Every year, twelve-year old Samuel, eleven-year old Jeffrey and eight-year old Michael Douglas visit their 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 does not 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 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 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. 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. 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. 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 defeat Fester. Hammer and Marcus are subsequently defeated. After freeing the babysitter, the boys are overpowered by Brown and Snyder's bodyguard Rushmore. The boys escape their captivity and manage to subdue Rushmore. 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 jelly beans which Tum-Tum had given him 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. Snyder and his men are arrested.
''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 : 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 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.
The film was received negatively by critics. It currently holds a 29% "Rotten" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 21 reviews. Among the more negative notices, 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." It did attain a favorable response from Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times, 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 for its camp factor and spawned three less successful sequels 3 Ninjas Kick Back, 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up, and .
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
Slade, Power and Treanor host an annual screening and Q&A in Oak Park, California each April.
