3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up (1995) User Reviews

The best of the series its a really good film for kids and adults may enjoy too

[pkzeewiz · 5/10 · 5 January 2010]

I just watched all three of these movies and I couldn't recommend the first two to anyone really. The first one might be enjoyed by some kids but the second was awful.

This film was shot a year after part one with the same cast and it was held up in post production and a third film was made but the third film made was actually released second. The kids in this film came back two years later and did some re-shoots and additional scenes and the boy who played Rocky actually has braces and is much taller as is the kid playing Colt.

This movie isn't flawless by any means it has a very high cheese level to it, a lot of over acting and silly gags aimed at kids. The movie got a PG-13 rating because it had lots more ninja action and a few somewhat adult language bombs dropped, but nothing a kid couldn't watch. I can't imagine older kids enjoying it, but young kids would eat it up.

As an adult I compared it to a Steven Seagal movie for kids with a touch of old Dukes of Hazard episodes thrown in. It had some great actors doing some not so great roles but it was fun to watch. Donal Logue was funny as one of the bad guys and Charles Napier is great in anything and makes a wonderful bad guy.

The plot here was different and actually had a message which is good. It is a movie about bad guys dumping hazardous materials on an Indian reservation and the kids go in and try to put a stop to it.

Fun film - I think if you like kids movies you should enjoy this one, look over flaws and goofs and cheesiness and just watch it.

The worst thing about this movie was the way the kids yelled A-YAA every time they kicked or hit someone.

Another unnecessary sequel.

[TwzzlrFrk · 3/10 · 8 March 2000]

As a rule, sequels are never as good as the originals. Once in a while, we get AMAZING movies like "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Godfather II". However, comparing this movie to those two classics would be a great injustice to Mr. Lucas and Mr. Coppola.

I saw the first one as a nine-year old kid, and perhaps seeing this one eight years later detracted from me taking interest in the film, but nonetheless - this film is bad.

Eighty-five minutes of "non-stop ninja action" (they're not exaggerating when they say that) put together to form a weak plot. The Bruce Lee movies (which I am not really a fan of) at least have a sense of class in the way they show the martial arts as, well . . . an art! This is just pure violence. The film is obviously meant to be a flick for teenage girls with overactive hormones to come drool over Treanor and Slade (now 16 and 15 in this movie I believe) as they kick the living daylights out of everyone they meet.

This movie isn't entirely bad. The plot does try to tie in some interesting topics about Native American culture, however, the inaccuracies and stereotypical portrayal of the culture detracts from admiring this aspect of the movie too. Another good aspect is that I guess the moral of the story is humility, but it's hard to pick that up with all the "bad motorbike guys" flying all over the place, getting their butts kicked by some five foot ninja.

In the end, this is an incoherent, trashy, unwatchable film that plays at a much lower level than the original. Perhaps now that I'm 17 I should watch the original again and wonder why I liked it in the first place. Perhaps it was learning the lessons of obedience, patience, and of course getting a good laugh or two out of it. But nonetheless, this is not a trilogy worthy of sitting next to the "Star Wars", "Godfather" or even the "Ninja Turtles" Trilogy for that matter!

Best of luck to Treanor, Slade and Power. I do hope that they may land roles in the future that don't require them to jump up in the air, make a 360, and kick a massive biker guy (who weighs at least 200 pounds heavier than them) in the face and knock him out cold.

3 out of 10 . . . The last time I went that low was "Starship Troopers" (it got a 1)! Yikes!!

Corny, knuckle-headed fun

[yendreck · 5/10 · 4 March 2000]

I'm a big fan of the 3 Ninjas series, the first one being my favorite. Knuckle Up is definitely the most action packed, the focus hardly on the story and more on flashy, Jackie Chan-like fight scenes. It's pretty unbelievable, how these pre-teen kids beat the snot out of full-grown armed men. In one scene, the bad guys have shotguns and they really hate those kids, but instead of shooting them, they prefer using the guns as clubs and try to whack them, but of course their plan fails.

The ninjas execute a number of impressive martial arts moves on their hapless foes, and even some unnecessary fake-outs just for show. This movie is good for a laugh, watch it if you like slap-stick humor and kids beating up wave after wave of foolish henchmen.

