Episode 157 - Surf Ninjas: LIVE!

[joel_rosenbaum 1269]

The Beach Boy resurgence was more nostalgia-driven than anything else. And by 1993, "Kokomo" would have been as relevant as the Fine Young Cannibals.

 

1993 was the year of "Ten" and "The Chronic".

[JammerLea 2070]

The Beach Boy resurgence was more nostalgia-driven than anything else. And by 1993, "Kokomo" would have been as relevant as the Fine Young Cannibals.

 

1993 was the year of "Ten" and "The Chronic".

 

I wonder if it'd be compatible to trying to be cool by using an out of date meme? Very nostagia. Much surf.

 

Tbh I don't remember the song seeming out of place when I first saw the movie, but then again my parents had me listen to a lot of oldies music, so...

[taylor anne photo 11311]

I wonder if it'd be compatible to trying to be cool by using an out of date meme? Very nostagia. Much surf.

[JammerLea 2070]

I love this. Thank you.

 

And omg I meant comparable not compatible. Trying to type fast on my phone at work is a mistake.

[RikkiHo 84]

Did anybody else think it was the ninjas burping in the first attack, and not Iggy belching offscreen after his "anchovy omelet"?

[NathanGordon 1096]

It's funny that TV and movies portrayed these 1990's teens as massive Beach Boys fans, and not even like the really good Pet Sounds Beach Boys either. At the beginning of Airborne, we also see Mitchell Goosen and his friend walking home singing "California Girls." I guess the writers at this time just thought any teens from California would be obsessed with the Beach Boys.

I think it has more to do with Mike Love selling out the Beach Boys for anyone offering a nickel.

[Cameron H. 23786]

 

I think it has more to do with Mike Love selling out the Beach Boys for anyone offering a nickel.

 

Are you kidding me? Mike Love IS The Beach Boys!!!

 

 

...is something Mike Love tells himself every night.

I'm just loving how many opportunities I've had to diss that motherfucker lately

 

 

[JammerLea 2070]

GUYS I finally finished the Surf Ninjas pic I wanted to do!

 

IDK his outfit style just reminded me a bit of Snake Plissken and I got a little excited??

 

Btw I got the pose reference from this martial arts book I bought a good few years ago that I forgot about until recently and the title killed me

 

 

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

Amazing work Jam! Although I must admit being slightly disappointed when I scrolled to the bottom of the pic and found he wasn't standing on a surfboard made of solid timber. Such great work!

 

[Cam Bert 8145]

Now it's time for a very special How Did This Get Named? Leslie Nielsen Edition!

 

Marketing movies overseas can sometimes be very hard. How do you get people in to see a movie with stars they don't know, based on books or characters they don't know, and dealing with subject matters they aren't familiar with? Well as I talked about with Vampire's Kiss one strategy is to completely repackage the movie as something else using something in the zeitgeist. However, Surf Ninjas repackaging of the movie reveals another interesting trend. The movie has one well known star, Leslie Nielsen, and thanks to the popularity of the Naked Gun movies he was well known in Japan. So rework the film so you think it's another Leslie Nielsen spoof movie. Thus Surf Ninjas becomes...

 

鉄の顔を持つ男 Tetsu no Kao wo Motsu Otoko - The Man with an Iron Face

 

Leslie Nielsen not only gets top billing but as you can see from this VHS packaging he is the movie! Oddly for a film called "The Man with an Iron Face" you think they would put the cyborg version of Chi on the front rather than the back.

 

Why this name for the film though? Well, for that we have to take a step back. As I said the Naked Gun franchise was popular and made Leslie Nielsen well known in Japan. That movie was call 裸の銃を持つ男(Hadaka no Gan wo Motsu Otoko) The Man with a Naked Gun (Japanese side note: 銃 is read juu in Japanese and means gun but they chose to go with the Katakana-ized version of gun instead) and this sparked a whole trend of naming of his movies for years to come. The Exorcist parody film Repossessed became 裸の十字架を持つ男(Hadaka no Juujika wo Motsu Otoko) The Man with a Naked Cross, The Fugitive parody film Wrongfully Accused became 裸の銃を持つ逃亡者(Hadako no Gan wo Motsu Toubousha) The Fugitive with a Naked Gun, heck even the Harry Anderson starring TV movie version of Harvey was repackaged as 裸のウサギを持つ男(Hadaka no Usagi wo Motsu Otoko) The Man with a Naked Rabbit. At least 4 other movies he appeared in followed a similar naming pattern. So why did this film not get named "The Man with the Naked Face"? I can only assume because they wanted to avoid any mention of him being a samurai and the only thing left to talk about was his cyborg parts.

[JammerLea 2070]

Now it's time for a very special How Did This Get Named? Leslie Nielsen Edition!

Man, that must have just been packaged disappointment.

 

How would you translate the 「我輩に敵はない！てか～」 at the top? (I'm hoping I typed it correctly)

[Cam Bert 8145]

Man, that must have just been packaged disappointment.

 

How would you translate the 「我輩に敵はない！てか～」 at the top? (I'm hoping I typed it correctly)

You did. It is tricky because two parts of it don't really work in English. 我輩 is an arrogant or pompous way or referring to your self which is hard because there really isn't an equivalent word in English. Simply using I is not wrong but you lose the tone in which it is intended. てか is a shortening of というか and is here used like a punchline. So personally I would go with a more indirect approach and go with "Did you say nobody can defeat you?" opposed to a direct approach of "You say I have no enemies"

[Cam Bert 8145]

Man, that must have just been packaged disappointment.

