Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.0
Overall		2.5

Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman June 18, 2022

There are some movies that defy any "easy" description and which may therefore simply need to be surrendered to on their own terms, come hell or high water, and I think most who survive watching the patently gonzo Ninja Badass would be prone to place this particular film in that particular category. Perhaps somewhat amazingly, Ninja Badass has taken home a boatload of awards at various (admittedly relatively small scale) festival screenings, but the fact that it was feted with an Honorable Mention by some aggregation known as the Boobs and Blood Film Festival may indicate as well as anything what's going to be in store for the intrepid viewer. Ninja Badass was the brain(?)child of one Ryan Harrison, whose IMDb page lists several credits for visual effects, including one for a film called The Revenant, which is not (to perhaps state the obvious) The Revenant. And some goofy if unapologetically graphic and gory practical visual effects are possible calling cards for this irreverent low budget escapade, though some of the supposedly "high tech" green screen material is perhaps deliberately laughable at times.

Needless bandwidth need not be exhausted providing a detailed "plot" summary for Ninja Badass, since a pull quote on the back cover enthusiastically states the film is "completely insane", which may be an understatement. A kind of hapless shlub named Rex (Ryan Harrison) is obsessed with a "hot babe" (the film's preferred description) named Jojo (Tatiana Ortiz), and is forced to become a ninja in order to rescue her once she's officially a Damsel in Distress. Rex is mentored by a sensei who one-ups (or downs, as the case may be) the legendary One-Armed Boxer by having no arms.

Suffice it to say that some may infer after watching this film that Ryan Harrison may have been encouraged by his own childhood mentors to "color outside of the lines", since Ninja Badass is not especially devoted to pursuing an intelligible narrative. Instead a litany of bizarre "fight" scenes ensues, interspersed with a variety of other completely odd detours that can have little to nothing to do with what's ostensibly going on. The result is a chaotic mishmash, but it's almost relentlessly high energy, and there are laughs here for those with appropriately jaded sensibilities.

Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Ninja Badass is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Bayview Entertainment with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The IMDb has no relevant technical data, and the sections of the commentary I sampled didn't get into the technologies employed, but as can be seen in the screenshots accompanying this review, this has an intentionally lo-fi, grainy look which is either Super 16 or has been made to appear so. The transfer is actually rather good, all things considered, with above average detail levels and robust suffusion, though as can probably also be made out by the screenshots I've uploaded to accompany this review, things have been graded in a highly artificial looking kind of green-yellow. As mentioned above in the main body of the review, some of the green screen material is laughably inept, and I'm assuming that was done deliberately.

I think this is the first time in my reviewing career where I've gotten what looks to be a "retail final" in terms of packaging and the like, but which is labeled on both the disc and the keepcase as a "screener", and which came on a BD-R. I'm assuming this matches what consumers will be buying, but I can't absolutely guarantee it. If anyone does pick this up and notice any differences, private message me and I'm happy to update the review as needed.

Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Ninja Badass features an LPCM 2.0 track that is surprisingly robust sounding, given the obvious micro budget of the film. While there are definitely moments where dialogue gets obscured or is not spoken especially clearly, fidelity is solid, supporting the almost nonstop underscore especially well (aside from one song I assume was written for the film, I didn't see any music credits, and I'm assuming things were either culled from a stock library or perhaps "borrowed" per some questionable traditions in Chinese martial arts films from days of yore). Optional English subtitles are available.

Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

I'm not quite sure what to make of at least some of the contents of the so-called Ninja VIP Super Club, the section of the disc devoted to extras. These may be outtakes or they may simply be "sidebar" vignettes related to the film in some way. Either way, they're as patently gonzo as the actual film.

• Kano's Platoon (HD; 00:47)


• Cage for a Hot Babe (HD; 2:07)


• Party RSVP (HD; 00:32)


• You Came to Save Me? (HD: 2:21)


• Baby Sissy Problems (HD; 2:29)


• I'm a Ninja Now Full Song (HD; 2:32)


• Bloopers, Mostly (HD; 5:13)


• BTS Photos (HD; 6:30) actually also offers live action behind the scenes footage.


• Audio Commentary with Ryan Harrison (Rex / director / writer / producer), Tami Harrison (Rex's Momma / producer), Darryl Delaney (director of photography / co-producer) Mitch Schlagel (Kano) and L Nyx (Pet Store Girl) can be accessed under the Setup Menu.

Ninja Badass Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The opening credits for Ninja Badass freely disclose that this is a film by "Ryan Harrison and his buddies", and it needs to be accepted on its own slightly elevated home movie level to probably be fully appreciated. As someone who has spent a lot of the last couple of years in particular reviewing various Shaw Brothers outings that have been matriculating to Blu-ray, I found the film kind of delightfully gonzo in its own way, but it is not a model of narrative clarity, production finesse or performance excellence, lest anyone misunderstand. Technical merits are actually kind of surprisingly solid, all things considered, and the supplements weirdly enjoyable, for those who may be considering making a purchase.