - Oh! 149 00:07:12,974 --> 00:07:13,892 (chain clinking) 150 00:07:14,225 --> 00:07:16,394 (bodies thudding) 151 00:07:16,728 --> 00:07:18,396 And then, John Liu kept working, 152 00:07:18,730 --> 00:07:22,984 but never again was he really, after he left Ng See-yuen, 153 00:07:23,318 --> 00:07:25,862 making quite stuff at that same caliber, 154 00:07:26,196 --> 00:07:27,989 with that same caliber of talent. 155 00:07:28,323 --> 00:07:32,410 - There was a Hong Kong company called L&T Corporation, 156 00:07:32,744 --> 00:07:37,499 and when the Kung Fu craze kicked in, in 1973, '74, 157 00:07:39,668 --> 00:07:42,504 they started buying up martial arts movies. 158 00:07:42,837 --> 00:07:45,799 They set up two companies in the United States, 159 00:07:46,132 --> 00:07:50,345 one in Jacksonville called Ark Films in 1976, 160 00:07:50,679 --> 00:07:53,014 and then they started another one 161 00:07:53,348 --> 00:07:57,185 in California in 1981, called Unifilm International. 162 00:07:57,519 --> 00:08:00,021 Sometimes, Ark would put the movie out first 163 00:08:00,355 --> 00:08:05,026 and under a different title, and then a couple 164 00:08:05,360 --> 00:08:06,903 of years later, Unifilm would re-release it 165 00:08:07,237 --> 00:08:07,904 under a different title. 166 00:08:08,238 --> 00:08:12,409 So, 2 Great Cavaliers, when that reached the US, 167 00:08:12,742 --> 00:08:15,745 it was called Blade of Fury. 168 00:08:16,079 --> 00:08:20,208 And then a couple of years later, when Unifilm had it, 169 00:08:20,542 --> 00:08:22,669 The Sword and the Sorcerer had just come out 170 00:08:23,003 --> 00:08:24,337 and it had been a surprise hit. 171 00:08:24,671 --> 00:08:27,590 So, what's better than the Sword and the Sorcerer? 172 00:08:27,924 --> 00:08:29,467 Two Swords and Two Sorcerers. 173 00:08:29,801 --> 00:08:31,428 So, that was the re-release title. 174 00:08:31,761 --> 00:08:34,180 - I think John Liu had to see less talented martial artists 175 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:35,974 in himself, people like Leo Fong, 176 00:08:36,307 --> 00:08:38,601 stuff like that, making these headline movies 177 00:08:38,935 --> 00:08:40,729 in the States, and I think he certainly saw a chance 178 00:08:41,062 --> 00:08:45,400 to expand his market the way Jackie Chan was, 179 00:08:45,692 --> 00:08:47,610 the way he'd seen Bruce Lee do it. 180 00:08:47,944 --> 00:08:49,738 And he'd struck out on his own, 181 00:08:50,071 --> 00:08:52,365 and he seems to have really valued total control, 182 00:08:52,699 --> 00:08:54,451 because he was developing the movies themselves. 183 00:08:54,784 --> 00:08:55,535 He was directing them. 184 00:08:55,869 --> 00:08:57,454 I mean, Ninja in the Claws of the CIA, 185 00:08:57,787 --> 00:08:59,080 he's playing two roles in it. 186 00:08:59,414 --> 00:09:01,458 He had this vision of control, 187 00:09:01,791 --> 00:09:03,126 but his movies weren't -- they don't seem 188 00:09:03,460 --> 00:09:04,794 to have had the same backing, they don't seem 189 00:09:05,128 --> 00:09:06,463 to have had the same budgets, and they don't seem 190 00:09:06,796 --> 00:09:08,506 to have had the same behind the camera talent 191 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:11,009 as a lot of these other key people did. 192 00:09:11,342 --> 00:09:11,843 - [Narrator] There's a man teaching 193 00:09:12,177 --> 00:09:14,095 that technique right here in the United States. 194 00:09:14,429 --> 00:09:15,597 His name is John Liu. 195 00:09:15,930 --> 00:09:17,932 - Ninja in the Claws of the CIA makes a lot 196 00:09:18,266 --> 00:09:21,144 of sense inside John Liu's head. 197 00:09:21,478 --> 00:09:24,272 It's a movie where you can see the exploitable elements: 198 00:09:24,606 --> 00:09:27,067 ninjas, CIA, you've got some footage 199 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:30,070 from a Danny Lee movie at the very, very beginning 200 00:09:30,403 --> 00:09:31,905 that is unrelated from everything else. 201 00:09:32,238 --> 00:09:34,783 You had a bunch of prop army costumes, 202 00:09:35,116 --> 00:09:37,077 and then you had this sexploitation angle. 203 00:09:37,410 --> 00:09:41,331 The movie is about the CIA recruiting John Liu 204 00:09:41,664 --> 00:09:44,334 by pressuring his wheelchair-bound, 205 00:09:44,667 --> 00:09:46,795 army veteran brother, played by John Liu, 206 00:09:47,128 --> 00:09:49,756 who only talks to John Liu from the other side of a pool. 207 00:09:50,090 --> 00:09:51,758 - I thought about what you told me last night. 208 00:09:52,092 --> 00:09:53,802 You know how I feel about war. 209 00:09:54,135 --> 00:09:55,178 I think you're going to have 210 00:09:55,512 --> 00:09:56,554 to be the patriotic member of the family. 211 00:09:56,888 --> 00:09:57,764 - John Liu gets recruited by the CIA 212 00:09:58,098 --> 00:10:01,017 and then they study his techniques. 213 00:10:01,351 --> 00:10:03,520 They have this kind of mind control thing going on. 214 00:10:03,853 --> 00:10:07,232 - Please, you've got to stop it. 215 00:10:07,565 --> 00:10:08,691 I can't stand this torture. 216 00:10:09,025 --> 00:10:09,526 (man groaning) 217 00:10:09,859 --> 00:10:10,735 - And then there's something to do 218 00:10:11,069 --> 00:10:12,779 with NASA in there, I believe. 219 00:10:13,113 --> 00:10:14,447 It's a little confusing. 220 00:10:14,781 --> 00:10:15,281 (feet slapping) 221 00:10:15,615 --> 00:10:16,116 (man groaning) 222 00:10:16,449 --> 00:10:17,784 (kicks thudding) 223 00:10:18,118 --> 00:10:18,743 (car horn honking) 224 00:10:19,077 --> 00:10:21,079 And a lot of these guys had their own systems. 225 00:10:21,412 --> 00:10:24,249 His teacher, Tan Tao-liang, had a system called "gecko." 226 00:10:24,582 --> 00:10:25,083 - Hello! 227 00:10:25,416 --> 00:10:27,919 - And "gecko" was not quite a martial arts system, 228 00:10:28,253 --> 00:10:28,753 it was more like a way 229 00:10:29,087 --> 00:10:31,714 to climb walls really fast using mostly your legs, 230 00:10:32,048 --> 00:10:32,549 which Tan Tao-liang was good at, 231 00:10:32,882 --> 00:10:35,135 because he had a lot of leg strength and flexibility. 232 00:10:35,468 --> 00:10:39,264 Bruce Lee had Jeet Kune Do, and so John Liu had Zen Kwun Do. 233 00:10:39,597 --> 00:10:42,725 I'm not sure exactly what Zen Kwun Do does, 234 00:10:43,059 --> 00:10:46,479 but Zen Kwun Do Strikes in Paris is a movie filmed in Paris 235 00:10:46,813 --> 00:10:49,315 and this is the one where he's got a relative 236 00:10:49,649 --> 00:10:52,402 who's an astrophysicist who he has to rescue. 237 00:10:52,735 --> 00:10:54,988 And again, he fights people in international locations. 238 00:10:55,321 --> 00:10:55,989 (kicks thudding) 239 00:10:56,322 --> 00:10:57,949 (fighters grunting) 240 00:10:58,283 --> 00:11:00,285 (kicks thudding) 241 00:11:00,618 --> 00:11:01,327 - Ahh! 242 00:11:01,661 --> 00:11:04,414 -In 1976, there was an exhibition bout 243 00:11:04,747 --> 00:11:08,835 in France, this was two years 244 00:11:09,169 --> 00:11:10,587 after Chuck Norris had retired, 245 00:11:10,920 --> 00:11:12,547 so it's not on his official record, 246 00:11:12,881 --> 00:11:14,632 and it wasn't a competitive fight. 247 00:11:14,966 --> 00:11:16,718 It wasn't judged; my understanding is 248 00:11:17,051 --> 00:11:19,512 that they had the fight and then they left it up 249 00:11:19,846 --> 00:11:22,140 to the crowd who the winner was, 250 00:11:22,473 --> 00:11:26,186 and the loudest applause - or the louder applause was 251 00:11:26,519 --> 00:11:29,772 for John Liu, so that worked its way 252 00:11:30,106 --> 00:11:32,567 into the advertising of some of the movies 253 00:11:32,901 --> 00:11:36,487 when L&T put out Zen Kwun Do Strikes in Paris, 254 00:11:36,821 --> 00:11:38,990 this blew him up as a world karate champion, 255 00:11:39,324 --> 00:11:41,868 as well as defeated Chuck Norris. 256 00:11:42,202 --> 00:11:44,454 You're still reading about this today on the internet, 257 00:11:44,787 --> 00:11:46,497 about John Liu beating Chuck Norris, 258 00:11:46,831 --> 00:11:49,918 and it's based on, probably, these ads 259 00:11:50,251 --> 00:11:53,421 or this press release that came out in 1979, 260 00:11:53,755 --> 00:11:54,255 - Ha! 261 00:11:54,589 --> 00:11:56,049 (kicks thudding) 262 00:11:56,382 --> 00:11:57,675 - Oy! 263 00:11:58,009 --> 00:11:58,635 - Ah! 264 00:12:00,678 --> 00:12:04,265 (fighter groaning) 265 00:12:04,599 --> 00:12:06,351 He did the one movie in Paris, 266 00:12:06,684 --> 00:12:10,480 he made a movie in Mexico, and this was the time, now, 267 00:12:10,813 --> 00:12:13,358 to come to New York and make a movie in New York. 268 00:12:13,691 --> 00:12:16,236 (dramatic electronic music) 269 00:12:21,157 --> 00:12:24,535 21st Century started out with foreign films 270 00:12:24,869 --> 00:12:26,287 that they picked up for distribution. 