''3 Ninjas'' is a 1992 American
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
directed by
Jon Turteltaub
Jonathan Charles Turteltaub (born August 8, 1963) is an American film director and producer.
Life and career
Turteltaub was born on August 8, 1963 in New York City, one of two children born to comedy writer Saul Turteltaub (best known for his ...
and starring
Victor Wong,
Michael Treanor
Michael Treanor (born April 17, 1979) is a former actor and martial artist who starred in ''3 Ninjas'' and ''3 Ninjas Knuckle Up''. He is the third son of Richard and Peggy Treanor.
Treanor was discovered by casting agents for ''3 Ninjas'' in hi ...
,
Max Elliott Slade
Max Elliott Slade (born July 4, 1980) is an American former child actor who starred in ''3 Ninjas'', ''3 Ninjas Knuckle Up'', and '' 3 Ninjas Kick Back '' as the character named Jeffrey Douglas, later nicknamed Colt by his grandfather Mori Tanaka. ...
and Chad Power. It was the only ''3 Ninjas ''film released by
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...
, while the others were released by
TriStar Pictures
TriStar Pictures, Inc. (spelled as Tri-Star until 1991) is an American film studio and production company that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, part of the multinational conglomerate Sony. It is a corporate sibling of Sony ...
. The film is about three young brothers who learn
martial arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...
from their
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
grandfather. The film was released on August 7, 1992, and was preceded by the
''Bonkers D. Bobcat'' cartoon ''Petal to the Metal'' in theaters''.''
Plot
Every summer, the Douglas brothers; 12-year-old Samuel, 11-year-old Jeffrey and 8-year-old Michael, visit their grandfather, Mori Tanaka, at his cabin. Mori trains his grandsons in the art of ''
ninjutsu
, sometimes used interchangeably with the modern term , is the martial art strategy and tactics of unconventional warfare, guerrilla warfare and espionage purportedly practised by the ninja. ''Ninjutsu'' was a separate discipline in some tradit ...
''. As the summer comes to an end, Mori gives each of them a new "ninja" name based on their personalities: 'Rocky', 'Colt', and 'Tum-Tum'. Meanwhile, the brothers' father, Sam Douglas, is an
FBI
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...
agent who stages a
sting operation
In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a role a ...
to entrap a master criminal named Hugo Snyder in the sale of
warheads. Snyder escapes the trap with the use of his ninja henchmen and then visits Mori, his former business partner. Mori is tested by Snyder's henchmen and defeats them with his grandsons' help. Face to face, Snyder threatens Mori's family if he does not tell Sam, his son-in-law, to cease pursuing him.
When the boys return home, they find their father unenthusiastic to see what they had learned during their visit and more annoyed at their new names. Emily, a friend of Rocky's, compliments his new name and agrees to ride with them to school the next day. Snyder develops a plan to kidnap the brothers to use them as leverage against Sam. Snyder's right-hand man Nigel Brown contacts his irresponsible nephew Fester, a petty criminal surf punk, as well as his buddies Hammer and Marcus, to kidnap the brothers, but their plans are put on hold due to the FBI's presence. The next day, Fester and his friends follow the brothers to school, but are side-tracked by a fender bender with a police car. Emily becomes separated from the brothers and encounters a group of bullies who steal her bike. At recess, the brothers challenge the bullies to a two-on-two basketball game, spotting the bullies nine points. Despite the bullies' dirty tactics, the brothers score ten consecutive points and win back Emily's bike.
That night, Colt learns that Snyder is the criminal their father is pursuing. Fester and his friends break into the house with a fake pizza order, subduing the boys' babysitter. Believing it to be a home invasion, the brothers suit up in their ninja gear and fight back using their surroundings and numerous household items. After regrouping in the boys' bedroom, Fester uses Rocky's homemade phone to call Emily over and they take her hostage, but the boys are able to outsmart and defeat Fester's group. After freeing the babysitter, the brothers are overpowered by Snyder's bodyguard Rushmore and are taken captive to Snyder's ship in the harbor. The brothers escape and manage to subdue Rushmore while Mori infiltrates the ship to rescue the brothers. Snyder confronts Mori and challenges him to a fight for the brothers' freedom. Due to his youth and speed (and a hidden pepper bomb), Snyder gains the upper hand, until Mori gags Snyder with a handful of Tum-Tum's jelly beans and finally defeats him. Enraged, Snyder grabs a gun from one of his subordinates and attempts to shoot Mori and the boys, but is suddenly shot in the shoulder and subdued by Sam, who arrives with his backup to arrest Snyder, Brown, and their henchmen. Sam tells his sons that he will let them continue to visit their grandpa every summer and takes the rest of the night off from work to get pizza with the family, including Mori, who hates pizza.
