Movie/Blu-Ray Review: Ninja III: The Domination

 

Ninja III: The Domination is a 1984 martial arts action film starring Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, and Jordan Bennett. It is the third film in the trilogy of ninja movies released in the 1980s by the Cannon Group/ Golan Globus production company, starring real-life ninjutsu practitioner Sho Kosugi. Interestingly enough, this was the same production group that would try, and astonishingly fail to produce Superman IV a few years after this was made  The "ninja trilogy" is only called a trilogy because there were three movies, Enter The Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III, but they are not a trilogy in the way people typically think of. The plotlines are not connected in any way, and Kosugi plays different characters in each one. 

Ninja III begins with a major action sequence in which an evil ninja assassinates some high-ranking and seemingly well-protected individual on a golf course. The ninja ends up being chased by and shot multiple times by an entire police force. As he escapes, he transfers his essence to a telephone company worker named Christine, played by Lucinda Dickey, and she then proceeds to take revenge on all of the cops. Kosugi enters the picture about a third of the way into the movie as the good ninja trying to stop her and free her of the evil ninja's spirit. 

Chances are, if you were a kid in the 1980s and were in any way into martial arts, you loved this movie and watched it anytime it was on TV.  It used to be a Saturday or Sunday afternoon staple on the local stations that played old TV shows in syndication, but I have not seen it on TV in years. So, if you are a fan of the movie, this is really the only way to see it anymore. 

There have been many different versions of the movie after the years on physical media. I am old enough to have owned it on VHS, then picked up the 2013 blu-ray version. That one has a few special features, including the trailer and a commentary track from the director and the stunt coordinator. It is a good listen if you like listening to commentary tracks, and it gives a lot of insight into how the movie was made with all practical stunts and how the director used the movie Poltergeist as an inspiration. There is also a 2018 collectors edition on blu-ray that has a much-upgraded video transfer and interviews with main cast members Lucinda Dickey and Jordan Bennet. 

You definitely have to suspend your disbelief when watching the movie and accept that it is not an award winner. It is definitely a B-Level movie, and is, as many 1980s B movies are, very cheesy. It does not really try to be more than it is, and at right around an hour and a half, is not too long.  But, as an action movie, it holds up fairly well, as long as you accept it for what it is.