271 00:12:26,621 --> 00:12:29,999 One of their first releases was Three Fantastic Supermen, 272 00:12:30,333 --> 00:12:34,212 which was an Italian action movie 273 00:12:34,545 --> 00:12:37,131 that they kind of sold as a kids film. 274 00:12:37,465 --> 00:12:40,051 They had a comic book artist do the poster 275 00:12:40,385 --> 00:12:43,096 to appeal to kids who read comic books, 276 00:12:43,429 --> 00:12:45,682 but it was mostly Kung Fu movies. 277 00:12:46,015 --> 00:12:49,644 And so, in the early '80s, 278 00:12:49,978 --> 00:12:51,604 when they started branching out 279 00:12:51,938 --> 00:12:53,898 into more of the horror films, 280 00:12:54,232 --> 00:12:55,733 New York Ninja was kind of a return 281 00:12:56,067 --> 00:12:57,860 to the martial arts roots. 282 00:12:58,194 --> 00:13:02,490 Also, Ninja was a big keyword at that time, 283 00:13:02,824 --> 00:13:04,284 after the Cannon movies, 284 00:13:04,617 --> 00:13:08,621 after the bestselling novel, The Ninja, 285 00:13:08,955 --> 00:13:09,872 there was a real interest. 286 00:13:10,206 --> 00:13:11,374 In 1984, it was kind of 287 00:13:11,708 --> 00:13:16,504 the height of the ninja fever in the US. 288 00:13:16,838 --> 00:13:19,424 There hadn't been any ninja movies filmed in New York, 289 00:13:19,757 --> 00:13:24,554 and 21st Century was located in New York, 290 00:13:24,971 --> 00:13:27,682 so it seemed like a good thing. 291 00:13:28,016 --> 00:13:30,476 - New York Ninja? 292 00:13:30,810 --> 00:13:34,397 - New York Ninja was a film that I created 293 00:13:35,565 --> 00:13:40,486 with the idea in mind that we were doing extremely well 294 00:13:40,820 --> 00:13:45,616 with martial arts films, and that we were also looking 295 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:48,244 for films that had a little bit of fantasy in it. 296 00:13:48,578 --> 00:13:50,538 And New York Ninja was kind of a cross 297 00:13:50,872 --> 00:13:55,668 between a comic book hero with a super ability 298 00:13:57,211 --> 00:14:00,256 and a straightforward martial arts film. 299 00:14:00,590 --> 00:14:04,427 We did have a very good actor in the name of John Liu, 300 00:14:04,761 --> 00:14:06,846 who was credible to the martial arts fans. 301 00:14:07,180 --> 00:14:08,973 - John Liu came in my office, I met him. 302 00:14:10,183 --> 00:14:14,687 He was a good martial artist and he had a good look to him. 303 00:14:15,021 --> 00:14:18,024 And he was a... 304 00:14:18,358 --> 00:14:20,401 one of his favorites was Bruce Lee. 305 00:14:20,735 --> 00:14:24,155 And he more or less had a Bruce Lee swagger. 306 00:14:24,489 --> 00:14:28,868 - Our intentions all along were to give a very fine, 307 00:14:29,869 --> 00:14:32,580 not quite the Hong Kong production, 308 00:14:32,914 --> 00:14:36,167 but really, keeping within the reality 309 00:14:36,501 --> 00:14:39,629 of what martial arts fans would want. 310 00:14:40,755 --> 00:14:41,381 (thudding) 311 00:14:41,714 --> 00:14:43,049 - Ah! 312 00:14:43,383 --> 00:14:44,092 (whooshing) 313 00:14:44,425 --> 00:14:46,469 (dramatic music) 314 00:14:46,803 --> 00:14:47,428 -Who is that? 315 00:14:47,762 --> 00:14:49,305 - I knew about John Liu because I was always 316 00:14:49,639 --> 00:14:52,141 a big martial arts and Kung Fu movie fan, 317 00:14:52,475 --> 00:14:53,684 but I didn't really know who he was 318 00:14:54,018 --> 00:14:57,397 until -- and I think it was on TV -- Kung Fu Commandos, 319 00:14:57,730 --> 00:14:59,190 and I loved that movie, I'm like, 320 00:14:59,524 --> 00:15:01,150 this guy is amazing, they were kicking 321 00:15:01,484 --> 00:15:04,320 and I was going crazy for a hon-Bruce Lee movie. 322 00:15:04,654 --> 00:15:05,196 - Huh! 323 00:15:05,530 --> 00:15:06,030 (kicks thudding) 324 00:15:06,364 --> 00:15:06,989 - Ah! 325 00:15:08,574 --> 00:15:09,200 (feet slapping) 326 00:15:09,534 --> 00:15:10,618 (whooshing) 327 00:15:10,952 --> 00:15:12,286 (kicks thudding) 328 00:15:12,620 --> 00:15:15,289 I'd just come off the movie Silent Madness, 329 00:15:15,623 --> 00:15:18,835 and it was really soon after that I got a call. 330 00:15:19,168 --> 00:15:21,838 And it's like, oh, you worked on the Silent Madness, 331 00:15:22,171 --> 00:15:23,714 the effects team, and I was like, yeah. 332 00:15:24,048 --> 00:15:25,633 I mean, those guys were from LA. 333 00:15:25,967 --> 00:15:27,885 They'd already left, they're back in LA, you know. 334 00:15:28,219 --> 00:15:29,887 And they go, well, can you do this movie? 335 00:15:30,221 --> 00:15:31,973 It's a low budget martial arts movie, 336 00:15:32,306 --> 00:15:33,891 you probably never heard of the guy, John Liu. 337 00:15:34,225 --> 00:15:37,145 And I was like, John Liu from Hong Kong? 338 00:15:37,478 --> 00:15:39,147 And he was like, yeah, yeah, oh yeah, yeah. 339 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:42,150 So, I mean, I would have worked on that film, 340 00:15:42,483 --> 00:15:46,737 I would have paid to work on it just to meet John Liu. 341 00:15:47,071 --> 00:15:50,324 - I had just finished a magazine show called Two on the Town 342 00:15:50,658 --> 00:15:54,287 that I co-anchored, and it was the end of the run. 343 00:15:54,620 --> 00:15:57,498 And my agent at the time started sending me out 344 00:15:57,832 --> 00:16:00,209 on feature films, since I'm also an actress, 345 00:16:00,543 --> 00:16:03,129 for reporter parts, not a long stretch. 346 00:16:03,463 --> 00:16:05,214 - We were told that Rudy Ray Moore was going 347 00:16:05,548 --> 00:16:08,217 to be in the movie, and I had, probably 348 00:16:08,551 --> 00:16:10,386 at that time, I hadn't seen a Dolomite movie, 349 00:16:10,720 --> 00:16:14,390 but I knew who Rudy Ray Moore was and had heard his records. 350 00:16:14,724 --> 00:16:16,893 And that was a big deal. Wow, Rudy Ray Moore. 351 00:16:17,226 --> 00:16:18,769 And it wasn't -- I think it was the first day 352 00:16:19,103 --> 00:16:21,606 of the shoot they said, no, Rudy Ray Moore is not in it. 353 00:16:21,939 --> 00:16:23,816 - Oh fuck, I ain't done nothing. 354 00:16:24,150 --> 00:16:26,694 - I wasn't confident doing it as a solo gig 355 00:16:27,028 --> 00:16:28,488 as an effects artist, so I called 356 00:16:28,821 --> 00:16:30,948 in my friend John Bisson, who had helped me on my 357 00:16:31,282 --> 00:16:35,161 NYU student films, and John Bisson was, 358 00:16:35,495 --> 00:16:37,830 really, working and always experimenting, 359 00:16:38,164 --> 00:16:40,666 wanted to be a makeup effects artist. 360 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:44,420 Years later, he would go to LA and join K&B 361 00:16:44,754 --> 00:16:46,464 and work on some pretty big pictures. 362 00:16:46,797 --> 00:16:48,341 So, I said, can you do this with me, should we do it? 363 00:16:48,674 --> 00:16:51,344 And he was like, yeah, let's go check it out. 364 00:16:51,677 --> 00:16:54,263 We went into a meeting, we met John Liu that night 365 00:16:54,597 --> 00:16:56,766 and I was already a fan, and that was a big deal. 366 00:16:57,099 --> 00:16:59,435 And half, I would say the majority 367 00:16:59,769 --> 00:17:01,729 of the meeting, was just talking about Kung Fu movies. 368 00:17:02,063 --> 00:17:04,482 We weren't charging anything, basically materials. 369 00:17:04,815 --> 00:17:06,609 And it was still too much money. 370 00:17:06,943 --> 00:17:07,985 And we were like, ah, how do we do this? 371 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:09,278 We couldn't have spent more than 372 00:17:09,612 --> 00:17:11,280 a little over a hundred dollars, 373 00:17:11,614 --> 00:17:14,575 I think, on the entire effects budget. 374 00:17:14,909 --> 00:17:17,537 It's not like it was an effects heavy film. 375 00:17:17,870 --> 00:17:19,121 They were doing a little bit 376 00:17:19,455 --> 00:17:21,624 of blood effects here and there, 377 00:17:21,958 --> 00:17:25,461 but they needed us mainly for this face peel. 378 00:17:25,795 --> 00:17:30,466 (man screaming) 379 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:32,718 We were having a lot of difficulty understanding 380 00:17:33,052 --> 00:17:35,137 what's this supposed to be, because they kept saying 381 00:17:35,471 --> 00:17:37,890 it was like Mission Impossible, taking off the mask. 382 00:17:38,224 --> 00:17:41,519 And we go, but yeah, they're never mutated underneath. 