Ninja the Mission Force



"It takes a ninja to defeat a ninja."

Back in the 80s, Hong Kong producer Joseph Lai and famous B-movie director Godfrey Ho teamed up to release cheap ninja films onto the market by taking existing Asian films and adding extra scenes featuring occidental ninjas doing ninja things, and dubbing the whole thing to tie the original movie in with the general plot of the new scenes. The result was the So Bad Its Good Godfrey Ho Ninja Movies.

In 2012, director Ed Glaser decided to make a web series based around the concept, shooting ninja scenes also featuring Brad Jones and splicing them in with scenes from different film. Each episode features a different film cut up and dubbed to fit the general plot.

That plot being that Ninja Master Bruce (Brad Jones) wants the Avian Ninja Warriors (rubber duckies in ninja costumes) to gain supreme ninja power, but Interpol agent and ninja master Gordon (Ed Glaser in a silly wig, and numerous stock footage actors-slash-clever disguises) must stop him, with the help of his various allies throughout the world.

This series provides examples of:

 * Affectionate Parody: Of the Godfrey Ho Ninja Movies, of course!
 * To get a sense of the spoofed subject, watch The Cinema Snob's reviews of Ninja Untouchables, Zombie vs. Ninja, Full Metal Ninja, Ninja of the Magnificence and Ninja Terminator.
 * Arson Murder and Jaywalking: Bruce sends Gordon an ultimatum in the most evil way either of them could consider possible - by putting ketchup on his corned beef sandwich.
 * Bad Boss: Bruce keeps a vicious killer tiger handy for the express purpose of offing love interests, slaughtering henchmen who have failed him... and killing those who took his lunch order wrong.
 * Big Bad: Ninja Master Bruce.
 * Big No: From Gordon, delivered in the most narmtastic way possible.
 * Blatant Lies: "They call him the Man With No Name. His name's Tim. Nobody's ever seen him. Here's his photo."
 * Blessed Are the Cheesemakers: Episode 1 has a Cheese Ninja.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: Bruce urges his pet tiger not to spoil his appetite before "the big event in Episode 10".
 * In the finale, Bruce gloats to Gordon that he'll never see the ultimate ninja power of the Avian Ninja Warriors, even though he has them all, because . Gordon scoffs at this,
 * California Doubling: Via Gag Dub, Russia "doubles" for Wisconsin, and Hong Kong doubles for Toronto.
 * A gladiator film doubles for modern-day Italy.
 * Combinatorial Explosion: In the office breakroom, Gordon puts 75 cents into a microwave, starts the timer, and after it goes off he opens it and takes out a can of soda.
 * Department of Redundancy Department: The trailer lampshades this trend on Ho's own trailers, culminating in "Ninja ninja ninja ninja".
 * The title of the episode 'Space ninja in space'.
 * "Next week: a special Ninja the mission force special: an interview with former Godfried Ho-actor Andy Chworowsky reveals the ultimate ninja secrets of the ninja."
 * Deus Sex Machina: Kevin (played by John Travolta from The Boy in The Plastic Bubble) will spread the Ninja Zombie virus, which will be ready when he starts being attracted to women.
 * The Empire: One of ninjas, no less, though the only members we've seen are Gordon and Bruce. Interestingly enough, Gordon's line about still being loyal to it and that Bruce is the traitor (for whatever reason) seems to indicate it's not fundamentally evil. (According to Gordon, it used to be called "the Good Samaritan Ninja Empire.")
 * Flash Back: In which Gordon is played by Orson Welles.
 * Gag Dub: Very, very much. All the voices are dubbed by somewhere between three and five people, and they don't hesitate to abuse the ability to redub existing films, including giving Brandon Lee a loud burp instead of a proper line.
 * George Lucas Throwback: Obviously inspired by the Godfrey Ho Ninja Movies, but special mention goes to Ninja Terminator, from which it borrows the Garfield phone and the Chinese toy robot delivery system.