Part Crouching Tiger, Part Surf Ninjas, this rollercoaster ride gets Three Knuckles up!

[Meifumado · 7 February 2002]

One would think that after the previous two adrenaline-soaked installments in this series that the franchise would run out of steam, but instead of moving forward at the breakneck speed one would expect, instead it slows down and looks inward, finding fertile new ground to explore. One such example is when the boys first meet their native american uncle, and are illuminated to the ecological problems in our consumer specific culture. Not since "Fire Down Below", has their plight been so real that you cannot ignore it, and must hold yourself to blame. Another prime example is when Tum Tum runs afoul of the Yakuza, and his brothers steadfast protection of him in the face of danger. A bold, artistic statement, Three Ninjas Knuckle Up gives up the way of punches and kicks, and chooses the love of family over blitzkreig martial arts shenanigans in what is the most refreshing film of the year, and a prime candidate for film preservation. (All things said, I must admit that my review may be a little biased, being that I played "Ninja who gets hit in the crotch #3", so I hope you'll bear with me)

Such a great movie....

[dark_templar174 · 1/10 · 14 April 2008]

If you need a laugh at how pathetic movies can get. I know, this movie was made in '95, but still. It sucks ass. I don't understand who would want to do a movie about little karate kids who think they're cool beating up bad guys. What the hell, it's not cool. They must've been paid a lot to do this film.

I have no idea how many times they used that "Hiya!" in this film, or in any of the others (this is the one and only one I've seen)

Not only was this movie and the other ones stupid, it's so unrealistic. I saw almost every hit in that movie not even cross the face of the bad guys. If your gonna make a scene with violence, do it right.

I would give this a .5, but since you can't, I'm giving it a 1.

This movie SUCKS. Good day.

Horrible series

[pinplug · 1/10 · 5 July 2006]

This series is so damn bad that you'll grab the nearest person and beat the living crap out of him. Hearing some loser 5 year old kid yell "Lets murderize em!" will probably irritate you so much that you will destroy some furniture at least. God knows what you may do to that kid and the other loser actors in this sickening piece of horse dung movie, if you ever get to meet them in real life. If you see this on TV, you will certainly blow up the screen. With horrible acting, a horrible plot, horrible direction, horrible screenplay, horrible screenplay and the most annoying characters ever conceivable by the screwed up human mind, this is one movie to avoid at any costs. Listen to me and you'll save some property.

Pretty good reshoot of Kungfu kids

[hiankoon · 1/10 · 5 November 2002]

During 1984 to 1990, there was a very popular movie series called the kungfu kids from Taiwan, and it was a total sold out at least in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan, Singapore and Thailand. A total of 6 movie series was shot and 5 of them involves the following stories: Kungfu kids come to town, kungfu kids takes over kidnap case and fights against african fighter, kungfu kids travels thru time, travel advantures of orphans, kungfu kids arrives in thailand (shot in 1990, last in movie series).

Kungfu kids consists of 3 kids, 2 who are very good in kungfu and the last one (aged 6) was the comedy guy. This is exactly the same combination as 3 ninjas.

3 ninjas appears to be developed from the same movie series, although the stories are completely different. It is still quite good as compared to the kungfu kids, and is nice to watch as the kungfu kids movies are no longer around as the firm "Thomson film company" of Taiwan has gone burst.

As a side note, one of the guys from kungfu kids "Hsiao Hu Tso" acted as the young master ninja during his younger days in the movie 3 ninjas kick back (alternatively called 3 ninjas Japan). He got the role due to his fame in Japan as a member of the kungfu kids and specially fly into Japan from Taipei, Taiwan just to shoot the 2 minute kungfu sequence. The other kungfu kid who is good in fighting ("Zheng Guo Yen") is now serving 15 years jail time in taiwan for kidnapping and drug taking, while the comedy guy has retired from movie world.

Filthy dirty.

[afgilbertson1 · 2/10 · 6 September 2012]

I sat down of an evening to watch this film with my two children one of whom is 4 and the other is 3, i assumed that this film would be entirley suitable for them to watch, and certainly would contain less offensive scenes than Titanic: The Legend Goes On. That said, i was shocked at the many references to fisting and all male threesomes, as well as many other graphic scenes, i was also offended to see that apparently use of the N word is commonplace in this film, and the prison (NONCE) rape scene was so graphicly portrayed, I suggest that anyone who wants to keep their children in a non comatose state ssould avoid 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up at all costs.