383 00:17:41,852 --> 00:17:45,565 So, he wanted all this gooey, weird stuff under the mask. 384 00:17:45,898 --> 00:17:47,567 We weren't clear about that, I didn't know 385 00:17:47,900 --> 00:17:50,278 if the mask was supposed to be human skin 386 00:17:50,611 --> 00:17:52,363 or a synthetic mask. 387 00:17:52,697 --> 00:17:55,032 We pulled an all-nighter for that baking foam 388 00:17:55,366 --> 00:17:56,993 and did all these different faces, 389 00:17:57,326 --> 00:17:59,078 and they weren't coming out right. 390 00:17:59,412 --> 00:18:01,414 And the next morning, we went to shoot the scene. 391 00:18:01,747 --> 00:18:05,084 - I have to say that the villains were brilliantly cast, 392 00:18:05,418 --> 00:18:08,754 because that Plutonium Killer, whatever special effects 393 00:18:09,088 --> 00:18:12,008 they did with his face and him melting, 394 00:18:12,341 --> 00:18:14,302 and his acting was really good. 395 00:18:14,635 --> 00:18:15,469 - We did a scene where he mutates, 396 00:18:15,803 --> 00:18:18,764 and his hands are like hot, and he brought his girlfriend 397 00:18:19,098 --> 00:18:19,932 for that scene, and I remember, 398 00:18:20,266 --> 00:18:22,268 she was pretty naked in a car, 399 00:18:22,602 --> 00:18:24,270 and he puts his hands on her back. 400 00:18:24,604 --> 00:18:25,354 (woman moaning) 401 00:18:25,688 --> 00:18:26,647 (man groaning) 402 00:18:26,981 --> 00:18:28,524 (woman panting and moaning) 403 00:18:28,858 --> 00:18:31,193 And it leaves the burns on her back. 404 00:18:31,527 --> 00:18:34,697 And we did that, gelatin burns on her back. 405 00:18:35,031 --> 00:18:37,825 - Originally, I was a little concerned as a reporter, 406 00:18:38,159 --> 00:18:40,036 because I thought there may have been nudity 407 00:18:40,369 --> 00:18:42,872 or someone that did not have their clothes on, 408 00:18:43,205 --> 00:18:44,498 and quite frankly, I didn't want 409 00:18:44,832 --> 00:18:46,584 to be a part of that, you know? 410 00:18:48,002 --> 00:18:52,923 And when they redid it, there was one scene with the girl, 411 00:18:53,299 --> 00:18:58,179 but it was done very delicately and it wasn't salacious. 412 00:18:58,554 --> 00:19:00,014 (woman groaning) 413 00:19:00,348 --> 00:19:02,933 - Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. 414 00:19:03,267 --> 00:19:06,646 - I only worked maybe four or five days, scattered. 415 00:19:06,979 --> 00:19:09,523 It was really cold weather, I remember that. 416 00:19:09,857 --> 00:19:11,651 The crew was tiny, it was like six 417 00:19:11,984 --> 00:19:13,986 or seven people on the shoot. 418 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:16,238 The first day I showed up, the cameraman was 419 00:19:16,572 --> 00:19:18,532 someone I knew, his name was Steve Ning. 420 00:19:18,866 --> 00:19:21,243 He ran a lot of the logistical stuff 421 00:19:21,577 --> 00:19:24,664 like the equipment sign in and sign out, 422 00:19:24,997 --> 00:19:28,292 the checkout for equipment at NYU graduate program, 423 00:19:28,626 --> 00:19:29,418 that's how I knew him, and I'm like, 424 00:19:29,752 --> 00:19:31,629 Steve, you're on this movie, oh my God. 425 00:19:31,962 --> 00:19:33,798 That's crazy, do you know, 426 00:19:34,131 --> 00:19:35,216 are you a fan of John Liu? 427 00:19:35,549 --> 00:19:36,384 And he was like, yeah. 428 00:19:36,717 --> 00:19:38,511 I don't think he'd ever heard of him, 429 00:19:38,844 --> 00:19:40,346 but that was weird. 430 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,807 And then, the other shoot days, he wasn't there. 431 00:19:43,140 --> 00:19:46,560 And tragically, Steve Ning died really young 432 00:19:46,894 --> 00:19:47,436 soon after. 433 00:19:47,770 --> 00:19:50,314 -I don't believe I even got a full script. 434 00:19:50,648 --> 00:19:54,485 So, I got pages for my scene, 435 00:19:54,819 --> 00:19:56,821 and it was abduction after abduction. 436 00:19:57,154 --> 00:19:58,072 (woman groaning) 437 00:19:58,406 --> 00:19:59,281 (thugs taunting) 438 00:19:59,615 --> 00:20:00,574 - Stop it, get away from me. 439 00:20:00,908 --> 00:20:01,409 - Ha! 440 00:20:01,742 --> 00:20:02,243 - No. 441 00:20:02,576 --> 00:20:03,077 - Where you going? 442 00:20:03,411 --> 00:20:03,911 - Oh! 443 00:20:04,245 --> 00:20:06,747 - And I'm like, John, can't I just be a news reporter? 444 00:20:07,081 --> 00:20:08,874 But you know, it was funny, I mean, 445 00:20:09,208 --> 00:20:11,085 that was the through line of the film. 446 00:20:11,419 --> 00:20:13,921 - Hey sweetheart, you waiting for someone? 447 00:20:14,255 --> 00:20:15,631 - A friend, I suppose. 448 00:20:15,965 --> 00:20:18,592 - A friend, that's real nice. 449 00:20:18,926 --> 00:20:20,678 - Brad, we're here. 450 00:20:21,011 --> 00:20:22,388 - I also remember I took along a friend of mine, 451 00:20:22,722 --> 00:20:25,391 my roommate, I was living in Hoboken at the time, 452 00:20:25,725 --> 00:20:26,934 and he brought his still camera. 453 00:20:27,268 --> 00:20:28,561 I go, come on, now you got to take pictures 454 00:20:28,894 --> 00:20:29,645 of the effects I'm doing. 455 00:20:29,979 --> 00:20:31,230 And they were like, oh, you have a camera? 456 00:20:31,564 --> 00:20:33,399 We don't have a still photographer. 457 00:20:33,733 --> 00:20:36,610 So he was taking all the pictures that day on the set. 458 00:20:36,944 --> 00:20:39,405 And we actually did a couple of posed action shots 459 00:20:39,739 --> 00:20:40,531 with John Liu and we were like, oh, 460 00:20:40,865 --> 00:20:42,700 maybe we can use this for the poster. 461 00:20:43,033 --> 00:20:44,952 There was nobody taking photos, 462 00:20:45,286 --> 00:20:48,789 it was really super-guerrilla style film making. 463 00:20:49,123 --> 00:20:53,794 - The biggest issue for me was the platinum blonde wig. 464 00:20:54,128 --> 00:20:55,755 So, of course, I auditioned without a wig 465 00:20:56,088 --> 00:20:58,883 and my agent didn't say anything about the wig. 466 00:20:59,216 --> 00:21:00,634 And all of a sudden, the first day on the shoot, 467 00:21:00,968 --> 00:21:04,597 John presents the wig, and I'm like, what? 468 00:21:04,930 --> 00:21:07,433 And he said, no, no, no, for the European market, 469 00:21:07,767 --> 00:21:10,770 you've got light eyes, they're very big on platinum blondes. 470 00:21:11,103 --> 00:21:12,813 And 50, you're going to wear the wig. 471 00:21:13,147 --> 00:21:17,359 I thought, oh, okay, and then the wig became my life. 472 00:21:17,693 --> 00:21:19,820 - I always kept telling her, talk to him, 473 00:21:20,154 --> 00:21:21,155 tell him to get rid of the wig, 474 00:21:21,489 --> 00:21:25,367 because she had perfectly nice, dark, black hair. 475 00:21:25,701 --> 00:21:27,703 Every time I saw her, I was just like, oh my God. 476 00:21:28,037 --> 00:21:31,415 I felt so sorry for her having to wear that wig. 477 00:21:31,749 --> 00:21:32,875 - John was an interesting guy, 478 00:21:33,209 --> 00:21:35,377 and he was kind of hard to read at times. 479 00:21:35,711 --> 00:21:38,839 And in hindsight, I think it's because he wore so many hats. 480 00:21:39,173 --> 00:21:42,426 He was director, producer, the choreographer 481 00:21:42,760 --> 00:21:44,303 of the all the martial arts. 482 00:21:44,637 --> 00:21:49,391 And so, he kind of warmed up as the process went on. 483 00:21:49,975 --> 00:21:51,393 - He knew exactly what he was doing. 484 00:21:51,727 --> 00:21:55,022 He was probably the only person that knew what was going on. 485 00:21:55,356 --> 00:21:58,776 And I was surprised at how laid back and how nice he was. 486 00:21:59,109 --> 00:22:02,112 Anyone could talk to him and he would just stop, 487 00:22:02,446 --> 00:22:04,907 and you could talk about anything and ask him questions. 488 00:22:05,241 --> 00:22:08,160 I mean -- it was weird, 489 00:22:08,494 --> 00:22:09,703 because I would never do that today, 490 00:22:10,037 --> 00:22:12,498 but I was so young and so in awe of him, 491 00:22:12,832 --> 00:22:14,625 we talked about everything. 492 00:22:14,959 --> 00:22:19,380 - His kicks were big, I mean, they were pretty awesome. 493 00:22:19,713 --> 00:22:21,799 And he had not one inch of body fat. 494 00:22:22,132 --> 00:22:23,384 There is a scene where he's in the water 495 00:22:23,717 --> 00:22:26,428 and he looks like a child, he's so fit and thin. 496 00:22:26,762 --> 00:22:29,765 And he was great, actually, working with the kids. 497 00:22:30,099 --> 00:22:32,476 There were some kids in the movie 498 00:22:32,810 --> 00:22:35,104 and that's where I saw his empathy and his warmth 499 00:22:35,437 --> 00:22:39,358 and the heart of John come through. 