3 Ninjas

**3 Ninjas** is a 1992 American martial arts comedy film directed by Jon Turteltaub.

The film was released on August 7, 1992 by Touchstone Pictures.

## Plot

The film follows three brothers: Rocky, Colt and Tum Tum (Michael Treanor, Max Elliot Slade and Chad Power), who learn how to do martial arts from their Japanese grandfather, Mori (Victor Wong).

## Cast

* Michael Treanor as Samuel "Rocky" Douglas
* Max Elliott Slade as Jeffrey "Colt" Douglas
* Chad Power as Michael "Tum Tum" Douglas
* Victor Wong as Grandpa Mori Tanaka
* Alan McRae as Sam Douglas
* Margarita Franco as Jessica Douglas
* Rand Kingsley as Hugo Snyder
* Joel Swetow as Mr. Nigel Brown
* Professor Toru Tanaka as Rushmore
* Patrick Labyorteaux as Fester

## Production

Filming for "3 Ninjas" took place in San Pedro, Los Angeles, California; Topanga Canyon, California; and Oak Park, California.

When Disney acquired the distribution rights to the film, the studio found it to be too violent, so the filmmakers responded by adding cartoon sound effects to lessen the violence.

The international version of "3 Ninjas" (which features scenes removed from the American version) has never been released on home video in the United States; however, it has aired on the WAM! movie network and has been available for streaming from time to time on Hulu.

Colt's name was originally supposed to be Pony; however, he is given a similar name called Mustang which is only in the international versions of the film.

Max Elliott Slade got a bloody nose while shooting the basketball scene.

## Box Office

"3 Ninjas" opened at #4 at the box office, grossing $5,888,920 during its opening weekend. Overall, it grossed $29,000,301 on an estimated budget of $6,500,000.

## Critical Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, "3 Ninjas" has an approval rating of 32% based on 22 reviews with an average rating of 4.40/10. 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 of The New York Times 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."*

*"Despite the obvious rip-offs of other films, the cartoony, slapstick humor does generate enough charm to pull chuckles from a young audience. But too much of the action - the sword-fighting and basketball stunt scenes, especially - looks distractingly fake."*The Chicago Sun-Times wrote:

Kevin Thomas of The Los Angeles Times called "3 Ninjas" a *"lively, good-looking kiddie action comedy best left to those under 10."*

Writing for the Miami Herald, Rene Rodriguez said: *"The fight sequences are well handled, the three leads are pleasant (and quite good, it seems, at the martial arts) and the violence is bloodless and amusing, with all kinds of cartoon sound effects thrown in to soften the chop-socky violence."*

Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune called "3 Ninjas" a *"miserable ripoff"* of "The Karate Kid."

The Austin Chronicle wrote that the film is *"basically harmless, but it's not entertaining enough to fully engage adults or the under-12 set -- especially once the popcorn and sodas have been polished-off."*

John Hartl of the Seattle Times said: *"The movie is saddled with a junky visual style, haphazard editing and occasional out-of-focus shots. Much of it looks like very bad television, although the toilet jokes and a running gag about laxatives and instant diarrhea may be a little raw for the Disney Channel."*

## Awards

**Young Artist Awards** (1993)

* Outstanding Young Ensemble in a Motion Picture: Michael Treanor, Max Elliott Slade and Chad Power [*Nominated*]

## Sequels

"3 Ninjas" spawned three sequels: "3 Ninjas Kick Back", "3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up" and "3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain."