NINJA ASSASSIN
CLICK HERE for our Ninja Assassin movie stills post from October 6, 2011. The gallery really is quite nice.
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Head on over to the 87Eleven Action Design website for an absolutely awesome intro featuring NINJA ASSASSIN, SPEED RACER, and the legendary films that the 87Eleven stunt team has brought to life.
Then go on inside and check out Rain’s very cool, jaw-dropping stunt clips. Wowzer…!
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* ETA 3/16/10: We have our copies of Ninja Assassin. We hope you do, too. 🙂
* ETA: The Ninja Assassin DVD will be released in the US on March 16th, 2010! » You can read our blog post about it HERE!
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If you haven’t seen the movie yet, I cannot imagine why (well, okay… if gushing blood isn’t your thing, that is an acceptable explanation LOL). Ninja Assassin is a worthy addition to Rain’s resume; he could not have played Raizo better! My friends, my brother, and I have seen it twice—at the beginning and at the end of December—and don’t hold your breath, a third time could be in the making.
People kept coming into the theater until it was full. And the second time around was even better, because you knew exactly where to look for the greatest effect, the plot felt even richer, the soundtrack was even hotter, and there was absolutely nothing you missed. And it stayed with us. When we all parted, we advised each other to not get raizo’d. The challenge was to get home without getting shuriken in the hoods of our cars. “Are those ninja, by that dark fence over there? Gah!” After a ninja film, you start seeing shadows move—that’s the truth. Ha.
(*Sort of spoiler-ish… If there was one thing that disappointed Terri and myself, it was that the love story between Raizo and Mika didn’t survive the movie’s final cut. Booooo. Hisssss. Did the Powers That Be think we would overlook that? Seriously??)
This ninja homage to some of my favorite movies from the ‘80s took me WAY back. From the ninja ‘blurs’ to the fantastical bloodletting, to the power inside of a ninja’s chi, to the wholly original sequences to Ninja-dom such as the on-foot pursuit through traffic, and Raizo’s unique weapon… this was everything my friends and I wanted in a ninja movie. Not only were we already ninja and samurai aficionados, a few of us had spent some years in martial arts. (Have you any idea how long I’ve been waiting for Master Sho Kosugi to come out of retirement? Like forever.) And on top of all that, I’m naturally a hard sell.
To my knowledge, a Ninja Assassin DVD release date for the US hasn’t been posted yet. But rest assured, it will be. And I’ll be buying mine with a quickness.
— Stephe ^@@^ @ Cloud USA
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Mika and Raizo — THE couple of the year.
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From November 2009, by Warner Bros. Italia. Thank you, Mr. Silver and Naomie, for sharing your thoughts on Rain. And I will add this: Sho Kosugi (veteran actor, 57-year-long martial arts master and head of his own federation in Japan) giving Rain a nod of approval earned Rain his baddassery award right off the bat. Sho-sama is an original Badass. Believe it. (courtesy of agentpaulette @YT)
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And as a bonus, go HERE for a Movie Web interview with Naomie Harris, where she talks about Ninja Assassin, Raizo, and her encounters on set with Rain. Very cool.
We think we see a twinkle in her eye… haha.
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Thank you, Mr. Silver, for these 11 seconds of awesome.
Trust. Joel Silver on Eyebite TV. (courtesy of Eyebite TV @YT)
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Our favorite Ninja Assassin interview. Rain, and McTeigue, and the Korean Beacon. In English, and English-subbed, November 2009. Very nice. (credit: koreanbeacon.com)
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Let’s take a look back at why Rain was at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, nominated for Biggest Badass Star of the year—NINJA ASSASSIN, and his Raizo skills. Enjoy this Indy Mogul / Beyond the Trailer movie review by Grace Randolph.
*Incredulous movie fan: “Rain is a… Korean pop star??” LOL!
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» Ninja Assassin ending title sequence, on YouTube. S-w-e-e-t.
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Bring The Pain, from the NA Trailer.
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The MC Remix, by Ryozu, the movie soundtrack.
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Shazam! by Spiderbait, from the NA ending credits and movie soundtrack.
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» One more time… the official trailer.
» Now THIS is dedication to a movie!
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Ninja Assassin TV Spot #1.
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Strength Training.
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Stunt Training.
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Hard Training.
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Ninja Assassin: Behind-the-Scenes.