500 00:22:39,692 --> 00:22:41,110 - Will you be my friend? 501 00:22:43,237 --> 00:22:44,989 - I think it was John Liu 502 00:22:45,322 --> 00:22:47,825 and his girlfriend, basically, ran the production 503 00:22:48,158 --> 00:22:49,326 out of their hotel room. 504 00:22:49,660 --> 00:22:50,828 We never went through permits like 505 00:22:51,161 --> 00:22:53,372 New York City mayor's office or anything like that. 506 00:22:53,706 --> 00:22:55,666 They just found a few places to shoot, 507 00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:57,459 they got permission to shoot there. 508 00:22:57,793 --> 00:22:59,670 I remember once we were in a warehouse, 509 00:23:00,004 --> 00:23:01,463 I think sometimes we were in Staten island, 510 00:23:01,797 --> 00:23:04,884 just fields, empty lots, that nobody bothered us. 511 00:23:05,217 --> 00:23:06,468 My big hope was, oh, I want to see 512 00:23:06,802 --> 00:23:10,055 how they choreograph a Kung Fu film in Hong Kong. 513 00:23:10,389 --> 00:23:11,515 I thought it would be 514 00:23:11,849 --> 00:23:15,394 a textbook example of how they shoot. 515 00:23:15,728 --> 00:23:19,398 I never really saw any extended fight scenes. 516 00:23:19,732 --> 00:23:21,108 I remember he did a crazy stunt 517 00:23:21,442 --> 00:23:22,776 where he was being dragged by a car, 518 00:23:23,110 --> 00:23:24,737 and he just put a piece of cardboard down. 519 00:23:25,070 --> 00:23:27,698 I was like, oh my God, you're gonna die. 520 00:23:28,032 --> 00:23:28,699 (dramatic music) 521 00:23:29,033 --> 00:23:31,493 (man panting) 522 00:23:31,827 --> 00:23:33,162 (man groaning) 523 00:23:33,495 --> 00:23:35,623 (car roaring) 524 00:23:35,956 --> 00:23:38,083 - I think when he started his martial arts scenes, 525 00:23:38,417 --> 00:23:40,544 it was like he was in his element. 526 00:23:40,878 --> 00:23:43,047 So, he just was happy and excited, 527 00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:45,591 and I marveled at some of these scenes, 528 00:23:45,925 --> 00:23:46,842 they were incredible. 529 00:23:47,176 --> 00:23:48,344 - I can't believe it. 530 00:23:48,677 --> 00:23:49,929 - Keep filming. 531 00:23:50,262 --> 00:23:50,763 (dramatic music) 532 00:23:51,096 --> 00:23:52,431 (whooshing) 533 00:23:52,765 --> 00:23:53,265 (fighter grunting) 534 00:23:53,599 --> 00:23:55,017 (kicks thudding) 535 00:23:55,351 --> 00:23:56,977 - Then it was just over, it was like, 536 00:23:57,311 --> 00:23:59,647 we never got called back, I never knew what happened. 537 00:23:59,980 --> 00:24:04,401 This was maybe...could have been weeks later, 538 00:24:04,735 --> 00:24:06,654 going with my friend, my roommate. 539 00:24:06,987 --> 00:24:09,198 And we go to a club in New York and we run 540 00:24:09,531 --> 00:24:10,741 into John Liu and the whole cast 541 00:24:11,075 --> 00:24:11,825 and crew, and they were like, oh, 542 00:24:12,159 --> 00:24:13,953 we're having the wrap party, come on up. 543 00:24:14,286 --> 00:24:16,914 And they had a room up there and we hung out that night. 544 00:24:17,247 --> 00:24:19,291 And John Liu, I think it was the next day, 545 00:24:19,625 --> 00:24:21,085 he was leaving for Paris. 546 00:24:21,418 --> 00:24:22,461 - We'll see his face soon enough. 547 00:24:22,795 --> 00:24:25,381 - 21st Century asked me, would you like 548 00:24:25,714 --> 00:24:27,633 to see some of the dailies on it? 549 00:24:27,967 --> 00:24:29,760 And also, you're going to help us 550 00:24:30,094 --> 00:24:31,762 with the trailer and the ad campaign. 551 00:24:32,096 --> 00:24:33,305 So, Joe Zwick worked for me, 552 00:24:33,639 --> 00:24:38,394 and Joe Zwick and Fran were the producers on New York Ninja. 553 00:24:38,727 --> 00:24:41,397 So, they ran up bills with it 554 00:24:41,730 --> 00:24:44,900 and 21st Century wasn't covering the expenses 555 00:24:45,234 --> 00:24:47,945 towards the end of the shooting production. 556 00:24:48,278 --> 00:24:51,407 - Okay, okay, I'll get you money soon. 557 00:24:51,740 --> 00:24:54,660 - So, I think they backed out of it. 558 00:24:54,994 --> 00:24:57,246 - Unfortunately, New York Ninja suffered 559 00:24:57,579 --> 00:24:59,623 from terrible timing. 560 00:24:59,957 --> 00:25:04,294 I was leaving the company and I don't think 561 00:25:04,628 --> 00:25:09,425 that once I left, the company, anybody, continued 562 00:25:09,758 --> 00:25:12,136 to fund or complete the film. 563 00:25:12,469 --> 00:25:16,598 - I did a promotional moment for the movie 564 00:25:16,932 --> 00:25:19,059 on Regis's show, I used to produce his show 565 00:25:19,393 --> 00:25:22,938 in California, and I taught him how to be a ninja. 566 00:25:23,272 --> 00:25:24,565 And he came out, wrapped in the garb 567 00:25:24,898 --> 00:25:27,276 that John wore, and I was in all black. 568 00:25:27,609 --> 00:25:28,944 And Regis had a good time. 569 00:25:29,278 --> 00:25:31,030 - I did not see the film again 570 00:25:32,281 --> 00:25:36,452 for another eight or nine years, 571 00:25:36,785 --> 00:25:41,582 when it was an asset in the bankruptcy of 21st Century. 572 00:25:42,666 --> 00:25:47,588 So, I did at one time possess the unfinished film, 573 00:25:49,006 --> 00:25:51,467 but never, never knew what we had, 574 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:56,388 and never invested further in the contents of the film. 575 00:25:56,722 --> 00:26:01,518 - I was working in distribution at Troma in Hell's Kitchen, 576 00:26:01,852 --> 00:26:03,896 and we got a package of stuff in from -- 577 00:26:04,229 --> 00:26:07,816 it was 21st Century, but it was the new 21st Century 578 00:26:08,150 --> 00:26:11,153 with Ami Artzi from Cannon Group, 579 00:26:11,487 --> 00:26:13,363 and they had New York Ninja playing 580 00:26:13,697 --> 00:26:16,283 on the monitor in the office. 581 00:26:16,617 --> 00:26:18,243 So, I walk into Lloyd Kaufman's office 582 00:26:18,577 --> 00:26:19,203 and I'm like, what is this? 583 00:26:19,536 --> 00:26:21,622 Oh, it's an unfinished movie. 584 00:26:21,955 --> 00:26:22,664 They want us to finish it. 585 00:26:22,998 --> 00:26:25,417 I'm like, I worked on this film, this is New York Ninja. 586 00:26:25,751 --> 00:26:28,128 We were watching this video, 587 00:26:28,462 --> 00:26:31,381 and I guess they talked to them, and even Troma felt like 588 00:26:31,715 --> 00:26:35,302 there just wasn't enough there to make a complete movie. 589 00:26:36,678 --> 00:26:39,598 (eerie synth music) 590 00:26:57,241 --> 00:26:59,618 - New York Ninja was acquired as a part 591 00:26:59,952 --> 00:27:03,413 of a larger collection of the 21st Century distribution. 592 00:27:03,747 --> 00:27:05,374 - When we were putting together the contracts 593 00:27:05,707 --> 00:27:07,751 to acquire the library, obviously a big part 594 00:27:08,085 --> 00:27:10,295 of putting together the contract is the film list. 595 00:27:10,629 --> 00:27:14,174 What's included in all the films and film assets. 596 00:27:14,508 --> 00:27:18,387 So, we had a pretty extensive list. 597 00:27:18,720 --> 00:27:20,556 So, when we went to pick up the film materials 598 00:27:20,889 --> 00:27:24,143 from IWC, along comes this pallet that was -- 599 00:27:24,476 --> 00:27:26,812 all these boxes are labeled New York Ninja. 600 00:27:27,146 --> 00:27:28,272 So, Arthur was there, 601 00:27:28,605 --> 00:27:31,608 so I said, Arthur, what is this New York Ninja? 602 00:27:31,942 --> 00:27:32,568 That's not on the list. 603 00:27:32,901 --> 00:27:34,778 He's like, oh, you don't have to take that. 604 00:27:35,112 --> 00:27:37,698 No, you can just -- I'll have them throw it away. 605 00:27:38,031 --> 00:27:39,283 So I said, no, no, no. 606 00:27:39,616 --> 00:27:42,870 - We're preservationists at heart, film preservationists. 607 00:27:43,203 --> 00:27:46,373 And for those reasons we could never, 608 00:27:46,707 --> 00:27:49,459 never throw away a film, even if it was unfinished. 609 00:27:49,793 --> 00:27:51,587 There's always value to it. 610 00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:53,255 (reel grinding) 611 00:27:53,589 --> 00:27:54,882 (door creaking) 612 00:27:55,215 --> 00:27:57,509 (eerie music) 613 00:28:02,181 --> 00:28:04,224 - My introduction to New York Ninja actually came 614 00:28:04,558 --> 00:28:06,643 with my first day working at Vinegar Syndrome. 