3 Ninjas (film)

3 Ninjas
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jon Turteltaub[1]
Produced by Martha Chang
Shunji Hirano
James Kang
Jason Ing
Yuriko Matsubara
Written by Kenny Kim
Edward Emanuel
Starring
Music by Richard Marvin
Cinematography Richard Michalak
Edited by David Rennie
Production
company
Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release date
  • August 7, 1992 (1992-08-07)
Running time
 96 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $2.5 million
Box office $29 million

3 Ninjas is a 1992 American martial arts comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub and starring Victor Wong, Michael Treanor, Max Elliott Slade, and Chad Power. It was the only 3 Ninjas film released by Touchstone Pictures, while the others were released by TriStar Pictures. The film is about three young brothers who learn martial arts from their Japanese grandfather.

Plot

Every year, 12-year old Samuel, 10-year old Jeffrey and 8-year old Michael Douglas visit their Japanese grandfather, Mori Tanaka at his cabin. Mori trains his grandchildren in the art of Ninjutsu. 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 boys' father, Sam Douglas, is an FBI agent who stages a sting operation to entrap Hugo Snyder in the sale of warheads. Snyder escapes the trap with the use of his own ninja henchmen. Snyder decides to test Mori's fighting skill. The boys ignore Mori's orders to stay in the house and aid by defeating two ninjas on their own. Snyder threatens Mori's family if he doesn't get Douglas off his back, and Mori chides the boys briefly for interfering in his personal affairs. When they 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 boys to use them as leverage to get Douglas to back off. Since the FBI watches them, his assistant Brown contacts his nephew Fester and his buddies Hammer and Marcus, in the midst of a convenience store robbery, to kidnap the boys. Due to Douglas and his FBI crew's presence, they are unable to capture the boys.

The next day, Fester and his friends attempt to follow the boys to school but are side-tracked by a fender bender with a police car. Emily becomes separated from the boys and encounters a group of bullies who steal her bike. Emily becomes upset with Rocky for showing off and walks to school alone. At recess, the boys challenge the bullies to a two-on-two basketball game to ten, and they spot the bullies nine points. The brothers effortlessly score ten consecutive points, winning Emily's bike and respect back. That night, Colt learns that Snyder, who they assumed was a friend of Mori's, is actually the criminal their father is after, and they begin to suspect Mori is involved in crime. They are left with a babysitter when Jessica leaves to pick up Sam, and Fester and his friends break into the house with a fake pizza order, subduing the babysitter. A series of intricate household traps keep the bumbling would-be kidnappers off of them and they use a device in Rocky's bedroom to call Emily over and use her as a hostage. Due to an earlier trap, Hammer and Marcus run to the bathrooms sick to their stomachs, and the boys (and mainly Emily) defeat Fester. Hammer and Marcus are subsequently defeated. After freeing the babysitter, the boys are overpowered by Brown and Snyder's bodyguard Rushmore.

Mori offers to sneak in alone to find the boys so as not to raise the alarm to Snyder. The boys escape their captivity and after a series of fights through the ship, they come across Rushmore. Using a lesson they got on their last day and inspired by their grandfather who came to rescue them, they manage to subdue Rushmore and are reunited with Mori. Snyder confronts Mori and challenges him to a fight for the boys' freedom. Due to his youth and speed, Snyder almost proves too much for Mori, until he remembers a handful of Tum-Tum's jelly beans which Tum-Tum had given him for luck and uses them to gag Snyder. Refusing defeat, Snyder grabs a gun from one of his subordinates but is suddenly shot and subdued by Douglas who had arrived just in time. Snyder and his men are arrested. Sam later apologizes to Mori for underestimating him and gives him a hug before being advised from a pained Mori that a bow would work just fine. Sam then tells his partner Jerry to complete the paperwork of the night's events on his own as he has a whole family of heroes to take out for pizza, which Mori detests, as he 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. 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 the robbers fire a gun in the convenience store and tie up the clerk behind the counter, a scene in which the robbers get the Douglas family address from Brown, additional footage of Grandpa trailing Snyder to his ship hideout, numerous small portions of the scene where the robbers invade the Douglas household, including Colt beating the robbers after getting them under a tarp in the room being renovated and a scene of Fester, the leader of the robbers asking his uncle (Brown) if he can be paid, extra sarcastic dialogue while the boys are locked up in Snyder's ship, 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 a scene ends the international version of the film in which they fight the bullies to get them back.

Cast

Reception

The film was received negatively by critics. It currently holds a 29% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews.[2][3] However, it did well at the box-office, received a cult status for its camp factor and spawned three less successful sequels 3 Ninjas Kick Back, 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, 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 $29,000,301 USD domestically.[4][5] 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.[6]

References

  1. ↑ Goldstein, Patrick (July 5, 2000). "Company With Disney; By Hollywood standards, director Jon Turteltaub has remained remarkably loyal to one studio, from '3 Ninjas' to his latest, 'The Kid.'". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-28.
  2. ↑ Holden, Stephen (August 7, 1992). "Review/Film; 3 Junior Ninjas Home Alone". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-01-29.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Kevin (August 7, 1992). "MOVIE REVIEW `3 Ninjas': Best Left to the Under-10 Crowd". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  4. ↑ Fox, David J. (August 11, 1992). "Weekend Box Office Unforgiven' Boosts Summer Sales". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-12-29.
  5. ↑ "3 Ninjas (1992)". Box Office Mojo. 1992-09-29. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
  6. ↑ "DISNEY'S `3 NINJAS' WAS MOST PROFITABLE '92 FLICK Deseret News, The (Salt Lake City, UT) - January 11, 1993". Nl.newsbank.com. 1993-01-11. Retrieved September 13, 2010.
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