Much love, Rob Franch.

Again, good for the kids, but I'm questioning that even

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 2/10 · 29 June 2006]

The 3 ninjas must now stop another evil and greedy man from dumping toxic waste onto the Indian land. A little girl's father is captured and "tortured" after finding out the secrets of why the toxic waste is being dumped and he has a disk with all the wastes that were disposed onto his land. When the boys help this girl out, they also free her father and know they have to tell the government what is going on and make sure that the Idian's land is safe.

I'm starting to wonder how the boys always get into this much trouble? The last two situations were somewhat believable, but these boys just need to either grow up or let the grown up's handle the jobs. But I think the kids will again enjoy this silly sequel.

2/10

The ultimate mini - ninjas ...could this movie have been better?

[starlightmoonwalker · 6/10 · 25 October 2006]

The plot's structure is half-copied from Bruce Lee's WAY OF THE DRAGON:1)arrival of the heroes in an unknown town; 2)they discover that a bunch of bullies are molesting a group of pacific people; 3)they show their martial arts skills and defeat the bullies more than once; 4)the bad guys send the same thugs back with more decision, and they fail again; 5)the bad guys call the "profesionals", and problems increase ; 6)good guys,filled with more decision, defeat the professionals and save the day.

Of course there are variations, but the structure is similar. The characteristic is funny,since in this way,too-young kids can be introduced to classical martial arts movie plots. One of the first problems is that there is no official "final boss", unlike in the previous "3 ninjas" movies, making audiences feeling like something is missing. O once again, the plot is not original, but that was never meant to be the final goal. And probably, this is what makes the film not completely enjoyable by older audiences.

Despite the plot, however, the fight choreographs are the most amazing in the series, but sometimes they get unnecessarily acrobatic(like the brawl in the Indian village). The fight with the motor bikers resembles, at first, the warehouse fight scene with Bruce lee's Lookalike in GAME OF DEATH, but then it evolves and amazingly becomes something like a copy of the chase from ALTRIMENTI CI ARRABBIAMO(WATCH OUT, WE'RE MAD!)with Terence Hill and Bud Spencer, which is quite enjoyable. Another funny scene is the fight in the abandoned bar, in which Rocky and Tum Tum change their "fighing styles" according to the goofy changes of music coming from a nearby jukebox. Unfortunateley, this scene is too similar to the fight scene from PIU FORTE RAGAZZI(ALL THE WAY BOYS), again with Bud Spencer and Terence Hill. The booby traps prepared by the kids are always a trademark of the series, but once again, the concept is not original.

So almost nothing in this movie is original, but since is a movie meant for kids, it probably could not have been done better. Younger kids would enjoy this movie, but older ones would be bored: they will probably enjoy themselves more watching a traditional martial arts movie starring Jackie Chan. And in the end, this episode was the perfect way to end the series, since the final message concerns most of the main character's personality. However, somebody decided to make another sequel in 1998...

Gish, gimme a break =0/

[Micke_Eriksson · 1/10 · 10 September 2004]

This is probably one of the worst kidmovie I've ever seen, perhaps I wouldn't have minded so much as when I was a kid, but those darn "Hiya"'s they shouted throughout the entire movie was damn right annoying. Clichés, HUGE flaws in choreography (One could actually very well see a kick or punch never touching the 'victim' before they took a humongous fall like several feet).

I have however bought this film for my kidz, and I can't wait for them to turn a bit older, just to hear their reaction about it *Chuckles / Giggles*

Normally I don't write bad comments abouts movies, unless they really deserve it. This one did, big time! The most common error ppl do, is to think in their present situation, that is, as they think of movies (As in sort of an addendum to the hundreds of other movies they've seen earlier) up to date. That's the downright wrong way to judge a movie. Most ppl. forget the earlier filmtecniques (Like the first Star Wars movies, they used models in extreme closeup etc), they criticize how poorly animated a movies is/was, instead of thinking of the actual, again, techniques that was at the filmmakers disposal. A personal note on that one: I'd like to see a little bit more of both; Models + CG Animations (And I'm not talking about models of like starships and such, but characters as well, spiderman 1 was just to darn dreadful!)

