Bullet Points: White Phantom

It is Ninja Week here on BulletproofAction.com and I thought I would kick things off with one of the more unsung movies of the ninja genre, 1987’s White Phantom…

• Red Alert: The movie begins with a squad of ninjas representing the Sakura crime family, eliminating an unsuspecting trucker on his lunch break and then stealing the precious cargo he was hauling. Now when you hear what the cargo is you may wonder why this truck did not have some sort of military escort and heightened security… the cargo was weapons grade plutonium! News of this heist is immediately shot over to one Colonel Slater (Bo Svenson, Crackerjack 3).
• Ninja Dance: We then cut to a smoky ninjitsu demonstration that looks like a cheap version of the opening of one of Shô Kosugi’s Trans World Entertainment movies… we then see it is a stage show as the “ninja” begins shedding their ninja garb and it is revealed to be the lovely Mai Linn. Mai’s dancing is a hit with the crowd, especially with Willi (Jay Roberts Jr, Aftershock) who is getting the stink eye from Mai Linn’s boyfriend Hanzo, who is seated a few tables over. Mai Linn’s performance is rudely interrupted when some thugs show up at the club looking for their collection money.

• Scorecard: We learn that Mai Linn is working undercover at the club. The club is owned by the Sakura Family and Hanzo is the son of the head of the Sakura Family… When Mai Linn checks in with her superior, Colonel Slater, Slater tells her to be on the lookout for a silver case that was stolen… Meanwhile, Hanzo’s father has his suspicions about Hanzo’s girlfriend, but still tasks Hanzo with transporting the stolen plutonium for the family… The wildcard in all of this is Willi, we don’t know who he is working for… what we do know is he plays the harmonica, he wears a New York Yankees hat and a duster, he enjoys playing basketball, forging Babe Ruth’s autograph and he sleeps and parties at the local brothel every night with multiple women at a time. We also know Willi has eyes for Mai Linn… because she reminds him of someone he used to know and because she has a great ass.

• The Phantom Menace: While the Sakura Family is involved in big things like stealing weapons grade plutonium, they are also the ones employing the thugs who shake down local businesses. And when the Sakura Family thugs go to shake down Willi’s favorite bookstore, they become the first victims of the music making white ninja, who can seemingly fly! …Following their failure the thugs report to Hanzo at his office at the club and tell him of the white ninja that attacked them. Hanzo is curious and somewhat concerned but he also has bigger fish to fry… they need to get the plutonium out of the Sakura Family boat house. Mai Linn hears the whole conversation and reports to Colonel Slater… what neither Mai Linn or Slater know is that there would be ninjas involved and the ninjas would end up foiling Slater’s operation at the boat house.
• The Last Dance: Hanzo and his father are sparring, afterwards they discuss the white ninja problem. Hanzo’s father heard of a renegade clan of white ninjas, who opposed the Sakura Family in the past… Hanzo’s father in not so many words tells him that he told him so where Mai Lin is concerned. Hanzo is still in denial… but decides to spy on Mai Lin and that is when he spots her talking to Colonel Slater. Later that night, Hanzo has Mai Lin killed on stage as she performs a routine that involved a strobe light. Mai Lin dies in the arms of her #1 fan, Willi… Willi finds Slater’s number amongst Mai Lin’s things and contacts him to see what Slater is going to do about Mai Lin’s murder. Slater plays dumb and that forces Willi to take matters into his own hands, which means we soon get Willi vs. the Sakura Family ninja squad and then a fantastic fight between Willi and Hanzo!

I remember enjoying White Phantom when I watched it years ago, but upon revisiting for the purposes of this review I felt like I enjoyed it even more. The credit has to go to Jay Roberts Jr. who brought a combination of martial arts skills, charm and swagger to his character. I would have liked to have seen Roberts get some more high profile movie roles before he decided to call it quits and join LAPD. Rest assured, I plan on tracking down the handful of other movies Roberts appeared in and maybe I’ll write about them here on Bulletproof Action.

Here’s a handful of Bonus Bullet Points for you…

• Unofficial Sequel: White Phantom may or may not be a sequel to Sakura Killers, both feature the evil Sakura family and a character known as The Colonel.
• AKA: White Phantom was released as White Ninja in Canada and France.
• Produced By: The Overseas FilmGroup had a part in producing White Phantom. When I think of Overseas FilmGroup, I think of 1997’s Drive, which puts White Phantom in great company.