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What did you all think of the movie? Don’t be afraid to be truthful—we all have different personalities and different tastes, and different opinions. That is the natural order of things. So let’s be polite and constructive, and speak up!
Cloud USA 
Im here from the future. Just in awe of Rain Oppa’s talent.
I just became aware of his existence this year because of (welp) BTS. And. Now i get to join all of you and enjoy his works.
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Rain I do believe you owe us another Ninja Assassin 2. Come on Rain let Raizo come out to play for a little while.
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I own this movie and its great! I watch it every chance I get. Rain is so wonderful in this. This movie makes you want Rain to protect you.
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You hit the nail on the head, Pix, haha! 😉
Stephe ^@@^
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I can’t remember how many times I’ve watched Ninja Assassin but I never bore of it. Every time I watch it, I’m extremely inpressed with the fight scenes, the intensity of the serious scenes, and the graphics. I absolutely love this movie. When it comes to technical fighting and ninjas, this is my all time favorite. I’ve been trying to figure out how I can send Rain a hand written letter but I just can’t seem to find an address I would send one if I were to write one. Is there anyone out there that can help me out? I would greatly appreciate it.
Andi
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Hi, Andrea. 🙂 Thanks for your comments.
Rain’s current admin office address is:
RAIN / Jung JiHoon
Rainy Entertainment
Postal code: 135-954
5/F 78-12 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
We keep his stats updated on our Rain Biography page HERE (https://cloudusa.wordpress.com/bio-jung-ji-hoon/).
Happy letter-writing!
Stephe ^@@^
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I have watched this movie several times already. I just can’t get enough of Rain’s Raizo-ing here. His english and his martial arts. That “Mika oh, Mika, I like you more and more” made me giggle. Haha. ❤
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This movie introduced me to Rain and I have no regrets. People I knew at the time were like “It was all blood and guts and transparent.” Being an anime fan, my interest was peaked anyway. Ninjas… I mean come on… who doesn’t like ninjas?! Anyway… I watched it and was blown away. Fluid action, intriguing story, and who the hell was the hot guy in the lead?! lol Needless to say, thanks to this movie, I’ve become quite the fan. He’s so talented and I didn’t know he was a singer before hand so finding that out after was a bit of a shock. Then finding out he did most of the action and all that training to get into crazy shape… wow. The world needs more entertainers like him and if we’re lucky, they’ll make another one. 🙂
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Hi, Letoya. Nice to meet you. Thanks for your comments.
Your story is very similar in ways to many fans who found Rain through Ninja Assassin. He was simply meant to make that movie. It was fate!
(Personally, I think people who don’t like ninjas are weird.) 🙂
Stephe ^@@^
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Yay, another Rain Cloud!
Welcome, Letoya!
Terri :-}
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I saw this movie really late one night and thought it was going to be one of those that was poorly done and funny to watch because of that. Wow did I get a suprise. I had never heard of the movie or of Rain (gasp I know). After watching the movie I looked up Rain and I have been hooked ever since. As for the movie, I could have done without some of the gore like in the opening scene however I loved the storyline and the action. The cinematography was amazing and the more I read about and watched clips of Rain the more I loved him and the movie. I have this movie on my computer and tell just about everyone about it as well as Rain and KPop. Rain started my adiction to kpop and the Korean entertainment world and culture all together. I think thats fitting dont you 😀 Now all I have to do is learn to speak/understand Korean so that I dont have to wait for subtitles 😀
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very nice movie ……….. new idea ……..
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Jihoon trained quit well making this movie. Well done.
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Stephe, I was thinking the same thing for a 2nd N.A. Where Raizo & Mika go after the other clans. I LOVE Ninja Assassin. Rain was awesome and knowing he did all the stunts himself just makes the actions scenes that much better. I am an action show freak and this is one of my top 5 favorite movies. I really would love to see a 2nd movie OR see Rain in another Hollywood action movie with James McTeigue & Wachowski Bros. Alot of reviews I read said there wasnt much of a story line and too much blood/gore and that Raizo was too impersonal. For me, it’s a ninja movie and thats what it was supposed to be. And Raizo was raised to be a killer that is why he wasnt happy & cheerful. But he sure was a bada$$. I know he’s concentrating on his new album which I heard is supposed to be an English album and that I have to have when it comes out. Then makeing another Korean movie which I believe is starting filming @ the end of this month. Then he’s off to the military towards the end of the year for 21 months. After that, I hope there are plans for him to be in another Hollywood movie. Cant wait to see what happens next with him.