Well, enough bad about bad. I (In moment of writing) haven't checked out whether the director or the rest of the staff has done any other movies, for good or for worse after this one, but I sure hope they read the feedback from us users, and think from another perspective after that.

Anyway, to end this:

This movie could have had some potential if the plot had been a bit different, how I don't know, but at least the 'bad/dumb- guys' could have been given a little more brain (Instantly thinking of J.J (Patrick Kilpatrick) when Jack (Charles Napier) orders him to get on the horn for the goons (Or soon to be), and what does the birdbrain do? Well, go figure, he honks the horn!!? One word in one sentence: -Duh!

Well, enough from me, let's hear from you...

A Delightful, kid-classic popcorn flick

[alecx5494 · 8/10 · 6 February 2004]

This movie isn't meant to be taken seriously and alot of people make the mistake of taking it seriously. It's just plain fun. I enjoyed it when I was a kid and I still enjoy it now. It's a classic boy movie. It was alot better than the other kids movies that came out that year. These are the kinds of movies I want my kids to see one day because they are entertaining.

My views on this movie.

[monicacharles · 7/10 · 24 February 2002]

I like this movie a lot because it had a lot of action and it was exciting. It didn't have a lot of bad language which made it more enjoyable for all ages. The cast did a wonderful job in this film and I wish I could do all the things that the 3 Ninjas did.

A New Low

[Jared G. · 1/10 · 3 October 1999]

Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse, another 3 Ninjas sequel!! Are there actually people out there that demanded this series continuation? The first two ridiculous outings weren't enough? Anyways, this one is even worse than the first two. Let your kids see the first one then hide all evidence that the others exist.

It's meh.......

[Nostalgia_Guy1989 · 5/10 · 28 February 2021]

It's not supposed to be anything top of the line. And compared to "High Noon at Mega Mountain", this one deserves an Oscar. It's my most favorite out of the whole franchise, and it's the one that I've seen most. I think it's more-or-less because of the environmental aspect of it. It kind of has a message, yet it falls irritatingly short, and comes second to the fighting. It tries a little too hard to be more edgy, and in the end, looks more cheesy than anything. The fight scenes are......err......there. They're one part convincing, and one part cringe. You gotta think that, A. either these adults are severely dimwitted, B. have never fought in their entire lives, or C. they deliberately hold back because these are just kids. I can't decide whether the Native Americans portrayed were played for laughs, or if they were trying to evoke sympathy. But like I said before, this movie isn't meant to be top of the line. It's purely nostalgia, and if you enjoyed this movie when you were younger, chances are, you look back on it fondly. I know that I do, and I was ecstatic when I found it online, and ordered it. If you look at this movie expecting anything more than a children's (and I use that term loosely) movie, then you're going to be sorely disappointed. If you throw all your expectations out of the window, you're in for a joyfully silly, cringey, nostalgia ride.

What the hell was this?

[tylerscpln · 2/10 · 5 May 2010]

ARE YOU FRICKING SERIOUS. This sucked so bad i nearly puked........scratch that I JUST PUKED THIS MOVIE SUCKS SO MUCH! It was baaaaaaaaaddd!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This was an atrocity to all people who enjoy movies. The stunts were the shits, i mean seriously you could straight up tell that these kids weren't hitting the bad guys. And the acting OMG the acting, the acting was so bad i wished that the bad guys would kill the kids just so the movie could end. I understand that this is a kids movie but even 3 year olds could tell the retarded badness of this incredibly crappy thing. All people in this movie should never EVER get another job involving movies EVER! BELIEVE ME IM ALWAYS RIGHT!

Great

[Mush2hell · 10/10 · 2 November 2004]

I think Stuart Proud Eagle Grant not is a very handsome man but very a talented actor. I commend him. He is wonderful in Geronamo , Murder She Wrote, most of the movies I have seen him in. I have spoke to Mr. Grant on several occasions and believe he is a honest man with a big heart. One who is not afraid to hummble himself. I believe Mr. Grant will be successful in his filming career, more than ever before. I am just proud to say that I am a friend of Mr. Grant, and can only wait for him to blow us all away with his new up coming production that he spent so long writing. We all need to help him if we can, we all deserve to be successful . Sincerely, A friend

