Raetsonwe Redundant and unnecessary.

Ezmae Chang This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Zandra The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Robert Thompson (justbob1982) Version I saw: UK Bluray releaseActors: 5/10Plot/script: 2/10Photography/visual style: 5/10Music/score: 6/10Overall: 4/10Ninja III is part of a spate of cheap-and-nasty B-movies made on shoestring budgets to cash in on the trend for martial arts action movies, partly due to the burgeoning VHS market. These days, they are mostly sought for "so bad it's good" value.I still say there is a very good movie to be made about *real world* ninjas, but this isn't it. The focus is pretty much exclusively on cool moves and shots, with the mere vestige of a plot to string it together. The quality of photography is rubbish too, making a mockery of the idea of this new bluray restoration.This would be more forgivable if the fights were actually very good, but alas, they are not. The male of the two leads has the better of it in terms of choreography - possibly because he (Sho Kosugi) was the main choreographer - but that isn't saying much because hers are pretty much awful.There is maybe 20 minutes of genuine hilarity in here for those inclined to laugh *at* the film, as we were, but since the rest is dull, bewildering and tacky, I am not sure it was worth it. If you must watch this one, watch it drunk, with friends who are also drunk.

BA_Harrison Ninjas are notoriously hard to kill, but the black ninja in Ninja III: The Domination is tougher than most, effortlessly laying waste to a dozen or so cops after carrying out the assassination of a scientist, and then making his escape despite being caught in a hail of bullets. He eventually dies of his injuries, but not before his spirit has passed into the body of sexy telephone maintenance worker and part-time aerobics instructor Christie Ryder (Lucinda Dickey). Unaware that she is possessed by the malevolent ninja, Christie begins to date hairy policeman Billy Secord (Jordan Bennett), but whenever she is alone in her apartment (playing her arcade machine, doing aerobics, listening to her boom-box, or admiring her neon wall art), the spirit takes control of her body and proceeds to exact revenge on the policemen involved in the firefight. Will Billy fall victim to the black ninja's wrath before he can figure out a way to exorcise his girlfriend?Produced by the Cannon Group, who were responsible for countless crap-fests during the 1980s, Ninja III: The Domination is pure, unadulterated trash, with inept direction from Sam Firtsenberg, dreadful performances from everyone, terrible martial arts choreography, and hopeless special effects. The film opens with a poorly executed action sequence that quickly sets the amateurish tone: the black ninja unconvincingly beats up some bodyguards, (stopping one by blowing a dart into the barrel of his gun), kills his target with ease, outruns a police car, and then jumps onto the car and punches the driver through the roof (the car, which was trundling along at approximately 15mph, then flies 40 feet through the air). After this, the ninja climbs up a tree, leaps onto a helicopter, and kills the pilot by throwing a shuriken with his foot!This, however, is far from the worst part of the film…A supposedly sexy scene in which Christie seduces Billy by straddling him and pouring fruit juice down the front of her shirt is ham-fisted in the extreme. A scene inspired by The Exorcist, in which Christie visits Japanese spiritualist Miyashima (played by James Hong), is unintentionally hilarious, the poor girl happily allowing herself to be restrained via chains and a harness, after which she spews green smoke into Miyashima's face (it's far less messy than pea soup) and spins around at top speed like a human windmill. Another craptabulous moment sees Christie, possessed by the ninja, tracking one of the cops to a health spa: as he frolics in a jacuzzi with two bimbos, Christie slips into the slinky black swimming costume she just happens to carry around with her, enters the water, makes out with the cop, and then kills everyone!Other unforgettably dumb moments include Christie (possessed) crushing a ball from a pool table with her bare hands, several impromptu aerobics/dance scenes (allowing for lots of shots of Dickey in lycra!), a battle between the black ninja and some monks on an assault course inside a Japanese temple (?!?!), and the black ninja disappearing into the ground like a drill after fighting good ninja Yamada (Shô Kosugi).There is no denying that Ninja III is a really, really, really bad film, but, with so much craziness, it is hard not to be entertained at least a little bit. Even if it is only by Dickey's dancing.

