Ninja the Mission Force

Background

In 2012, director Ed Glaser decided to create a comedy web series based upon director Godfrey Ho's 1980s concept of using dubbed footage from existing ninja genre films to make and release new films. He shot ninja scenes which featured himself, and actors such as Brad Jones and Allison Pregler, and spliced his scenes together with scenes from public domain films cut and pasted to fit in with his newer plot concepts.

Principal cast

Season 1 (2012)

1. "Ninja Begininator" (February 15, 2012), uses footage from Laser Mission
2. "Ninja Godfather" (February 22, 2012), uses footage from The Invincible Gladiator
3. "Citizen Ninja" (February 29, 2012), uses footage from The Stranger
4. "'N' is for Ninja" (March 7, 2012), uses footage from Ninja Death
5. "Ninja Virus" (March 14, 2012), uses footage from The Boy in the Plastic Bubble
6. "Space Ninja in Space" (March 21, 2012), uses footage from Star Odyssey
7. "Ninja Exorcist" (March 28, 2012), uses footage from The Street Fighter
8. "Ninja Delivery" (April 11, 2012), uses footage from Cold Sweat
9. "Night of the Ninja" (April 18, 2012), uses footage from Night of the Living Dead
10. "Fists of Ninja" (April 25, 2012), uses footage from Planet of Dinosaurs

Season 2 (2013)

The second season was released exclusively on DVD, with the first episode available online.

1. Bruce Fights Back from the Grave
2. Bruce We Miss You
3. The Clones of Bruce
4. Image of Bruce
5. Bruce: A Dragon Story
6. They Call Him Bruce
7. The Real Bruce
8. Bruce's Greatest Revenge
9. Treasure of Bruce
10. Bruce the Invincible

Specials

Critical reception

DVD Talk reviewed the second season and gave the series a mixed review, writing "humor is pretty subjective, so I won't insist that this show is terrible", and offered that "done well, the show could find a funny medium between What's Up, Tiger Lily? and The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra; sadly, this second season doesn't do much for me as a newcomer to the series. Despite some chintzy charm, the jokes are pretty limp, and the integration of the film footage plays out more like a budget booster than a source of creative comedy." And in their conclusion wrote "For those with a different comic sensibility than mine, this will be a light, kitschy romp through B-films."

DVD Verdict congratulated the series for winning a Telly Award during its second season, The reviewer stated he had not herd of the award, "but after some research, found it's awarded to exceptional online shows. So it's got that going for it." In criticism, he expanded "I was open-minded going in, but Ninja the Mission Force just isn't that funny. It's stupid, but stupid I will gladly take if you can make me laugh. Which it doesn't. Many of the jokes are heavy on pop culture references and come across as too contrived. The creative team shows earnestness in attempting to deliver a cult show that appeals to those seeking quick hit video humor on the Internet, but the legit laughs are too few and far between." They also noted problems with dubbing as "especially disappointing, since that would seem to be easier to pull off than anything else."

In a lengthy review, Impact Magazine reminds readers of the roots of director Godfrey Ho and producer Joseph Lai and IFD Films, and shared appreciation of Ed Glaser's web series created as an homage to their earlier works.

Home media

The complete first season was released on the DVD, along with an exclusive "Ninja Christmas" episode.

The complete second season was released on DVD and includes the entire film Ninja the Protector.