Even Though Many Were Disappointed, It still stands as a great movie...(spoilers)

[BlueAcker · 10/10 · 12 December 2004]

Although I've seen A LOT of bashing of "3 Ninjas Knuckle Up", I still think it's a great movie for kids to watch. If you listen to most of these people who have bashed it, they loved it as kids. Your kids probably don't care and wouldn't know the difference. All of the "3 Ninjas" films are enjoyable! Most of my friends think I'm too old to still like it. I'm 14 and I've watched them since I was five! They give you just the right amount of humor and action, it'd be hard not to like it. Most of kids films are depicted as being corny, the "3 Ninjas" ones are pretty educational, this one was about pollution (which is an important thing you'd like to learn about). Besides that, the movie was made on a low budget. The stunt people were hard to look like actually 12 year olds! I was really happy to see the original three come back.

The dancing scene is corny but I bet everyone tried to learn it after they watched it! The grandpa getting bathed by the boys is a little disturbing but at least its only a few minutes long. "3 Ninjas Knuckle Up" may be poorly written or REALLY crapply made but if you look past it, its really much better than it seems.

I lost interest in it when I was about 8 and I started liking barbies but just recently I picked one up from my library and watched it and I really like 3 Ninjas again!

Vaguely amusing at absolute best but mostly just a poor product with careless delivery in the main

[bob the moo · 1 October 2007]

Brothers Rocky, Colt and Tum Tum are travelling with their grandfather during summer holidays when they come across some sort of protest happening with Native Americans. They are protesting against a local businessman dumping toxic waste on their land but, with the protest being violently dispersed by police and thugs, the boys head into town to get pizza. However when those same thugs start picking on people in the local pizzeria, the boys fight back and with new friend (and cutie) Jo, get drawn into the fight against the battle for right.

Despite the fact that I had watched the p1ss-poor final film in the 3 Ninjas film series I found myself watching this one to see if there had ever been any merit in the series. Plus, to be honest, I did have a bit of a childish laugh about the fact that the title seemed to be suggesting that the boys would be entering puberty and perhaps be discovering the weird sensation of "self-love" for the first time (well, what else does the verb "to knuckle up" mean to you?). Anyway this comedy aside, there is not a great deal of value within the film other than that which comes unintentionally. The plot is obvious of course but the delivery tries to be in the style of a live action cartoon. This approach at times makes for some amusing moments but mostly it falls flat because the material is not that good and the comedy is obvious and rather lacking invention or wit.

One can imagine it working for young children but, speaking as someone who used to run a Sunday school class for 3-4 year olds, I have to ask whether or not I would want my kids watching this sort of material; the answer is probably "no". The action is silly and mostly fits in with the very obvious pratfalls that one would find in very basic silent comedy or children's television. I didn't find it exciting or funny and you can just feel the lack of heart or caring in the delivery. Indeed this is all through the film as it looks very cheap and is delivered with the minimum of effort. The direction is obvious and we get lots of "comedy" sound effects throughout as if to tell us to laugh.

The cast is different from the film I say but they are no better. They can move and there is no doubt that they are agile but that is very different from being able to act, which they can't. Treanor, Slade and Power cannot deliver a line for toffee and even during the action I found their constant "hi-yah's" to be endlessly annoying. Looking at them on IMDb I note with no surprise that few have viable careers now. Lightening plays the love interest and is no better than them – and IMDb puts a recent credit in her career as "Scantily Clad Girl #2" which perhaps suggests that she has gotten no better with time. Napier hams it up but looks like Olivier when compared to the lacklustre Kilpatrick. Wong is badly served and not helped by the most obvious use of a stunt body I've seen since the Family Guy movie spoofed Stewie jumping through a window.

Overall then, those looking for entertainment will do best to chuckle about the suggested meaning in the rubbish title but not bother to check the movie out itself. The acting, direction, action and overall delivery is roundly poor and, although the odd bit here and there is amusing, there is little here that I would want my children to take as their entertainment.