615 00:28:06,977 --> 00:28:08,437 And on my very first day at work, 616 00:28:08,770 --> 00:28:10,439 I was getting a tour of the archive 617 00:28:10,772 --> 00:28:13,650 by our film scanner, Brandon Up son, 618 00:28:13,984 --> 00:28:15,319 and he was showing me the movies 619 00:28:15,652 --> 00:28:16,945 and showing me what the film archive was like, 620 00:28:17,279 --> 00:28:19,072 and there was a ton of movies in there. 621 00:28:19,406 --> 00:28:22,117 There was a cardboard box labeled New York Ninja. 622 00:28:22,451 --> 00:28:24,995 And he pointed that out to me and said, 623 00:28:25,329 --> 00:28:28,540 to his knowledge, it was an unfinished movie 624 00:28:28,874 --> 00:28:31,043 that was shot at some point in the '80s, 625 00:28:31,376 --> 00:28:34,004 and they never edited it together and never finished it. 626 00:28:34,338 --> 00:28:37,424 And so, I said, well, I would be interested in doing that, 627 00:28:37,758 --> 00:28:39,343 putting the film back together at some point. 628 00:28:39,676 --> 00:28:41,929 - And over the years, when we went to go try 629 00:28:42,262 --> 00:28:45,432 and look it up, there was no information about it at all. 630 00:28:45,766 --> 00:28:47,392 - At that point, he told me that 631 00:28:47,726 --> 00:28:49,394 all the sound elements had been lost over time. 632 00:28:49,728 --> 00:28:52,272 So, I knew no matter what, that would be a big undertaking. 633 00:28:52,606 --> 00:28:54,733 - There was no script, 634 00:28:55,067 --> 00:28:57,277 there's no credits, there's no call sheets. 635 00:28:57,611 --> 00:29:00,405 There's nothing, we just had picture. 636 00:29:00,739 --> 00:29:02,658 - So, once Ryan and Ralph agreed 637 00:29:02,991 --> 00:29:04,534 to let me work on this project, 638 00:29:04,868 --> 00:29:06,787 the very first thing we had to do was scan the film. 639 00:29:07,120 --> 00:29:09,623 Because at this point, we had all gotten very excited 640 00:29:09,957 --> 00:29:11,959 about the idea of putting this movie back together, 641 00:29:12,292 --> 00:29:14,294 but nobody had seen a single frame of footage. 642 00:29:14,628 --> 00:29:16,213 We had no idea what kind of movie it was. 643 00:29:16,546 --> 00:29:17,798 - When we started scanning it 644 00:29:18,131 --> 00:29:20,425 and actually seeing the footage for the first time, 645 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:23,553 that's when we, we all kind of had a smile on our faces. 646 00:29:23,887 --> 00:29:25,681 - It was like we struck gold at that point. 647 00:29:26,014 --> 00:29:29,726 - This was something that...it's exactly the kind of, 648 00:29:30,060 --> 00:29:32,980 material we go after. 649 00:29:33,313 --> 00:29:35,023 The action. 650 00:29:35,357 --> 00:29:36,525 (dramatic music) 651 00:29:36,858 --> 00:29:38,527 (kicks thudding) 652 00:29:38,860 --> 00:29:40,737 (men groaning) 653 00:29:41,071 --> 00:29:41,738 - It had a little bit of campiness. 654 00:29:42,072 --> 00:29:44,783 - Why?! 655 00:29:45,117 --> 00:29:46,743 Why?! 656 00:29:47,077 --> 00:29:48,912 - The 42nd Street footage of the '80s, 657 00:29:49,246 --> 00:29:51,957 just New York in the '80s, back then. 658 00:29:52,291 --> 00:29:54,293 And from that moment forward, 659 00:29:54,626 --> 00:29:55,836 it was all-in on the project. 660 00:29:56,169 --> 00:29:59,214 - We had many hours of footage, so it was 661 00:29:59,548 --> 00:30:01,216 a process to scan it all in. 662 00:30:01,550 --> 00:30:03,218 And in fact, because of our busy schedule 663 00:30:03,552 --> 00:30:06,346 at Vinegar Syndrome, we had to kind of work it 664 00:30:06,680 --> 00:30:09,224 into the schedule of when this was all going to be scanned. 665 00:30:09,558 --> 00:30:11,143 - These things take time, Mr. Liu. 666 00:30:11,476 --> 00:30:13,312 We're doing everything we can, okay? 667 00:30:13,645 --> 00:30:14,313 Just be patient. 668 00:30:14,646 --> 00:30:16,690 - One of my first, I guess, jobs 669 00:30:17,024 --> 00:30:20,694 for the film, was trying to find John Liu. 670 00:30:21,028 --> 00:30:21,945 - Good luck. 671 00:30:22,279 --> 00:30:26,491 - And eventually, going through numerous cast members, 672 00:30:26,825 --> 00:30:29,619 I found this one younger gentleman 673 00:30:29,953 --> 00:30:32,247 who kept appearing in credits, 674 00:30:32,581 --> 00:30:35,000 or extras, or anything like that. 675 00:30:36,126 --> 00:30:38,045 And he was still around, he was in the UK. 676 00:30:38,378 --> 00:30:39,588 - That gives us all hope. 677 00:30:39,921 --> 00:30:42,924 - I messaged him and I said, 678 00:30:43,258 --> 00:30:45,719 my name's Brad, I work for this company Vinegar Syndrome. 679 00:30:46,053 --> 00:30:48,597 We're trying to find out what happened 680 00:30:48,930 --> 00:30:50,474 with John Liu. 681 00:30:50,807 --> 00:30:54,770 John Liu was still alive, he lived in Vietnam 682 00:30:55,103 --> 00:30:59,900 and he basically lived or lives in a shack, 683 00:31:01,818 --> 00:31:05,864 a boat shack on the water, with no electricity, 684 00:31:06,198 --> 00:31:08,492 let alone a phone or a computer. 685 00:31:08,825 --> 00:31:11,328 And eventually, he knew of a friend of John's 686 00:31:11,661 --> 00:31:14,039 that would visit from time to time, 687 00:31:14,373 --> 00:31:17,417 I think he said every three months or whatever. 688 00:31:17,751 --> 00:31:20,045 That he would go and ask him for me 689 00:31:20,379 --> 00:31:23,423 to see what he has to say. 690 00:31:23,757 --> 00:31:26,468 And after waiting for, I forget how long, 691 00:31:26,802 --> 00:31:29,471 maybe a month, two months, we finally heard back. 692 00:31:29,805 --> 00:31:31,306 John obviously did not want to be involved 693 00:31:31,640 --> 00:31:33,058 with the project whatsoever, 694 00:31:33,392 --> 00:31:36,353 and kind of gave us a good luck blessing. 695 00:31:36,686 --> 00:31:39,022 -You know, he had a reputation for being difficult, 696 00:31:39,356 --> 00:31:41,983 and I think maybe the people 697 00:31:42,317 --> 00:31:45,570 that were financially supporting the film had a conflict 698 00:31:45,904 --> 00:31:48,824 with John, and I don't know the issues or the details, 699 00:31:49,157 --> 00:31:53,954 but I hope he's well. I hope he's enjoying his life. 700 00:31:54,704 --> 00:31:55,914 - For some reason, it seems like 701 00:31:56,248 --> 00:31:59,126 I'm the only living person dared talk 702 00:31:59,459 --> 00:32:00,544 about the making of his movies, 703 00:32:00,877 --> 00:32:02,129 so many people don't want to be involved. 704 00:32:02,462 --> 00:32:04,005 - Now you focus on your job, okay? 705 00:32:04,339 --> 00:32:05,048 - Absolutely. 706 00:32:05,382 --> 00:32:06,091 - There was a lot of times where it seemed 707 00:32:06,425 --> 00:32:08,802 like they had started scenes that weren't finished. 708 00:32:09,136 --> 00:32:10,637 So, I had to go through this footage 709 00:32:10,971 --> 00:32:13,557 and determine what scenes were finished, 710 00:32:13,890 --> 00:32:15,934 which ones weren't, and then hope 711 00:32:16,268 --> 00:32:18,478 that we just had everything that they had done. 712 00:32:18,812 --> 00:32:20,272 And once I had all the scenes laid out, 713 00:32:20,605 --> 00:32:22,649 I laid them out in a rough cut, 714 00:32:22,983 --> 00:32:26,528 so in the order of which they were on the slate. 715 00:32:26,862 --> 00:32:28,738 And when I did that, honestly, the movie made no sense. 716 00:32:29,072 --> 00:32:30,574 - With New York Ninja, we had the ability 717 00:32:30,907 --> 00:32:31,867 to make some creative choices 718 00:32:32,200 --> 00:32:33,869 that we never would make otherwise. 719 00:32:34,202 --> 00:32:36,496 - So, once we had made the decision 720 00:32:36,830 --> 00:32:38,540 to create our own movie out of it, 721 00:32:38,874 --> 00:32:42,919 the hard part really came to keeping the tone 722 00:32:43,253 --> 00:32:45,464 of the original, while sort of creating a new movie. 723 00:32:45,797 --> 00:32:46,965 - I know Kurtis and I were very much 724 00:32:47,299 --> 00:32:49,801 on the same page of like, let's just play it straight. 725 00:32:50,135 --> 00:32:53,638 Let's be incredibly respectful to the source material. 726 00:32:53,972 --> 00:32:57,517 Let's pretend we're making this movie in 1984, 727 00:32:57,851 --> 00:32:59,186 -What had made easier for me is 728 00:32:59,519 --> 00:33:01,438 now I could edit the film any way I wanted, okay? 729 00:33:01,771 --> 00:33:04,107 The hard part was I was going to have 730 00:33:04,441 --> 00:33:05,984 to write a script for the movie, 731 00:33:06,318 --> 00:33:08,278 because, now I'm moving scenes out of order, 732 00:33:08,612 --> 00:33:11,156 who knows what they're saying? 