A gory offering from the Shaw Brothers studio which offers up insane ninja action and fantastic elements in abundance, as well as a ton of martial arts mayhem to whet the appetite of any fan of the martial arts genre. In the early '80s, the Shaw Brothers took to inserting graphic gore into their kung fu epics (as well as churning out their own brand of stomach-churning horror yarns) in a bid to attract bigger violence-seeking audiences. FIVE ELEMENT NINJAS stands true as one of their most over-the-top kung fu films with graphic scenes of violence in no other. It's one of the most violent films I've seen, with a huge body count and people being killed every few minutes.

There's a heavy emphasis on weaponry, with lots of huge shiny - and frankly absurd - axes and spears being used in the combat sequences (complete with tinny ringing noises) and lots of cool devices like poisoned throwing rings (which hilariously cause the victims to be unable to use kung fu for three months!) and a pair of handcuffs which can only be unlocked with a special key and is otherwise unbreakable. The music is effective and the varied locations add to the visual splendour of the movie.

The acting is average for the genre, with the good guys being likable and the bad guys being sufficiently mean, but little other characterisation. Former Venom Lo Meng has the best role and the film's best scene, an extended fight against overwhelming odds. I did like the character of the female ninja who has a change of heart and falls for the good guy before dying a tragic death. But otherwise, this is mainly for ninja fans who want to see one of the most absurd - and thus, best - ninja movies out there. These ninjas can jump in and out of the ground, disappear at will, and fly through the air with ease! The action sequences are fantastic if you don't mind the gore and spraying arterial fluids and in all this is a bloody good time, and one of the most incredible movies I've yet seen.

A young martial artist seeks revenge on the Ninja who kills his martial arts brothers and teacher. He finds help in the form of a new teacher (who knows Ninjitsu) and new brothers. Together the four pupils face the Five Element Ninja challenge: Wood, Earth, Gold, Water, and Fire.

From retrospective reviews, AllMovie described the film as "a legend amongst fans of Asian cult fare and for once, the legend lives up to the hype." The review noted that the plot sticks to simple martial arts tropes, while noting that the "actual methods used are so off the wall that no fan will care" and that "the final twenty minutes is the kind of high-kicking bloodbath that is guaranteed to leave any fan of these films smiling and slackjawed. Thus, Five Element Ninjas is the kind of gloriously over-the-top blowout that every genre fan needs to see." Sure, we have that same shallow backdrop we have come to expect from Chang Cheh, and we can say this film is cheesy with all its camera tricks and explosive punches. Haven't we seen this a million times by now? But you know what, this may be among the best of its kind, at least since "Five Deadly Venoms". Ninjas wrapping a guy up in chains and making him explode? Oh yeah, that happens. This is a lot more than punches and kicks, and it seems more like something Troma or Cannon would do. I absolutely love it.

I can see by some of the reviews here that fans of this stuff really go for the crazy, over the top bloody confrontations as depicted in "Five Elements Ninja". Since I'm not particularly a fan, the action in the picture strikes me as almost a cartoon version of a martial arts film, as opposed to say, a film like "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". Granted, that one has it's high flying wire work and impossible stunts as well, but it seems a little more grounded in reality. I was curious about which additional elements would have rounded out the traditional ones of earth, fire and water, and I don't think I would have come up with gold and wood, but that's what you have to work with here. I wasn't expecting the warriors from the Martial Alliance to barrel through each of the five elements in such rapid succession, and since they were nominally positioned as the 'good guys', I thought it odd that they were all dispatched so quickly by the Japanese Ninjas. Which then set up the task of Shao Tien-hao (Tien-Chi Cheng) to rely on his 'Unlashing Technique' to escape the clutches of the enemy and bring the fight back to Master Chin Tien Chun (Michael Wai-Man Chan). Adding to the quixotic appeal of this flick was the mismatch between the English spoken dialog and the captioning sub-titles as they almost never matched, although you got the gist of what the characters were saying easily enough. If you forget to keep track of the body count in the story, no problem, as it's proclaimed at one point that a hundred fifty three fighters died against the Five Elements Formation. I wouldn't have guessed that many, but who's counting? For the squeamish, there's a visceral scene in which a body is torn apart in about five different directions, so you might not want to catch this right after lunch. Not to be outdone of course by the example of an early encounter in which one of the defeated Alliance fighters trips over his own intestines before meeting his end! Quite effective too are those scenes in which the black clad ninjas arrive en masse and the viewer is treated to complete silence. Come to think of it, a fair amount of thought must have been put into the picture, but for thinking people, it's just way too much to absorb.