Ninja III: The Domination

{{Infobox film

| name = Ninja III: The Domination

| image = Ninja III The Domination.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Sam Firstenberg

| producer = {{Unbulleted list|Yoram Globus|Menahem Golan|David Womark}}

| writer = James R. Silke

| starring = {{plainlist|

}}

| music = {{Unbulleted list|Udi Harpaz|Misha Segal}}

| cinematography = Hanania Baer

| editing = Michael J. Duthie

| studio = The Cannon Group

| distributor = Cannon Film Distributors

| released = {{Film date|1984|09|14}}

| runtime = 92 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $2 million

| gross = $7,610,785{{Mojo title|ninja3}}

}}

Ninja III: The Domination is a 1984 American martial arts action horror film directed by Sam Firstenberg, and starring Sho Kosugi, Lucinda Dickey, Jordan Bennett, and James Hong. It is the third film in Cannon Films' Ninja Trilogy anthology series, the first being Enter the Ninja, and the second being Revenge of the Ninja. Like the previous films in the series, it has also garnered a cult following.

Plot

Christie Ryder (Dickey), a telephone linewoman and aerobics instructor,{{cite news|title=Ninjas score big, but viewers are on the losing end|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/1003296/ninjas_score_big_but_viewers_are_on/|accessdate=12 September 2014|newspaper=The Pantagraph|date=22 September 1984|location=Bloomington, Illinois|page=29|via=Newspapers.com}} {{Open access}} is possessed by the evil spirit of a fallen ninja warrior by his Ninjatō, Christine, coming to his aid. The spirit uses her body to carry out his revenge on the police officers who killed him. One of them is Billy Secord (Bennett), who catches Christie's eye yet cannot explain her preoccupation with Japanese culture or help her with her sudden blackouts. Out of options, they turn to a Japanese exorcist, Miyashima (Hong), who manages to summon the ninja within her. The exorcist reveals that he cannot force the spirit out of Christie but that "only a ninja can destroy a ninja". Christie and Billy are forced to seek the aid of Goro Yamada (Kosugi), a ninja hunting the assassin within her for killing his clan. The three force the ninja out in a dangerous gambit that results in the spirit repossessing his own dead body and fighting Yamada to death, finally freeing all three of the curses of the black ninja.

Cast

Sho Kosugi as Goro Yamada
Lucinda Dickey as Christie Ryder
Jordan Bennett as Billy Secord
James Hong as Miyashima
David Chung as Black Ninja Hanjuro
Dale Ishimoto as Okuda
John LaMotta as Case

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 44% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 3.62/10.{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/ninja_iii_the_domination|title=Ninja III: The Domination (1984)|work=Rotten Tomatoes|publisher=Fandango Media|access-date=April 4, 2020}} On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 25 out of 100, based on 7 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".{{cite web|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/ninja-iii-the-domination|title=Ninja III: The Domination (1984) reviews|work=Metacritic|publisher=CBS Interactive|access-date= April 4, 2020}}

Home media

Scream Factory released the film in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack on June 11, 2013.{{cite web |url=http://www.cityonfire.com/ninja-iii-the-domination-blu-ray-dvd-shout-factory/ |title = Ninja III: The Domination {{!}} Blu-ray & DVD (Shout! Factory) {{!}} cityonfire.com}}

The film was released on Blu-ray in the U.K. in 2016 by Eureka Video.

Scream Factory re-released the film in a Collector's Edition Blu-ray set on June 12, 2018, with a new transfer and additional supplemental materials.{{Cite web|url=https://www.shoutfactory.com/product/ninja-iii-the-domination-collector-s-edition?product_id=6744|title = Ninja III: The Domination [Collector's Edition] - Blu-ray :: Shout! Factory}}