733 00:33:11,490 --> 00:33:13,617 And if we even bring somebody in to read the lips, 734 00:33:13,950 --> 00:33:15,577 now it's going to be a mess, you know? 735 00:33:15,911 --> 00:33:17,537 So, basically, the idea came that, 736 00:33:17,871 --> 00:33:20,790 because this was basically a Kung Fu 737 00:33:21,124 --> 00:33:24,336 or martial arts film, it would kind of make sense 738 00:33:24,669 --> 00:33:27,255 to just dub the voices anyway we wanted, you know? 739 00:33:27,589 --> 00:33:29,216 So, it didn't matter if the mouths matched up 740 00:33:29,549 --> 00:33:31,635 with what was being said, because it would just kind of add 741 00:33:31,968 --> 00:33:34,012 to the charm of films from that era. 742 00:33:34,346 --> 00:33:35,680 - You're one of the best damned reporters 743 00:33:36,014 --> 00:33:38,058 and this city needs you, it's important. 744 00:33:38,391 --> 00:33:41,269 -We knew in January of 2020, we were going 745 00:33:41,603 --> 00:33:43,563 to have to start with casting. 746 00:33:43,897 --> 00:33:46,900 We knew it would be a big process, 747 00:33:47,234 --> 00:33:48,944 to not only dub all these voices, 748 00:33:49,277 --> 00:33:51,071 but there's all the small characters, 749 00:33:51,404 --> 00:33:52,697 plus all the sound design. 750 00:33:53,031 --> 00:33:56,535 - We went through many, many names, who would be best? 751 00:33:56,868 --> 00:33:59,037 - As we kept progressing in our conversations, 752 00:33:59,371 --> 00:34:02,040 we thought, really, the most fun would probably be 753 00:34:02,374 --> 00:34:05,085 to cast actors from other films 754 00:34:05,418 --> 00:34:07,921 that Vinegar Syndrome had already put out, so it's kind of 755 00:34:08,255 --> 00:34:10,382 what we called the Vinegar Syndrome Universe. 756 00:34:10,715 --> 00:34:12,592 - And I think it was Justin La Liberty 757 00:34:12,926 --> 00:34:14,886 who mentioned Don "The Dragon" Wilson. 758 00:34:15,220 --> 00:34:17,681 And we were very, very excited about that. 759 00:34:18,014 --> 00:34:21,017 - Prior to that, we had not released one of his movies. 760 00:34:21,351 --> 00:34:23,645 Luckily for us, at the time, we were starting 761 00:34:23,979 --> 00:34:26,940 to get into early '90s action films, 762 00:34:27,274 --> 00:34:30,026 and we ended up acquiring a Don "The Dragon" film. 763 00:34:30,360 --> 00:34:31,319 And at that point, we were like, 764 00:34:31,653 --> 00:34:33,363 okay, well, he's gotta be our guy. 765 00:34:33,697 --> 00:34:34,197 He was in a lot of movies 766 00:34:34,531 --> 00:34:36,283 with Cynthia Rothrock back in the day, 767 00:34:36,616 --> 00:34:39,661 so, we thought he would be a great for the part. 768 00:34:39,995 --> 00:34:41,955 - I remember my agent called me and said, 769 00:34:43,582 --> 00:34:45,917 what you guys were asking me to do, 770 00:34:46,251 --> 00:34:49,421 and I said, gosh, I've never done anything like that. 771 00:34:49,754 --> 00:34:52,632 ADR an entire film of a performance 772 00:34:52,966 --> 00:34:54,676 that was not my performance? 773 00:34:55,010 --> 00:34:56,052 - We're doing what we can. 774 00:34:56,386 --> 00:34:58,346 - That's it, that's all you can tell me? 775 00:34:58,680 --> 00:35:02,142 My wife is dead and you're telling me to wait? 776 00:35:02,475 --> 00:35:05,145 These men murdered her because of what she saw. 777 00:35:05,478 --> 00:35:08,815 - That added another level of difficulty for me, 778 00:35:09,149 --> 00:35:13,320 because, instead of just having to match my lips, 779 00:35:13,653 --> 00:35:16,656 I have to match the performance of the other actor. 780 00:35:16,990 --> 00:35:18,783 You know, the inflections and where his emphasis was 781 00:35:19,117 --> 00:35:19,784 and things, because I'm trying 782 00:35:20,118 --> 00:35:24,914 to match his physical body and his expressions. 783 00:35:25,332 --> 00:35:27,834 You know, I want to give his same performance. 784 00:35:28,168 --> 00:35:30,670 And it was very difficult, and I hope I did him -- 785 00:35:31,004 --> 00:35:31,713 - Justice. 786 00:35:33,048 --> 00:35:34,841 - It's not the way I would've played it. 787 00:35:35,175 --> 00:35:36,635 It's not the way I would've played it. 788 00:35:36,968 --> 00:35:38,845 Now, and I know, it's called over-the-top. 789 00:35:39,179 --> 00:35:39,929 I believe he was going, 790 00:35:40,263 --> 00:35:43,725 what I would consider, beyond the call of duty 791 00:35:44,059 --> 00:35:48,063 in his expressions and in his emphasis. 792 00:35:48,396 --> 00:35:50,690 - Why? Why is this happening? 793 00:35:51,024 --> 00:35:52,942 And why won't anyone do anything? 794 00:35:53,276 --> 00:35:54,110 I don't understand. 795 00:35:54,444 --> 00:35:54,944 (dramatic music) 796 00:35:55,278 --> 00:35:55,779 Why? 797 00:35:56,112 --> 00:35:56,988 (John panting) 798 00:35:57,322 --> 00:35:58,073 Why? 799 00:35:58,406 --> 00:36:01,284 Why?! 800 00:36:01,618 --> 00:36:02,410 - Really? 801 00:36:02,744 --> 00:36:03,745 Not this. 802 00:36:04,079 --> 00:36:04,996 - What's the problem? 803 00:36:05,330 --> 00:36:06,247 Are you jealous? 804 00:36:06,581 --> 00:36:08,541 - Cynthia Rothrock, I think we're all fans 805 00:36:08,875 --> 00:36:11,961 of Cynthia Rothrock, she's super bad ass, 806 00:36:12,295 --> 00:36:14,422 and if you're going to have a martial arts film 807 00:36:14,756 --> 00:36:17,467 with any female characters, we had to get her. 808 00:36:17,801 --> 00:36:21,805 - I've known Cynthia Rothrock since the mid 809 00:36:22,138 --> 00:36:23,973 to early '80s, because we know each other 810 00:36:24,307 --> 00:36:24,933 through martial arts. 811 00:36:25,266 --> 00:36:26,476 Actually, she's got her black belt in Kung Fu 812 00:36:26,810 --> 00:36:28,853 in the same style I studied, Pai Lum Kung Fu, 813 00:36:29,187 --> 00:36:30,438 which is really a coincidence, 814 00:36:30,772 --> 00:36:32,607 because it's a small style of Kung Fu. 815 00:36:32,941 --> 00:36:34,109 - Don is a really good friend of mine. 816 00:36:34,442 --> 00:36:36,653 One of my best friends, and we've done probably 817 00:36:36,986 --> 00:36:39,197 about seven or eight movies together. 818 00:36:39,531 --> 00:36:41,616 And usually, if I'm involved in a project, 819 00:36:41,950 --> 00:36:44,327 then Don will say, they say, oh yeah, Cynthia is doing it. 820 00:36:44,661 --> 00:36:45,704 Then he'll go, okay, I'll do it. 821 00:36:46,037 --> 00:36:47,664 Or someone will say, hey, Don is going to do it. 822 00:36:47,997 --> 00:36:49,290 Okay, I'll do it, like, for this one 823 00:36:49,624 --> 00:36:51,000 when I heard, oh yeah, Don is going to be the voice. 824 00:36:51,334 --> 00:36:53,670 I'm like, okay, great, yeah, we'll have a lot of fun. 825 00:36:54,003 --> 00:36:54,504 (blade whooshing) 826 00:36:54,838 --> 00:36:55,296 (metallic clanking) 827 00:36:55,630 --> 00:36:57,090 - Ah, thank you. 828 00:36:57,424 --> 00:36:59,801 - Detective, get the other girls out of here. 829 00:37:00,135 --> 00:37:01,344 I'm gonna go for your partner. 830 00:37:01,678 --> 00:37:03,805 - Some people find doing voice over is hard, 831 00:37:04,139 --> 00:37:05,390 but I actually find it pretty easy. 832 00:37:05,724 --> 00:37:07,058 And usually they'll say, oh yeah, 833 00:37:07,392 --> 00:37:08,518 we're going to use you for three hours 834 00:37:08,852 --> 00:37:10,103 and I'll be done in 45 minutes. 835 00:37:10,437 --> 00:37:11,980 And I think it's just a different art. 836 00:37:12,313 --> 00:37:13,773 It's looking at what you're doing 837 00:37:14,107 --> 00:37:18,778 and just trying to match the lips to what you're saying. 838 00:37:19,112 --> 00:37:20,613 New York Ninja was a little different, 839 00:37:20,947 --> 00:37:23,658 because we really didn't know what they were saying. 840 00:37:24,784 --> 00:37:26,745 - So, what do you want from me? 841 00:37:27,078 --> 00:37:29,038 - Call me with the autopsy report. 842 00:37:29,372 --> 00:37:30,790 - You know what it's going to be. 843 00:37:31,124 --> 00:37:33,209 - My very first time I did a voice over was 844 00:37:33,543 --> 00:37:34,961 for a movie I did in Indonesia. 845 00:37:35,295 --> 00:37:38,882 And the sound was horrible throughout the whole thing. 846 00:37:39,215 --> 00:37:41,050 And then they come about a year later 847 00:37:41,384 --> 00:37:43,470 to LA and they say, we want you to do some ADR. 848 00:37:43,803 --> 00:37:46,222 Well, I've never done it before, so I'm like, okay. 849 00:37:46,556 --> 00:37:47,056 And they were like, 850 00:37:47,390 --> 00:37:48,725 well, you just hear the three beeps and then you talk. 851 00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:50,477 So we get there, and I'm standing there, 852 00:37:50,810 --> 00:37:54,689 and they start playing it and I'm looking around. 