Enter the Ninja

Enter the Ninja
Film poster designed by Design Projects, Inc.
Directed by	Menahem Golan
Produced by	Yoram Globus Menahem Golan
Written by	Dick Desmond
Story by	Mike Stone
Starring	Franco Nero Susan George Sho Kosugi Christopher George
Music by	W. Michael Lewis Laurin Rinder
Cinematography	David Gurfinkel
Edited by	Michael J. Duthie Mark Goldblatt
Production company	Cannon Films
Distributed by	Cannon Films MGM/UA
Release date	October 23, 1981
Running time	101 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$1.5 million

Enter the Ninja is a 1981 ninja action film directed by Menahem Golan and starring Franco Nero, Susan George, Christopher George, and Sho Kosugi. It is often credited with starting the "Ninja Movie" craze of the 1980s. It was the first in Cannon Films' "Ninja Trilogy" anthology series, followed by Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination.

Cole, a veteran of the Angolan Bush War, completes his ninjutsu training in Japan. Cole goes to visit his war buddy Frank Landers and his newlywed wife Mary Ann Landers, who are the owners of a large piece of farming land in the Philippines. Cole soon finds that the Landers are being repeatedly harassed by a wealthy CEO named Charles Venarius in order to get them to sell their property because, unbeknownst to them, a large oil deposit is located beneath their land. After beginning to thwart Venarius' hired henchmen's attempts to bully and coerce the Landers into the selling of their property to Venarius, Cole eventually finds himself facing an old rival from the days of his training – Hasegawa, who was hired by Venarius as an assassin to eliminate Cole. In the midst of these events, an affair occurs between Cole and Mary one evening.

Production was started in the Philippines with Emmett Alston directing, but when Charles Bronson refused to allow Menahem Golan to direct Death Wish II, Golan, a co-principal of Cannon Films which was producing both movies, took over directing duties of Ninja, replacing Alston.