Brain Dead and Loving it!

  A review by DJ XL5 First, we have to set things straight; unlike its title implies, NINJA III: THE DOMINATION is not the sequel to any other ninja films. It’s a ninja movie released by The Cannon Group in the 80s who had previously found a niche in films depicting the infamous Japanese spies assassins. The two previous films in this pseudo-franchise were ENTER THE NINJA ( featuring the legendary Franco Nero (of DJANGO fame), Susan George and Christopher George!!!) and REVENGE OF THE NINJA ( also directed by Sam Firstenberg and not a sequel to ENTER THE NINJA ). The only link between the three films is the presence of actor Shô Kosugi who portrays a different character in each production.   Note from Eric: The eighties were the Golden Age for the rise of Ninjas as a staple of American popular culture. Movies like Sam Peckinpah's THE KILLER ELITE (1975, with James Caan and Robert Duvall) or Eric Karson's THE OCTAGON (1980, with Chuck Norris and Lee Van Cleef) intr...

  In the first part of this series, we looked into the practice and publications of Photo-novels and fumetti, (along with an interview with Photo-novel giant Richard J. Anobile ) which were one of the best ways to recapture the experience of watching a film at a time where owning your own copy wasn't an option, and you had to hunt down listings at the repertory theaters and in the TV Guide for chances to see your favorite films. Movie soundtracks also provided an interesting compromise, but the narrative remains missing, and of course, the all-too-essential visuals. The music can of course evoke beautifully the film it was composed for, and bring back fond memories of the experience, but it remains a completely different way to relive a movie. Combining  reading a Photo-novel version of a film with its music soundtrack can be, however, an oddly satisfying, yet frustrating experience, as the mood can be re-created, but the music may not follow the pace of reading. ...