Unlike most Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho (Producer/Director respectively) films, Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger (Or "Secret Ninja, Roaring Transvestite") is actually not a chimaera of film remnants, slapped together with golden syrup and sprinkled with the quintessence of purest befuddlement. It is, in fact, a very good film with a solid (as far as kung fu films go) plot.
It is, however, worth noting that the dub is awful and does manage to make the film mildly confusing. For example: The main female character (I don't think her name is ever said) dresses as a boy so as to be taken seriously in the rescue of her sister, Susan. The only problem with this is that at some points it appears that the characters know she is a woman (i.e. Dragon calling her "miss", one of Tiger So's men calling her a "bitch"), yet are thoroughly surprised when Dragon Lee cunningly unravels the enigma of her gender from glancing at her bottom and imagining her naked, making Dragon Lee so great an investigator that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be hard-pushed to create a more outstanding detective.
The plot is a simple one: Tiger So is the leader of a ninja cult (I think the only Joseph Lai/Godfrey Ho film I've seen that wasn't in any way affiliated with ninja is Blood of Dragon Peril, and considering how stupid they always make the ninja, it's possible to deduce that one or both of them have a pathological hatred of ninja) that wants all of Lord Evergreen's money, and so he sends one of his men to win a martial arts tournament in order to win Evergreen's daughter (Susan)'s hand in marriage. Unfortunately Tiger So didn't count on professional Bruce Lee impersonator and madman Dragon Lee turning up late to win the tournament. Tiger So's new plan is to just send his ninja (armed to the teeth with massive snorkel-scabbards and grey capes) to kidnap Susan, the sister of the main female character. Dragon Lee is unaware of Susan's capture, and eventually ends up joining her sister on the trek to Tiger So's castle anyway (I'm not sure why, as he's supposed to be urgently getting back to marry Susan, and he doesn't find out Susan has been kidnapped until quite a bit later). Oh, and Jack Lam joins Susan's sister because... well, because he can, I suppose.
I suppose it isn't that simple, really, but it is perfectly understandble, which can't be said for a lot of other films made by the same people.
Oh, this is perfectly easy. While taking a bath in a lake, Dragon Lee is attacked from all sides by ninja and has a pretty tough time fighting them whilst trying to keep his towel on, so in jumps Jack Lam, kicks them all about (with a really cool slow-motion kick in which he jumps from the chest of one ninja to kick the head of another), upon the ninja running away, Dragon Lee is back in his clothes, Susan's sister comes along, Jack Lam puts his arm on Susan's sister and says, "They were ninja, you know, but we beat them, yes we did." Admittedly this may not seem so funny in writing, but unfortunately I failed in the arduous task of ripping the sound clip.
Best Scene:
There are a lot of good scenes in Secret Ninja, Roaring Tiger, but for my play-by-play I will choose the scene in which two men fight for the amusement of Tiger So. Each man has a gimmick; one's is that he fights using the much revered "Monkey Style" and another... hasn't got part of both his first index fingers, and can twiddle them to make funny noises. Here is the play-by-play.