 * Gilligan Cut: After Gordon gets in an office-related Ninja fight (notably the only fight he loses), he wonders if The Evil Ninja Empire has to put up with stuff like this. Cue Bruce complaining that someone put down hookers as an equipment expense.
 * Gotta Catch Them All: The Avian Ninja Warriors.
 * Guyliner: Both Gordon and Bruce wear lots of it when they are ninjas.
 * Hey Its That Guy: Several familiar faces from other Dark Maze Studios and Stoned Gremlin productions appear. And, of course, the Glamorous Hollywood Superstars.
 * Hey Its That Voice: Ashens is the narrator.
 * Highly Visible Ninja: The ninjas all wear brightly colored suits and headbands that read "NINJA".
 * Hong Kong Dub: All part of the parody, only a few people dub the voices: writer Meagan Rachelle voices all the female roles and Ed Glaser voices all the males. The exceptions are Ninja Master Bruce, voiced by Brad Jones; the narrator, voiced by Stuart Ashen; and Andy in episode 2, voiced by former Godfrey Ho dubber and actor Andy Chworowsky.
 * Hurricane of Puns: Every dairy-related pun imaginable is tossed out when secret agent Timmy checks out at the Wisconsin customs office.
 * Gordon's secretary tells him she's found Tim's file, number, and hotel - and places on the table a nail file, a large plastic number 9, and a Monopoly hotel.
 * Improbable Weapon User: Among other things, the ninjas battle using bacon, jump ropes, Frisbees, and bubbles.
 * Instant Costume Change: In keeping in with how ninjas operated in Godfrey Ho's films.
 * Ironic Echo: Jennifer, on the tape, says "Gordon, you never could have known things would turn out like this!" Immediately afterward, Bruce calls and says "Gordon, you knew things would turn out like this!"
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: The Evil Ninja Empire developed a Ninja Zombie virus and infected Kevin with it. The virus will be ready when he hits puberty and starts looking at girls differently.
 * Overt Operative: Secret agent Timmy gets a courtesy call at the airport identifying him as a secret agent.
 * Public Domain Feature Films: The source of half of the show's material. Movies such as Laser Mission, The Boy in The Plastic Bubble, and Planet Of Dinosaurs are featured and redubbed.
 * Retraux: The episodes manage to mimic the cheap 1980s quality of the Godfrey Ho films it parodies. Even the exact, same Garfield phone from Ninja Terminator shows up.
 * Running Gag: Ninjas don't exist. They're just fairy tales.
 * The Tape Knew You Would Say That: Exaggerated Trope plus Parodied Trope. Before Gordon's girlfriend vanished, she had finished a "self-videotaping" project wherein she looks into a camera and acts out one half of a conversation with him, which invariably matches up to whatever Gordon is saying or doing while he watches it.
 * All the way up to
 * Visual Pun: This series seems to love it.
 * Word Salad Philosophy: The "motivational speech" the gladiator coach gives in Ninja Godfather;
 * "Listen up. They've got homecourt advantage and a star quarterback, but I know you'll still bake one hell of a soufflé out there. Just remember the secret ingredient. All I can ask is for you to remember your lines and keep the tempo. Lasso the cactus, bounce that hamster, and slam that walrus like you've never swallowed bubblegum! If they show you a root beer, take the manatee! ...Oh, and there's midgets out there. Did I forget to mention the midgets? Yeah, you're gonna wanna be careful with them. Of the midgets, I mean. Deal with it."
 * From Ninja Exorcist:
 * "Project your mind to what you seek. Feel the flutter of the ostrich wing, roar into the teacup. Then you know." "What if I'm in a fight?" "Concentrate. Remember that the end is time, but the grass is wrong. Only a pebble knows its age. If a dog can't take it as a cat, the moon can come out of a grapefruit." "Thank you master."
 * You Look Familiar: almost all of the ninjas not played by Ed Glaser or Brad Jones seem to be played by the same guy (Brad's friend Ryan Mitchelle, the director of Paranoia).