MovieChat Forums > 3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up (1995) Discussion > This movie sucks but its hilarious (spoi...

This movie sucks but its hilarious (spoilers)

posted 20 years ago by blackpope
17 replies | jump to latest

Three Ninjas Knuckle Up is the worst of the horrific Three Ninjas series (although I havent viewed the latest installment with Hulk Hogan as of yet). It would probably rank as one of the worst movies ever made and serves as an example of why my childhood was so screwed up. This being said it is definetly worth watching though. The most entertaining quality of the movie is the screenwriters oblivousness to the blatant racism in the script. The movie is filled with Indian cliches such as war paint, an old medicine woman who talks to flowers (hysterical), and of course the plot which revolves around three amiable young white boys helping a group of disenfranchised Native Americans to save their land from evil white garbage men! Also worth looking out for is the subtextual theme of pedophelia (this comes in a redneck who corners Tum-Tum and smiles in a way that suggests more than is intended as well as the scene in which the young ninjas massage their grandfather in a hot tub which is just flat out disturbing) and the maniacal cult anti-hero Vincent Schiavelli in his role as the mayor. Most laugh inducing however, is the Indian ninja break dance scene in which Native Americans in traditional garb spontaneously break into martial arts dance coreography to 80s bebop music. This is a classic.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] blackpope 20 years ago

Yeah, the dance, the dance...*shakes his head*....I found it on DVD at a Walmart in Green Valley Arizona when I was visiting my grandparents. It was on sale for five dollars! I bought it for my best friend, its the kind of gift that never stops giving.

"Filth are my politics! Filth is my life!"-Divine

[–] magariang 20 years ago

The most retarted thing that I have ever done was when I was in second grade. I memorized the dance with the Indians, and did it for show and tell. I now relaize the error of my ways.

[–] Magdizzle 20 years ago

that is exactly why i love the movie. its a crack up and not meant to be taken seriously. i think its great. I didnt like the dance scene at first..but it grew on me. i love the whole film.

[–] mongbandit 20 years ago

I've seen all the 3 ninjas, it was an integral part of my childhood. This one is by far the greatest in terms the fact that it has the greatest dance scene ever. The fact that the indians knew the dance within 5 seconds was amazing, and further enhances the power of the dance. The one thing I never quite understood was why despite trying to burn them alive in the sewers, the bad guys never once thought about taking their rifles off their backs and just shooting the little ninjas. This film also teaches us about morals; pollution is bad, but beating people up is good (as long as they are rednecks or greedy old white men). The motif of the flower is also particularly powerful as flowers smell nice. The one thing that troubled me was how being given a feather and having some old fella rub paint on your face is "better than CHristmas". Also I think, but I'm not 100% sure, that there was a man with a pillow stuffed up his shirt and a ddgy wig was playing grandpa during the fight scenes, but don't quote me on that. BTW, did anyone else find it slightly weird that these 3 ninjas look nothing like their grandpa, or the three ninjas in the next film for that matter. I give this film A++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ and how!

[–] SeanyTP 20 years ago

The 3 ninjas movies provided me with a wealth of happiness and morale during my childhood. Today's generation have got what? Cody fecking banks to watch? Growing up in the 90's was made memorable by films such the 3 ninjas LEGACY. The dancing scene rocked better than any backstreet boys video and the philosophy of the flower kicked the *beep* out of the hot dog thing in bulletproof monk. I wish they still made films like this. I really do. These films should be passed on to our children dammit.

[–] benjisgod 19 years ago

Yah any way all u people should Get a Life and stop talkin Trash bout My fave Movie because Max Slade was in it so it Rocked

[–] jd_hellfire 20 years ago

blackpope have u ever considered stand up comedy? This board just made one of the worst movies ever, one of the funniest movies ever. lol, now that i think about it everything u sed was true, this is hilarious!!!

[–] GrownUpKid 20 years ago

i was a kid when I bought this movie, same time as power rangers movie i think. I remember this was around the time i started having cynical views, i was around 12 pretty naive having just lived in the caribbean for 4 years and already being harrassed by cops. well anyway i remember me my friends and my sis loved this movie in part because while we werent falling for the little kiddie humor it was a movie that made it itself so ripe for mockery. we have repeat watchings just to see what new stupid thing we could stop out. I remember watching the dance cene wating to point out the white indian and stupid stuff like that. i just saw it on showtime and it just brought back so many fun memories that while arent as funny to me now at 21 just bring a feeling of a more innocent time

where is Davetta Sherwood and her sexy self ? ( see me @ www.face-pic.com/iamironman )

[–] evianaive 20 years ago

Thanks for providing me with laughs, guys! LOL Brought back a lot of childhood memories... I'll see if my local Walmart in T.O. carries this. :)

I agree, the dance sequence was way cheesy. My brother and I still laugh about it to this day.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] mciml2 19 years ago

That dance they did was funny, but the funniest part to me was when the bad guys decided to pour the "flammable" stuff down the manhole after the kids try to escape down it. And then they just drop a lighter into the 90% water and sewage and 10% flammable liquid mixture and it creates a massive fireball that explodes through the sewer! I was laughing so hard.

[–] NinjaFOXForce 19 years ago

Yes, this movie does have it flaws, it can be cheesey at times but I still love this film. I remember when the film first got released in March of 1995.It had a very limited theatrical release because I remember wanting to see the film and luckily there was this general cinema theater (now a jewelry shop)in back of our neighborhood that was playing it but mom and dad didn't want to take me to see it. <-_->
I also remember the commercial for this film such as three white kids coming out of the video shop and the narrator asks them "hey what are you renting" the kids reply: "THE NEXT KARATE KID", then the "indian dance music" starts playing as various fight scenes from the film starts rolling and then a big explosion comes out of nowhere and the text reads 3 Ninjas Knuckle UP. But yeah, this entry had some of the most decent fight scenes, the 3 of them were all good martial artists, better than HN@MM.
And yes I am also very aware of them suddenly aging throught out the movie, must've been reshoots.

[–] anxietyresister 19 years ago

benjisgod, if you took spelling lessons and watched some actual decent movies, you wouldn't come across as such an idiot. Who cares if one particular actor is in a film.. that doesn't make it a masterpiece. I like Jim Carrey.. but he's done some right stinkers in his time.. The Cable Guy and Me Myself And Irene for two. Get your head examined, post-haste. And that goes for any other fans of this garbage..

[–] xarshale 19 years ago

i think this is a movie i saw when i was 6 and i watched it about 30,000,000 times. was this that movie with the two idiots that were sayin,"Pizza dilervery" and they came in and tripped on marbles or something" if so than 9 years ago i could have recited every line by heart. But........ i wouldn't want to see it again because the things i found funny when i was 6 are not the things i find funny now so if i watched it again it would ruin the childhood memorie of the film.
on another note i'm a fan of Victor Wong and from what i remember he was a bit of the star power for this film.

"i can walk the walk and i can lak the talk but i'd rather just sit and drink"-Mister Boffo

[–] twinklingtink 19 years ago

This movie does not suck! I do agree that the dance sequence was sorta weird...but other than that, I love this movie.

[–] sccrbob08 19 years ago

This one is my favorite, it doesn't suck.