International version
The international cut of the film features a number of small parts of scenes that were cut from the movie for its American release, most likely to ensure a
PG rating
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
. Among the cut scenes are (not all-inclusive): extra footage of Snyder's escape in which he confronts two FBI agents whom he promptly defeats, a scene in which Fester fires a gun in the convenience store while Hammer and Marcus tie up the clerk behind the counter, a scene in which Fester gets the Douglas family address from Brown, additional footage of Grandpa trailing Snyder to his ship hideout, numerous small portions of the scene where the kidnappers invade the Douglas household, including Colt beating them after covering them under a tarp in the room being renovated, and a scene of Fester asking his uncle (Brown) if he can be paid, extra sarcastic dialogue while the boys are locked up in Snyder's ship, and an extended scene in which the boys are reunited with Grandpa. Additionally, in the international version the boys lose the basketball challenge and their bikes, so the film ends with a scene in which they fight the bullies to get them back. The international cut is available on
Vudu
Vudu is an American digital video store and streaming service owned by Fandango Media, a joint-venture between NBCUniversal and Warner Bros. Discovery. The company offers transactional video on demand rentals and digital purchases of films, ...
.
Cast
Reception
As of August 2020, the film held a 32% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
, based on 22 reviews. The site's consensus reads: "''3 Ninjas'' might be exciting enough for younger action enthusiasts, but they deserve better -- and there's no shortage of superior options to choose from".
Stephen Holden
Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic.
Biography
Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...
of ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said that "the film can't seem to make up its mind whether it wants to be a comedy, a fantasy or an adventure film" and that "beneath all the excitement, the message that ''3 Ninjas'' conveys is anything but reassuring". It did attain a favorable response from
Kevin Thomas of the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...
'', who said that "although their attention may wander, parents can be grateful that there's some substance as well as fun in this Disney release, for martial arts is presented as a matter of defense rather than aggression, emphasizing that it is a matter of mind and spirit as well as body and requiring resourcefulness and discipline". Later on, it would receive a
cult following
A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...
for its
camp
Camp may refer to:
Outdoor accommodation and recreation
* Campsite or campground, a recreational outdoor sleeping and eating site
* a temporary settlement for nomads
* Camp, a term used in New England, Northern Ontario and New Brunswick to descri ...
factor and spawned three less-successful sequels ''
3 Ninjas Kick Back
''3 Ninjas Kick Back'' is a 1994 American martial arts film directed by Charles T. Kanganis. It is a sequel to the film ''3 Ninjas''. Despite being released as the second installment of the franchise, ''Kick Back'' is chronologically the third i ...
'', ''
3 Ninjas Knuckle Up
''3 Ninjas Knuckle Up'' is a 1993 American martial arts comedy film taking place in between ''3 Ninjas'' and '' 3 Ninjas Kick Back''. The film was directed by Shin Sang-ok, using the pseudonym "Simon Sheen". The film was shot in 1992, the same yea ...
'', and ''
3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain''.
Box office
The film opened at the box office in the #4 position, and by the end of its 6-week run in theaters grossed US$29,000,301 domestically.
Considering that the film was budgeted at $2.5 million, it was a huge financial success, and turned out to be the most profitable film of the year in terms of cost-to-gross ratio.
Legacy
Each April, Slade, Power and Treanor host an annual screening and Q&A in Oak Park, a neighborhood in Ventura County, where the movie was filmed.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:3 Ninjas (Film)
1992 action comedy films
1990s English-language films
1992 films
1992 independent films
1992 martial arts films
American action comedy films
American children's comedy films
American independent films
American martial arts comedy films
Fictional trios
Films about brothers
Films about families
Films directed by Jon Turteltaub
Films set in the United States
Ninja films
Touchstone Pictures films
1990s American films