853 00:37:55,023 --> 00:37:55,815 Well, what do you want me to do? 854 00:37:56,149 --> 00:37:58,359 And he goes, well, say the lines. 855 00:37:58,693 --> 00:38:00,361 I said, but where are they, I don't know what the lines are. 856 00:38:00,695 --> 00:38:01,654 He goes, well, we lost the script, 857 00:38:01,988 --> 00:38:02,739 you don't know what you said? 858 00:38:03,072 --> 00:38:04,574 This is like a year later, and I'm like, 859 00:38:04,908 --> 00:38:06,993 no, I don't know what I said. 860 00:38:07,327 --> 00:38:10,205 So, we had to guess what that could have been, 861 00:38:10,538 --> 00:38:11,414 what we could have been saying. 862 00:38:11,748 --> 00:38:13,792 It was almost kind of like New York Ninja. (laughs) 863 00:38:15,543 --> 00:38:17,253 - Is everyone okay? 864 00:38:17,587 --> 00:38:18,505 - Yeah, we're good. 865 00:38:18,838 --> 00:38:20,173 - Let's go. 866 00:38:20,507 --> 00:38:21,466 (girls moaning) 867 00:38:21,800 --> 00:38:24,219 - Everyone in the van, let's move it. 868 00:38:24,552 --> 00:38:26,805 - Leon Isaac Kennedy, that was a big one. 869 00:38:27,138 --> 00:38:29,682 He hadn't done a lot of acting recently. 870 00:38:30,016 --> 00:38:32,769 So, that was fun to go back and get an actor 871 00:38:33,102 --> 00:38:35,522 who maybe hasn't really done a lot in a long time. 872 00:38:35,855 --> 00:38:36,856 - I've got a problem. 873 00:38:38,733 --> 00:38:42,570 Well, remember when you first came to me? 874 00:38:43,905 --> 00:38:46,157 I wanted to tell you that I found the guys 875 00:38:46,491 --> 00:38:47,617 that killed your wife. 876 00:38:47,951 --> 00:38:50,787 - I have something to tell you and it can't wait. 877 00:38:51,120 --> 00:38:51,830 - Well, what is it? 878 00:38:53,331 --> 00:38:54,165 - I'm pregnant. 879 00:38:54,499 --> 00:38:55,625 - We knew we wanted to get in 880 00:38:55,959 --> 00:38:58,795 the adult industries, since obviously, 881 00:38:59,087 --> 00:39:00,880 we've released some adult films. 882 00:39:01,214 --> 00:39:03,216 Ginger Lynn came up first and, you know, 883 00:39:03,550 --> 00:39:05,969 she was a blessing to work with. 884 00:39:06,302 --> 00:39:07,679 (melancholy synth music) 885 00:39:08,012 --> 00:39:10,974 - John, I'm here for you. 886 00:39:11,307 --> 00:39:12,809 I just heard what happened to you. 887 00:39:14,727 --> 00:39:17,564 Please, John, you have to try and pull yourself together. 888 00:39:17,897 --> 00:39:19,732 - Linnea was always a part of it. 889 00:39:20,066 --> 00:39:21,901 It was just automatic, 890 00:39:22,235 --> 00:39:24,612 let's get Linnea, we love Linnea. 891 00:39:24,946 --> 00:39:29,534 - What amazed me, when I saw the final product, was -- 892 00:39:29,868 --> 00:39:33,288 the actress they hired to do my voice, 893 00:39:33,621 --> 00:39:34,414 I was convinced it was me. 894 00:39:34,747 --> 00:39:37,125 I said, oh, you found the sound for my parts. 895 00:39:38,293 --> 00:39:41,337 And she was absolute perfection. 896 00:39:41,671 --> 00:39:43,715 I mean, it sounded like my voice. 897 00:39:44,048 --> 00:39:45,008 - Thank you for coming with me. 898 00:39:45,341 --> 00:39:46,384 I really do appreciate that. 899 00:39:46,718 --> 00:39:47,218 - At your service. 900 00:39:47,552 --> 00:39:48,678 - Oh, wow, just look at you. 901 00:39:49,012 --> 00:39:50,889 - Listen, I got to run. 902 00:39:51,222 --> 00:39:51,723 - Okay. 903 00:39:52,056 --> 00:39:52,849 - I'll see you back at the office. 904 00:39:53,182 --> 00:39:54,976 Unless you want to take a shower together. 905 00:39:55,310 --> 00:39:57,854 - One of the big things was Jack the cameraman. 906 00:39:58,187 --> 00:40:00,773 We really weren't sure what direction 907 00:40:01,107 --> 00:40:02,984 to go with, as far as a voice. 908 00:40:03,318 --> 00:40:05,904 -Vince Murdocco, who was also in a lot of movies 909 00:40:06,237 --> 00:40:08,907 with Cynthia Rothrock and Don "The Dragon,” 910 00:40:09,240 --> 00:40:11,784 he was just in a movie that we released called LA Wars, 911 00:40:12,118 --> 00:40:13,369 and it did really well for us, 912 00:40:13,703 --> 00:40:14,996 and people really seem to like that movie. 913 00:40:15,330 --> 00:40:18,082 We were like, okay, we got to get Vince Murdocco in here. 914 00:40:18,416 --> 00:40:21,794 - Shit, who does he think I am, huh? 915 00:40:22,128 --> 00:40:24,964 I bust ass my all over this whole fucking city. 916 00:40:25,298 --> 00:40:27,175 - Matt Mitler, that was a really fun one. 917 00:40:27,508 --> 00:40:30,011 That was actually more of a personal choice for me. 918 00:40:30,345 --> 00:40:32,555 I'm a big fan of the movie that we put out, 919 00:40:32,889 --> 00:40:35,308 Battle for the Lost Planet, and its sequel, Mutant Wars. 920 00:40:35,642 --> 00:40:37,185 And actually, Ryan and I were talking 921 00:40:37,518 --> 00:40:40,271 about who we would cast 922 00:40:40,605 --> 00:40:42,523 for the character called Freddy Cufflinks. 923 00:40:42,857 --> 00:40:45,777 And we had kind of joked around 924 00:40:46,110 --> 00:40:47,236 about the idea of casting Matt Mitler, 925 00:40:47,570 --> 00:40:49,906 but we found out that he actually did voice work, 926 00:40:50,239 --> 00:40:52,325 which was awesome, so we contacted him 927 00:40:52,659 --> 00:40:53,534 and he did a really great job. 928 00:40:53,868 --> 00:40:55,328 He's actually one of the few that really did 929 00:40:55,662 --> 00:40:56,913 what I would say is "a voice," 930 00:40:57,246 --> 00:41:00,375 he gave the character an actual voice. 931 00:41:00,708 --> 00:41:02,001 - I'll have things ready. 932 00:41:02,335 --> 00:41:07,131 - Also, that reporter is starting to get too close. 933 00:41:07,632 --> 00:41:10,343 You and your men have been sloppy. 934 00:41:10,677 --> 00:41:11,886 Bring her to me. 935 00:41:12,220 --> 00:41:14,806 - The toughest one was the Plutonium Killer, 936 00:41:15,139 --> 00:41:19,185 just because we knew it would be vocally demanding. 937 00:41:19,519 --> 00:41:21,980 - We needed a heavy that could really carry the film. 938 00:41:22,313 --> 00:41:25,483 And the Plutonium Killer has a sort of a unique look 939 00:41:25,817 --> 00:41:27,318 and a unique personality, I mean, 940 00:41:27,652 --> 00:41:29,445 he's very much over-the-top. 941 00:41:29,779 --> 00:41:31,531 But we needed an actor 942 00:41:31,864 --> 00:41:33,950 that could handle going over-the-top, 943 00:41:34,283 --> 00:41:37,036 but could also not make it too much of a joke. 944 00:41:37,370 --> 00:41:42,000 - And eventually, I said, what about Michael Berry man? 945 00:41:42,333 --> 00:41:45,461 And no one was against it, it was just, 946 00:41:45,795 --> 00:41:48,047 it wasn't one of those lights came on 947 00:41:48,381 --> 00:41:50,508 and everybody jumped, it was more or less, 948 00:41:50,842 --> 00:41:52,760 I think people took a step back. 949 00:41:53,094 --> 00:41:55,096 - I was a little hesitant at the time, 950 00:41:55,430 --> 00:41:57,306 because I think, when you think of Michael Berry man, 951 00:41:57,640 --> 00:41:59,726 you have a very specific image of him. 952 00:42:00,059 --> 00:42:02,729 We all know him as Pluto in The Hills Have Eyes 953 00:42:03,062 --> 00:42:06,524 and in all these monstrous roles that he plays. 954 00:42:06,858 --> 00:42:08,234 - So, I actually went and watched some of his interviews 955 00:42:08,568 --> 00:42:09,986 and actually tried to just watch him 956 00:42:10,319 --> 00:42:13,031 and see how he was as a person, and remove him 957 00:42:13,364 --> 00:42:15,199 from his characters, and honestly, 958 00:42:15,533 --> 00:42:17,744 I just closed my eyes and listened to him 959 00:42:18,077 --> 00:42:20,413 and imagined him as the Plutonium Killer. 960 00:42:20,747 --> 00:42:24,042 And after that, I think I called Brad, and I was like, 961 00:42:24,375 --> 00:42:26,085 yeah, I think Michael Berry man's our guy. 962 00:42:26,419 --> 00:42:27,545 Let's give him a shot. 963 00:42:27,879 --> 00:42:29,547 - I need some time. 964 00:42:30,465 --> 00:42:33,176 It's not that simple to arrange. 965 00:42:34,260 --> 00:42:38,931 - I understand, but my clientele is very hungry now. 966 00:42:39,265 --> 00:42:39,891 (wine slurping) 967 00:42:40,224 --> 00:42:41,225 - Trust me when I say 968 00:42:41,559 --> 00:42:46,064 that your clientele will be so pleased. 