Ev / Las Vegas, NV
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As a fan, I too am sorely disappointed in no Raizo/Mika love. 😦
As a writer though, I understand that, unfortunately, a Raizo/Mika love scene would have been completely unrealistic because there wasn’t enough time to properly build up to one. We’re talking about a guy who’s been severely stunted in the emotions department, painfully conditioned for YEARS by Ozunu-sama and by himself (ever since the pain of losing Kiriko) to not feel, to have no weakness such as caring or compassion, to be a machine, to never be vulnerable to another human being (and I don’t know anything that makes you more vulnerable on this earth than love and/or sex).
Truly, that’s the only way he could have successfully stayed alive for so long after fleeing the clan — by keeping that edge and having absolutely no distractions that took away from his skills.
Heck, only when Ozunu-sama “killed” Mika right in front of him did Raizo realize he had crossed that line and had developed love for her, when up to that point it had only been “like.” (A ninja’s chi doesn’t just suddenly kick in and he attain the ultimate power of complete invisibility because the villain murdered the person he’s protecting, oh noooo, but because the villain murdered HIS WOMAN. Raw emotion.)
An hour and a half was just too short of a movie. It took forever for her just to get him to smile. Any sex would have been obviously thrown in there for the hell of it (a great visual but baaaad writing). Now, if it had been a full two hours, that would have been more than enough time for Mika to take Raizo’s newfound emotions and carefully (but thoroughly) show him the joys of being a man before THE END.
The least they could have done though, even in an hour and a half, was let him kiss her before they parted ways. And I mean really kiss her. Blast it!
The NA 1 ending set up an NA 2 perfectly. Raizo is a new man with a new purpose and new emotions. He and Mika need to take on the next clan (who probably wants revenge for what he did to Ozunu-sama and that landromat girl anyway and for exposing their killers-for-hire setup) and our couple needs to seal the deal with some Blasian lovin’. Often. Quite often. And an ex-boyfriend of Mika’s should be in cahoots with the clan. And the clan should be run by Ozunu-sama’s half-sister. They should hold Raizo’s real parents over his head like bait. And Ryan needs to turn traitor. He’d be great like that. LOL
Anyways, my take on NA. My long-winded take. Gah.
Stephe ^@@^
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I was also another one who was disappointed that they did not allow a love scene happen between Raizo and Mika. I have seen other action movies where the main characters fall off cliffs, get shot at, damn near blown to bits and they still manage to let them share at least one passionate kiss. Rain and Naomie were just too beautiful to let that Blasian love go to waste! But oh well, I guess Asian men and Black women don’t have sex, at least not on the big screen………..
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I really hope they do a second one. That movie was awsome!!! Martial Arts were sooo good. Rain gave them everything and some so I believe he deserves a second. Wish there were more love scenes but US movies are like that. If it’s action, is all action or if is romance is all romance. They have to learn to mix things together.
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this film is closing in on $60 mil. just looked at the reported numbers, which of course still don’t coincide with each other, but that’s ok. their still close enough. 30 differnt countries reporting over $20 mil and the figures keep changing. the US makes #31 with a total of $38,114,412 so far and $20+ mil international. $58,229,996 “OH YEAH”, i’m feelin good
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this film was all i could ask for and then some. we all had been following it’s developments from day one, i read up on the script writer, the producer, the stunt team etc. to get my fill, but when the critics started to do what they do best (sound dumb), i put a lid on it and stopped reading. by the time the first trailor hit the tv screen, i was super hiped, fighting myself not to form an opinion. well, well, well when i sat down in the theater with my crew and the movie came on what seemed like the first 3 seconds, i had moved to the edge of my seat, passed my drink for someone to hold (for fear of spilling it), they refused and put the drink down on the darn floor, hahaha. AWESOME flick.
the blood that so many talked about never fazed me, because it just stands to reason that using those kinds of weapons limbs come off and major arteries being punchured means blood and plenty of it. (but after all it was only fake) but, i am so happy to see martial arts rise to another level and into modern times.
so when i watch this again, it will be in the comfort of my own home to see as many times as i want. Rain of course had me in awe as he always does. he just transforms himself throughly. Thanksgiving day (is when i saw the film), when i got to family dinner, of course i’m still excited and talking buckets about Ninja Assassin. later folks were leaving and about three cousins and ther females friends decided they were going to see Ninja Assassin, hahaha
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