Still think it's great

[Mush2hell · 10/10 · 3 December 2004]

Well, Mr. Proud Eagle Grant is a Very good looking man, I see I made a mistake in the first line on my first comment. You know, if you ever took the time to go fishing with this person, you would see that he is real , with a real heart, who truly believes in what he does. He took me to a place I would never go, where the Eagles live and fly, over beaver ponds, through this Stuff, even got hit in the face with branches. It was truly a wonderful trip to his special place. He had a fish on the line with in a minute, I only got a hardy nibble, fell backwards off a stump, and laughed my butt off, bruised but o.k. Better things are coming for us all. He glides over the ground like you have never seen anyone do and actually knows where he is going, like he does not to begin with, this man is full of mystery,it's amazing. Yes, I finally met this him. He is how he is because that is how he has to be, we all should respect who we are,and never forget where we come from . We are all different and unique in our own way , we should never want to change but respect ourselves and others because we are all in this world together. There is just not enough Love as it is. Embrace your brothers and sisters , embrace this movie because there are worse out there, too many to mention , but new things are coming. Feel the ground, do you feel it shaking?, feel your heart, do you feel it beating? I am truly pleased he is my friend.

So bad, it hurts to watch

[MovieAddict2016 · 24 September 2004]

I knew this was going to be bad. I didn't know how bad. It's probably the worst of the THREE NINJAS series (or, as it's spelled to market towards the under-age demographic, 3 NINJAS!), and that's not an easy feat. It starts poorly, and it just goes downhill. Every fight scene is so bad, it's not even explainable. (Is that a word?)

I've seen some bad films in my day but this is one of the worst, ever. I'm not exaggerating. In one fight scene, a kid actor -- who, coincidentally, can't act -- kicks a guy. He bends over with a comical look on his face, as if he's saying "Ouch! That hurt! I wonder why! I better think about it and give this kid the opportunity to do it again in the meantime!", and then the kid hands him a pizza tray (don't ask), punches him again, then kicks him. The guy pushes himself backwards and does a double flip (poor stuntmen -- it's obvious they're using their own force to accomplish the task), then lands on a table.

It's like POWER RANGERS, only performed by kids. In very dangerous situations, mind you. E.g. at the end a bunch of ruthless crooks with guns are chasing the kids and they keep outrunning and punching them.

This is a bad idea to put in kids' minds. "You can beat up grownups with guns -- just throw a few punches!"

Let me tell you what really would have happened.

Crook No. 1 would have whipped out his Uzi and taken down all three kids as they were running down the street like hyperactive morons.

I can't even DESCRIBE the awfulness of this movie. You honestly have to see it for yourself. It's that bad.

It's almost as bad as POD PEOPLE.

And get this: "Rated PG-13 for non-stop ninja action."

Non-stop ninja action. Wow. I guess this movie IS responsible for one thing -- proving that the MPAA can even manage to poke fun at movies. "For non-stop ninja action." I'm still laughing over that one.

-1/5

Great action and hilarious to boot

[gdkarma2 · 9/10 · 7 July 2000]

It's interesting to see the different responses to the 3 Ninjas series. Many of them are from older, 'wiser' guys who snicker at the sight of seeing teen and preteen boys kick the livin daylights outta grown men with bats. Well, check your egos at the door because the beauty of martial arts is that size doesn't matter, if you can believe it. And neither does age. This movie also provides a glimpse into Native American culture which is much appreciated since they aren't represented much in Hollywood.

I'd take Mike Treanor (Rocky), Max Elliot Slade (Colt), and Chad Power (Tum Tum) over Schwartzeneggar, Van Damme and the lot of Hollywood martial arts/action hero actors any day. At least these kids are funny.

Too long

[blkcastro · 16 August 2003]

As a kid, I loved Three Ninjas and the second one. I ended up renting this movie, and all I remember is how long this movie was. With a dragging, almost non-existent plot, the movie relied on a barrage of unnecessary fight scenes, and the longest, most pointless chase scene ever. I finally turned off the movie when I watched a scene where Rocky is fighting some thugs. But it wasn't the child actor, it was an adult stunt double crouching to look smaller, doing all these complicated spins and kicks. I wouldn't have minded that scene, if they hadn't done it in SLOW MOTION. Now that's a bit too amateurish for me to handle.

A sure-fire classic

[ryogamkn · 9/10 · 26 September 1999]

The best of the 3 Ninjas series and a series continuer, but too bad TriStar shelved this one and put out Kick Back. I'm still looking for the tape for it, but when I do, I'll watch it over and over again. Once again, great tribute to those who made this series of movies.