Ninja III: The Domination (1984) (Blu-ray/DVD Combo Review)
Directed By: Sam Firstenberg
Starring: Lucinda Dickey, Sho Kosugi
Rated: R/Region: 1/1:85/Number of disc: 2
Available from Scream Factory
A female aerobic instructor is possessed by an evil spirit of a fallen ninja when coming to his aid. The spirit seeks revenge on those who killed him and uses the female instructor’s body to carry out his mission. The only way the spirit will leave the aerobic instructor’s body is through combat with another ninja.
To put it simple, Ninja 3 (Which has nothing really to do with Enter the Ninja or Revenge of the Ninja) is ridiculous. I mean that in the best way possible. You can’t take what you see on screen seriously and that makes things all the more fun. In this story we get a girl who works for the phone company that gets possessed by the spirit of a ninja. Pretty soon she’s climbing more polls than just the phone ones when she runs into a male cop. Adding to that she is being made against her will with the spirit of this ninja to kill off his cop friends and this is all leading to battle with another ninja played by the legendary, Sho Kosugi. The movie lacks logic, but I still love it.
And what is not to love? Yes the movie has a lot of logic flaws and corny effects, but we still get a great deal of ninja action and one of the more creative uses of V8 juice you will ever find. I also think the transfer here really stands out above and beyond most. This is a 1984 film from Cannon, but the folks at Shout have it looking amazing and nearly perfect. If you loved this movie before you will love it even more now. If this was your first time seeing it, it is goofy, but you will enjoy it for that fact.
– Commentary with Director Sam Firstenberg and Stunt Coordinator Steve Lambert
– Original Theatrical Trailer