Also speaking of packaged disappointment, this was the DVD rerelease:

 

[Ofcoursemyhorse 1043]

Paul mentioned that Leslie Nielsen was a thinly veiled Darth Vader. I was thinking about it today and he was spot on. While Leslie Nielsen and Darth Vader both are remembered prominently they actually share a screen time of around ten minutes respectively.

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Also speaking of packaged disappointment, this was the DVD rerelease:

 

OMG Cam Bert. I've loved all of the naming histories so far. But this has been my favorite by far just for this ridiculous-ass cover.

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

 

OMG Cam Bert. I've loved all of the naming histories so far. But this has been my favorite by far just for this ridiculous-ass cover.

 

Absolutely agreed. If HDTGM Origin Stories gets its own podcast, your awesome Naming posts definitely deserve their own segment. Are you reading this Paul?

[FisterRoboto 7499]

Absolutely agreed. If HDTGM Origin Stories gets its own podcast, your awesome Naming posts definitely deserve their own segment. Are you reading this Paul?

Sssshhhhh...he only emerges from the shadows when you least expect it (or are kind of being a dick).

 

He is...the Scheer-dow.

[Cam Bert 8145]

Paul mentioned that Leslie Nielsen was a thinly veiled Darth Vader. I was thinking about it today and he was spot on. While Leslie Nielsen and Darth Vader both are remembered prominently they actually share a screen time of around ten minutes respectively.

Not to mention that Darth Vader's look was based on Samurai armor and Colonel Chi wears Samurai armor. The number of similarities are astounding.

 

Sssshhhhh...he only emerges from the shadows when you least expect it (or are kind of being a dick).

 

He is...the Scheer-dow.

Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of the forums? The Sheer-dow knows!

[JustinL 216]

"What did you say to them?"

"You'll find out...on our wedding night."

 

On their wedding night:

"I want all four of your dicks in me."

[Cakebug Tranch 6873]

He is...the Scheer-dow.

The Paul-tom, Ghost who Lurks?

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

I feel like I also did this... Sorry

 

I think that the joke I had here was in poor taste. I strive to be better than that.

 

Please accept this gif of sliding pandas by way of an apology.

 

 

 

 

I'm going to change it up and post 2 random things I found out / realised about Surf Ninjas

 

1.

Also, the guy on the right is Mitch Hurwitz! I wondered what he was doing there.

 

 

 

The guy on the left is Jim Vallely Mitch's writing partner since they worked together on "The Golden Girls" until sorta recently on "Arrested Development"

 

2. The Bad Ninjas wear the blue shade camo ninja outfits because Chi's Army wear the same design as their uniform and car paint near the end of the film... So that the audience knows they are the bad guys everywhere they go

 

It did its job, it was never to blend in it was to stand out

[IMAHUGEHDTGMFAN 1837]

Cam Bert, are there any famous/known Japanese film critics/reviewers (TV, Internet, YouTube) that you know about that mainly work with American Film Releases???

 

I'm curious to know their opinion about any type of movie but specifically movies like Speed Racer or Dragon Ball Evolution... And even Surf Ninjas er... or Tetsu no Kao wo Motsu Otoko - The Man with an Iron Face I mean

[Cam Bert 8145]

Cam Bert, are there any famous/known Japanese film critics/reviewers (TV, Internet, YouTube) that you know about that mainly work with American Film Releases???

 

I'm curious to know their opinion about any type of movie but specifically movies like Speed Racer or Dragon Ball Evolution... And even Surf Ninjas er... or Tetsu no Kao wo Motsu Otoko - The Man with an Iron Face I mean

I would say the vast majority of famous and well known critics here cover both Japanese and American films. However, Japan is a bit behind when it comes to online things so finding their reviews from years ago is difficult. There might be some smaller people on youtube or Niconico Douga but none that have hit any sort of mainstream attention.

 

I remember after Dragon Ball Evolution came out there was a story that went viral about it. TSUTAYA is like the blockbuster of Japan, and every so often they'd have things written about a movie and put below it on the shelves by employees. Often it's talking about how a film is worth renting because it was overlooked or like a staff pick sort of deal. When Dragon Ball Evolution came out an employee basically wrote a giant tirade against the film and put it on the shelf and it went viral. It even made a few film magazines worst of the year lists. So yes it is universally hated.

[JammerLea 2070]

It'd be interesting if there were some in depth reviews from Japan. There is one customer review for the movie on Amazon Japan that I found. One star of course. It pretty much is what's to be expected after Cam Bert's movie title origin story.

 

I tried my hand at a rough translation. Cam Bert, please correct me as needed.

 

Title: This is a little...

I chose this because of Leslie Nielsen's name and the title, but I have to honestly say this is a terrible movie.

The number one reason being that Leslie Nielsen is on the front of the packaging as if he has the leading role, however, he almost never appears in this story.

In conclusion, the jokes are also not really amusing, and if you are expecting a Leslie Nielsen comedy, this work will absolutely leave you with regret.

[JammerLea 2070]

Sorry to double post, but... I posted my drawing of Zatch to facebook and an old friend from high school replied to it IMMEDIATELY

 

i'm dYING. How does she remember??? When did she last watch it???