969 00:42:48,232 --> 00:42:51,527 - I saw my character as shrewd, 970 00:42:53,571 --> 00:42:58,284 untrustworthy, selfish, arrogant, 971 00:42:58,618 --> 00:43:00,536 and he thought he was really, really clever. 972 00:43:00,870 --> 00:43:02,789 - He had just the right amount of humor 973 00:43:03,122 --> 00:43:06,375 to play the part, as well as to have 974 00:43:06,709 --> 00:43:08,461 that voice that is intimidating. 975 00:43:08,795 --> 00:43:11,714 -To do an entire film and go through 976 00:43:12,048 --> 00:43:14,467 the roller coaster of emotions of the character, 977 00:43:14,801 --> 00:43:16,928 and the arcs of the character, 978 00:43:17,261 --> 00:43:19,222 he seems to be in control, 979 00:43:19,555 --> 00:43:21,224 and then later on, he's frustrated. 980 00:43:21,557 --> 00:43:23,684 He's trying to please the overlords. 981 00:43:24,018 --> 00:43:25,186 It was challenging. 982 00:43:25,520 --> 00:43:29,107 It was imaginative and I had a lot of fun with it. 983 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:30,566 (ominous music) 984 00:43:30,900 --> 00:43:31,526 - Oh. 985 00:43:33,653 --> 00:43:34,403 Oh. 986 00:43:35,738 --> 00:43:38,574 (Plutonium Killer groaning) 987 00:43:38,908 --> 00:43:41,160 - It was just me doing the performance in my office. 988 00:43:41,494 --> 00:43:46,290 So, as an obstacle, it was -- I saw the obstacles more 989 00:43:46,666 --> 00:43:50,670 as a challenge, it was a very limited set. 990 00:43:51,003 --> 00:43:51,504 (Michael laughing) 991 00:43:51,838 --> 00:43:54,006 So to speak, we didn't even have craft service. 992 00:43:54,340 --> 00:43:55,174 (Michael laughing) 993 00:43:55,508 --> 00:43:56,634 I did take a break for lunch, though. 994 00:43:56,968 --> 00:43:57,718 (eerie music) 995 00:43:58,052 --> 00:43:59,178 - (Plutonium Killer breathing heavily) 996 00:43:59,512 --> 00:44:00,138 Oh. 997 00:44:05,518 --> 00:44:07,145 - The score for this movie is amazing, 998 00:44:07,478 --> 00:44:10,064 and I have to give all the credit to VOYAG3R for that. 999 00:44:10,398 --> 00:44:11,607 The way we ended up coming across them is, 1000 00:44:11,941 --> 00:44:12,775 we were trying to find a band 1001 00:44:13,109 --> 00:44:17,155 that we knew would work for this type of movie. 1002 00:44:17,488 --> 00:44:18,823 We wanted to find -- there's a lot of bands these days 1003 00:44:19,157 --> 00:44:20,116 that are doing kind of this 1004 00:44:20,449 --> 00:44:22,118 synth, '80s kind of music. 1005 00:44:22,451 --> 00:44:23,119 They're almost making soundtracks 1006 00:44:23,452 --> 00:44:24,912 for movies that don't exist. 1007 00:44:25,246 --> 00:44:26,330 How many of them actually get to do a score 1008 00:44:26,664 --> 00:44:29,125 for a real '80s movie? 1009 00:44:29,458 --> 00:44:32,295 Steve got super excited about this, he did some research. 1010 00:44:32,628 --> 00:44:34,088 He watched some John Liu films and tried 1011 00:44:34,422 --> 00:44:36,549 to grab little sounds or music cues 1012 00:44:36,883 --> 00:44:40,970 from some other John Liu movies, and I just remember, 1013 00:44:41,304 --> 00:44:44,932 I was super excited to hear the score. 1014 00:44:45,266 --> 00:44:46,100 - Ah! 1015 00:44:46,434 --> 00:44:49,187 (intense electronic rock music) 1016 00:44:49,478 --> 00:44:52,023 (boots clunking) 1017 00:44:55,276 --> 00:44:56,444 - There was no temp tracks, there was no nothing. 1018 00:44:56,777 --> 00:44:58,404 They just had silent picture to work off of. 1019 00:44:58,738 --> 00:45:01,449 And I gave them my script, so that they could kind of tell 1020 00:45:01,782 --> 00:45:03,201 what tone we were going for. 1021 00:45:03,534 --> 00:45:05,912 But they just nailed it. 1022 00:45:06,245 --> 00:45:08,122 (children cheering) 1023 00:45:08,456 --> 00:45:10,833 (upbeat music) 1024 00:45:13,419 --> 00:45:14,462 - Well, that's it. 1025 00:45:14,795 --> 00:45:16,547 - I am just super excited to see 1026 00:45:16,881 --> 00:45:18,299 where the movie goes from here. 1027 00:45:18,633 --> 00:45:21,135 Like any movie, you hope 1028 00:45:21,469 --> 00:45:23,888 that the fans enjoy it and recognize it 1029 00:45:24,222 --> 00:45:27,433 for what it is, but this one is unique. 1030 00:45:27,767 --> 00:45:29,143 I really can't think of any other movie 1031 00:45:29,477 --> 00:45:31,270 that's been done like this before. 1032 00:45:31,604 --> 00:45:35,524 - It was like a movie being born in front of our eyes. 1033 00:45:35,858 --> 00:45:38,694 - It's pretty mind blowing when you see the finished product 1034 00:45:39,028 --> 00:45:40,947 to what we had to start with, 1035 00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:42,531 because the one that we had the start with, 1036 00:45:42,865 --> 00:45:44,575 we were like, oh, well this, 1037 00:45:44,909 --> 00:45:47,078 who knows what can come out of this? 1038 00:45:47,411 --> 00:45:49,914 But it really worked out together. 1039 00:45:50,248 --> 00:45:52,083 - So, it's a missing piece in the puzzle 1040 00:45:52,416 --> 00:45:55,044 of John Liu's career and probably one 1041 00:45:55,378 --> 00:45:59,548 he doesn't want filled in, 1042 00:45:59,882 --> 00:46:02,009 but I think we need to know about it. 1043 00:46:02,343 --> 00:46:04,804 The world needs to know about New York Ninja. 1044 00:46:05,137 --> 00:46:06,973 - Actually hope he watches it. 1045 00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:09,392 I think it will be a tribute to his work, 1046 00:46:09,725 --> 00:46:11,727 to his effort, to his commitment, 1047 00:46:12,061 --> 00:46:15,022 to doing something and wearing so many hats. 1048 00:46:15,356 --> 00:46:17,358 -When I first started looking 1049 00:46:17,692 --> 00:46:21,445 at the footage of New York Ninja, I thought instantly, 1050 00:46:21,779 --> 00:46:23,823 this has to be screened theatrically. 1051 00:46:24,156 --> 00:46:26,075 It's such a great, 1052 00:46:26,409 --> 00:46:27,326 group film. 1053 00:46:27,660 --> 00:46:30,413 - I would go see that movie, an old movie, 1054 00:46:30,746 --> 00:46:32,665 just for the voices of martial art people 1055 00:46:32,999 --> 00:46:36,168 or other actors that were in on this. 1056 00:46:36,502 --> 00:46:38,546 - Like any film from that time, 1057 00:46:38,879 --> 00:46:41,674 the '80s genre, 1058 00:46:42,008 --> 00:46:44,302 there's parts of it that are hilarious. 1059 00:46:44,635 --> 00:46:46,178 It's a wonderful film. 1060 00:46:46,512 --> 00:46:50,558 - I think people will enjoy it for being a throwback, 1061 00:46:50,891 --> 00:46:54,395 for the humor, and have fun. 1062 00:46:54,729 --> 00:46:57,231 - I would be delighted if someone watched this, 1063 00:46:57,565 --> 00:46:58,858 that didn't see this documentary, 1064 00:46:59,191 --> 00:47:01,402 didn't know the back story, and watched it, and be like, 1065 00:47:01,736 --> 00:47:04,280 hey, I've discovered this crazy movie from the '80s. 1066 00:47:04,613 --> 00:47:06,198 - I'm so glad that it's finally coming out 1067 00:47:06,532 --> 00:47:07,575 for an audience to see. 1068 00:47:07,908 --> 00:47:10,369 I couldn't be happier to be the one 1069 00:47:10,703 --> 00:47:12,079 who kind of facilitated this whole thing. 1070 00:47:12,413 --> 00:47:14,498 I really hope that people enjoy it, 1071 00:47:14,832 --> 00:47:18,377 and I hope everybody out there loves it as much as I do. 1072 00:47:18,711 --> 00:47:20,171 (John chuckling) 1073 00:47:20,504 --> 00:47:23,632 (upbeat synth rock music) 1074 00:47:36,228 --> 00:47:39,732 X Out in the streets X 1075 00:47:40,066 --> 00:47:42,193 X The fire's burning X 1076 00:47:42,526 --> 00:47:43,027 X Burning burning X 1077 00:47:43,361 --> 00:47:48,157 X How can a righteous man expect to survive X 1078 00:47:51,577 --> 00:47:54,789 X They pushed him too far X 1079 00:47:55,122 --> 00:47:58,918 X Now the tables are turning X 1080 00:47:59,251 --> 00:48:02,004 X He's not going to stand and watch X 1081 00:48:02,338 --> 00:48:06,759 X And let the darkness thrive X 1082 00:48:07,093 --> 00:48:10,429 X It's almost too late X 1083 00:48:10,763 --> 00:48:12,515 X His vengeance won't wait X 1084 00:48:12,848 --> 00:48:17,478 X This town needs a hero X 1085 00:48:17,812 --> 00:48:20,940 X Calling out for something more X 1086 00:48:21,273 --> 00:48:24,985 X A hero X 1087 00:48:25,319 --> 00:48:29,824 X Standing tall to win the war for justice X 1088 00:48:30,157 --> 00:48:31,492 X Justice justice X 1089 00:48:31,826 --> 00:48:32,952 - Go out there, New York Ninja! 1090 00:48:33,285 --> 00:48:33,869 (crew laughing) 1091 00:48:34,203 --> 00:48:34,995 Be free! 1092 00:48:35,329 --> 00:48:37,623 (funky music)