Released: September 1984
Director: Sam Firstenberg
Rated R
Run Time: 92 Minutes
Distributor: Canon Films/MGM Studios
Genre: Action/Fantasy
Cast:
Sho Kosugi: Yamada
Lucinda Dickey: Christie
Jordan Bennett: Billy Secord
David Chung: Black Ninja
James Hong: Miyashima
I was born into a very unusual decade: The 1980’s. Between the drugs and music and all the bizarre shit that was happening during that time, looking back, it was also one of the best decades for entertainment. Movies, to be precise. The 80’s saw an extraordinary amount of movies that were insanely different. Yeah, there were successful films like Star Wars, Indiana Jones and The Terminator, but there were a lot of films that were forgotten or were deliberately ignored. The horror genre saw it’s best decade in the 80’s as well as the science fiction and action genres. As a kid who grew up in the 80’s/90’s, one of the things that I gravitated towards were ninjas. There was something alluring about these Japanese assassins clad in black with swords and throwing stars. Yeah, I grew up watching stuff like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and 3 Ninjas, but I was honestly more interested in the far more violent films like American Ninja. During the early years of the 1980’s, there was a trilogy of films that starred Japanese actor Sho Kosugi, a man who would popularize ninja films during that decade. The first film in that “trilogy” was Enter the Ninja, which wasn’t very good. The second was Revenge of the Ninja, where Kosugi played a good guy. The third film is where things totally went bonkers, and that’s the film I’m reviewing for you today: Ninja III: The Domination.
Ninja III: The Domination begins as a lone figure heads off into the hills in search of a hidden chest containing the weapons and outfits of a ninja warrior. Taking these objects, this lone figure heads off in search of a target at a nearby golf course where he kills his target and a bunch of cops. After taking an absurd amount of bullets, the ninja still manages to get away. A power line worker, Christie, stumbles on this ninja and is hypnotized as the ninja transfers his soul and memories into her as he dies. He uses her as his weapon from beyond the grave. The only way to stop her takes the form of another ninja who arrives from Japan to investigate these strange murders. If that synopsis sounds ridiculous, you wouldn’t be wrong. It’s absolutely nuts. Revenge of the Ninja was pretty straight-forward as far as action films go, but The Domination jettisons all that for some really bizarre mysticism and Poltergeist-esque shenanigans. Does it actually work, though? You know what? It’s just too damn strange not to. Be aware, this film was released in 1984, so strange films were par for the course in the early part of the decade, but Ninja III was incredibly absurd. The story makes no sense and the whole thing is a giant mish-mash of various genres, including dance and horror. Of course, this being a Canon Films production, less time was spent making the story plausible and more on making it an action/horror hybrid of sorts. It’s just flat-out wacky. I love it.
This being an early 80’s low-budget action film, the acting is pretty terrible. This was an early role for Lucinda Dickey, who was stunning at the time and did the best she could with what she was given, but she was obviously inexperienced at the time. Like-wise, Jordan Bennett was pretty irritating as the cop Billy Secord, who was constantly lusting after Lucinda’s character throughout the entire, but more on that later. The real man of the hour in the film, like the previous films was Sho Kosugi. He was not necessarily the greatest actor, but his martial arts talent and screen presence couldn’t be denied. He stole the show every time he was on screen with his incredible martial arts skills. Not only was he the real hero of the film, but he also served as the film’s fight choreographer, which is why some of the fight sequences are pretty decent. I have been and always will be a fan of Sho Kosugi until that I die. He popularized a rather unknown sub-genre within the action film scene and that’s why he’s one of the most recognized stars among hardcore action film fans like myself. While the films that he stars in aren’t always great, but he makes them worth watching.
The action sequences were put together by stunt coordinators Steve Lambert and Alan Amiel, and I can tell you, the action is pretty awesome. While some of the editing is suspect, a lot of the stunt sequences are absolutely mind-blowing with how they pulled them off. Again, this is 1984, so CGI was far too expensive and wires were really not used in the United States for stunts. Every stunt and fight sequence that you see in the film was done for real, because it couldn’t be done any other way. It was incredible to see some of the stuff that they did. They don’t make movies like this anymore and it’s a damn shame. The special effects on the other hand, were a very mixed bag. The floating sword was obviously used by strings and was totally hokey. Other visual effects were actually not half-bad, such as the shaking of Christie’s apartment. That set was put on a large hydrolic gimbal that shook the entire room. It was actually pretty clever. The laser sequences and the arcade cabinet effects were rather silly, but it was done practically at least. The final battle between Sho Kosugi’s character and the Black Ninja was something else. There was some really good choreography going on there, but it was just absolutely bonkers.
I hadn’t seen Ninja III: The Domination in nearly 30 years, so going back to this film was a blast from the past. Is it a good movie? No. Not even close. Honestly, Revenge of the Ninja was the best of the trilogy. You kind of have to go into a movie like this with a certain frame of mind to really enjoy it. It is a Canon Film after all, so it has obtained a certain cult status. So much so that a collector’s edition of the film was released on Blu-Ray earlier this year. Does a movie like Ninja III deserve such a treatment? From one perspective, not really, but honestly, I absolutely love the film for it’s unpretentious ridiculousness. It’s a film that knows that it’s bonkers and it runs with it gloriously into the sunset. How many modern action movies have you seen that are as willing to be this crazy? In my honest opinion, this film is not guilty by reason of insanity.
My Final Recommendation: Ninjas are bad-ass. Your argument is invalid. 9/10.