Scarecrow-88 The ENTER THE NINJA saga continues except this time there are supernatural elements included. Sho Kosugi returns in more of a supporting part as Yamada, seeking revenge against the evil Black Ninja(David Chung)who murdered his father in Japan. This Black Ninja is a Japanese assassin who takes out a scientist and his security on a golf course before the LA PD come looking for him. Before succumbing to injuries from a plethora of gunshot wounds by police officers, Black Ninja annihilates half the Los Angeles police department using only his sword and martial arts combat techniques. Black Ninja is able to escape and comes in contact with Christie(Lucinda Dickey; CHEERLEADER CAMP), who works for the telephone company(and is an aerobics instructor), possessing her with his spirit, forcing upon her his magic sword. Christie falls for a cop(Jordan Bennett), but is forced against her will to assassinate the remaining police officers responsible for the bullet wounds which finished off Black Ninja. Yamada will need to remove the evil spirit from Christie's body, induce said spirit to reenter the stiff corpse of Black Ninja. While I admit there are plenty of silly special effects sequences which include objects moving around by themselves, an arcade machine emanating a laser light(into Dickey's face), and lots of steam spraying throughout Christie's house, there's still lots of martial arts action for fans of the genre. The opening sequence goes on for a cool twenty minutes as Black Ninja lays waste to everyone in his sight, hopping over police cars, roping trees and climbing them with ease, knocking police officers for a loop. Dickey has one impressive fight scene where she wipes out weight-lifting heavies picking on a girl outside the exercise facility. Kosugi and Dickey(or maybe her stunt double)go at it in an abandoned building where the floors and walls are brittle to the point where bodies fall through them rather easily. There's one exciting scene where a possessed Dickey in ninja attire attacks LA PD attending the funeral of one of their own, using bow and arrows, before giving chase which leads to her first meeting with Kosugi. And of course to top it all off Kosugi and David Chung have their thrilling sword play at the very end which escalates into a rocky, mountainous region to conclude this movie. So if you can get past the rather cheesy premise and fantasy moments, there's enough to recommend I believe. That said, the bonkers possession plot might actually earn NINJA III:THE DOMINATION a cult following; I imagine such craziness will appeal to an audience which embraces Dickey running around her room attempting to evade Black Ninja's evil presence or the scene where James Hong evokes the spirit while Christie is in restraints(her hair streaked gray and face white, body spinning forward, Dickey beckoning for rescue as Black Ninja takes control, forewarning Hong to leave well enough alone).

HaemovoreRex Following the movie that represents the pinnacle of the 1980's Ninja genre namely, 'The Revenge Of The Ninja' salivating fans were 'treated' to this bizarre offering that mixes Ninja shenanigans with spiritual possession....the end result being not dissimilar in nature to that somewhat horrifying experience when one spies a nugget of human poop floating menacingly towards oneself in a public swimming pool.Take for instance the supposed 'action packed' introduction which is set of all places on a golf course(!) Here we witness an evil green clad ninja slaying a group of golfers for apparently no discernible reason whatsoever (although I must admit that the shallow elitist attitude adopted by many participants of this particular sport does irk me somewhat though...hmmmm perhaps THAT'S why he murdered them?.....yep I can relate to that after all). Actually later in the movie we are told that one of the golfers was a top scientist but this story line is never elaborated upon nor alluded to ever again!!!Anyway back to the intro, the police proceed to surround the golf course and basically shoot the absolute hell out of the assassin....and they have to keep on shooting him because he just won't stay down!!! Yes literally hundreds of rounds are pumped into him and STILL he gets up to slay evermore of the law enforcement numbers.Finally (after what seems like an eternity) our miscreant detonates a smoke bomb and disappears.....or so it seems, for in actual fact he is merely hiding beneath the soil and upon our decidedly gormless officers leaving the scene to search for his body, he crawls out from hiding and staggers away.We next see the lovely Lucinda Dickey, a truly beautiful actress and in superbly fit physical condition, here playing a telephone repair worker. From her high vantage point she happens to spot the dying (AT LAST!!!!!) ninja. However, upon closer investigation the man, supposedly on his last legs suddenly leaps upon her and grapples her to the ground. After a bit of a struggle our feisty heroine manages to break free luckily but doesn't count on the ninja possessing hypnotic powers and she inevitably succumbs to them. It is at this point that the dying ninja actually projects his soul into our heroine! His intention is to use her corporeal form to slay those officers who killed him (the few he didn't actually manage to wipe out initially!)From this point on, throughout the film, whenever our heroine spots one of the aforementioned officers she is subjected to some overwhelmingly awful cinematic scenes of flashing lights, smoke effects and the sword that the ninja bequeathed unto her levitating towards her in a most wobbly manner!To make matters more complex, a particularly irritating police officer (who sports enough back and shoulder hair to put an average yak to shame!) persists in trying to win her affections (in a most bloody annoying manner!!!)......well of course it doesn't take the gift of preconception to work out that in a rather feeble 'shock' (less) twist towards the end of the film, HE is revealed to be one of the officers she must slay!But wait there's some hope yet! Step forward the one and only Sho Kosugi!Yes, THE ninja himself and looking here as cool as ever! Golf club news obviously travels fast and upon learning of the said events that transpired there, he flies all the way from Japan to sort the situation out (suspecting the worst!) In a brief sub story (that amounts to all of a few seconds!) Sho's interest in this particular ninja is demonstrated to be personal after the said villain is shown to have murdered Sho's father/teacher(?) and blinded one of Sho's eyes (thus necessitating Sho to wear a really decorative looking sword guard eye patch!)After stealing his dead nemesis's body from the morgue and then tracking down our heroine who provides an unwitting abode for the evil soul, matters climax at an oriental temple (seemingly in the middle of nowhere) where our man Sho manages to reunite the two disjointed aspects.Now reanimated from the dead, the evil ninja and Sho battle it out in traditional ninja style with swords with the winner being........well yes you can probably guess.Really this movie has only two things going for it, namely the always excellent Kosugi (who looks absolutely fantastic in the role as always) and the lovely Miss Dickey. What a shame that the material they found themselves in here is such a rancid pile of ordure.Oh well, to be fair, I've seen a lot worse than this in my time although I certainly still can't recommend this other than to those desperate to complete their Sho Kosugi/Ninja movie collections.