“Ninja III: The Domination” American Theatrical Poster
AKA: Ninja 3
Director: Sam Firstenberg
Writer: James R. Silke
Cast: Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, Jordan Bennett, David Chung, Dale Ishimoto, James Hong, Ron Foster, Bob Craig, Charly Harroway, Lem Cook
Running Time: 92 min
By Owlman
Ninja III: The Domination was released in 1984 and directed by Sam Firstenberg (Revenge of the Ninja, American Ninja). The film stars Lucinda Dickey (Breakin’) as Christie, a telephone maintenance technician and part-time aerobics instructor possessed by the spirit of an evil ninja assassin.
(Excuse me while I laugh for a minute…okay, done)
As the film starts, the evil Black Ninja (David Chung) is making his way to a posh golf and country club on a mission to kill some important dude. After killing the guy, Black Ninja then proceeds to slay pretty much everyone else in the vicinity. Police show up, chase him around the fields, and suffer plenty of casualties as a result. However, they finally do surround Black Ninja and start blasting him with some good ol’ guns. After being nailed with about 80 or so bullets, Black Ninja disappears after tossing a smoke bomb.
Meanwhile, Christie is up on a telephone pole nearby doing some repairs. Black Ninja, obviously wounded but still alive, manages to make his way towards her and hands her his sword. Little does Christie know that his spirit is infused in the sword and after she touches it, said spirit is then transferred to her body.
The possession begins slowly but surely and Christie ends up killing off almost all of the police officers that blasted Black Ninja that day. Note I said almost… that’s because she also finds the time to fall in love with one of those cops, Secord (Jordan Bennett).
Anyway, another ninja named Yamada (Sho Kosugi) shows up and figures out that Christie is possessed by that dastardly Black Ninja. He spews some wise proverbs along the lines of “Only a ninja can kill a ninja” and is determined to rid Christie of Black Ninja’s spirit.
What’s Good About This Movie?
Honestly, this isn’t a good movie, even with Sho Kosugi being in it. That doesn’t prevent it from being a guilty pleasure or one of thosegreat movies to watch while stoned.
What’s Bad About This Movie?
Pretty much everything. Prior to starring in this film, Lucinda Dickey had appeared in a couple of movies capitalizing on the breakdancing craze of the 80s. While I might have thought that breakdancing and ninjas together in a movie was cool at 10 years old, at 29 years old, it just seems absolutely mind-boggling.
Plus, there are just too many laughable scenes in this film. Among them include the following:
- The cops surrounding Black Ninja in a circle and blasting him with their guns. Perhaps these cops were of the bulletproof kind but I think I’d be kinda hurt by crossfire if I was part of a shooting circle.
- The fact that, after being shot full of lead, Black Ninja still manages to have his limbs intact and can still stand is amazing. What were the cops shooting him with? Potato guns?
- The sex scene between Christie and Secord borders on fetish – V8 down a semi-naked body isn’t a turn on unless you’re Nosferatu. And poor Secord… you’d think that maybe the guy could have shaved that back of his just a bit.
- This film also played up a lot of that mystical ninja crap that was so prevalent in these 80s films. I remember I was at a school trip to the Japanese Embassy and one moron kid asked the guide if ninjas could really transfer their sprits to other hosts and, if so, where could he find one? The guide just shook his head and replied, “Go climb a pole. I’m sure he’ll find you.”
Conclusion
Absolute trash where the only redeeming quality is the fact that Sho Kosugi is in it… and everybody knows that Sho is the baddest ninja out there!
But that one line that he says still resonates with me…”Only a ninja can kill a ninja”. Well, bullets certainly didn’t do the trick but really bad ninja movies like this one certainly hastened it.
Owlman’s Rating: 2/10
