Joe Armstrong, an orphaned drifter with little respect for much other than martial arts, finds himself on an American Army base in The Philippines after a judge gives him a choice of enlistment or prison. On one of his first missions driving a convoy, his platoon is attacked by a group of rebels who try to steal the weapons the platoon is transporting and kidnap the base colonel's daughter.
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American Ninja is a ridiculous action film, even worse by Cannon standards of the mid 1980s.Michael Dudikoff lacks charisma and screen presence as the mysterious Joe with a criminal past and elite martial arts skills but with no idea how he got them.He has arrived at an US Army base in the Philippines where he is a bit of a loner. Almost immediately on his first mission driving a convoy of trucks, the American soldiers are attacked by a group of filipino rebels who try to steal their weapons and take colonel's daughter, Patricia. Joe is to the rescue as Patricia just screams and irritates.Joe discovers that people in the US army base are involved in gun running with local mercenaries but not too many people believe him.A feeble B movie, with ineptly staged action scenes.
This being a Cannon production, I think my problem is I was expecting something like "Revenge of the Ninja". And that's just not being fair. What it does have is Steve James, ably stealing all of his scenes and, well the whole movie to be honest.There's entertainment here, you just have to work for it. The movie doesn't really get going until the first good fight scene 45 minutes in. And the real ninja fun is kicked to the tail end. It's probably just me, I don't think I was prepared for the Tao of Dudikoff; the scowl, the saunter, it's a heady stew of low-rent charisma.6/10
American Ninja is the definition of a cult favourite. It reeks of the 80's (which I love) and I've never really spent any time with Kung Fu films but I have a feeling it definitely channels that demographic of film. American Ninja was a theatrical release back in 1985 and when you watch it now you wonder how that is even possible. Something like this would never make it theatrically nowadays. American Ninja is everything that makes a bad movie so great. Ridiculous stunts, overacting, underacting, and a main cast that THINK they are so bad-ass and completely serious about these roles that you inadvertently find yourself loving every minute of it and investing yourself in these ridiculous macho heroes. The American Ninja series has been on my to watch list for years. Now that I have some extra time on my hands I started it and it was everything I expected it to be. The stunts and special effects are borderline terrible and yet they're doing the best they can with what they're given. The sub-plot of the mysterious origin of "Joe Armstrong" is sort of silly and unnecessary but I get they're trying to make this as serious as they can and that isn't easy.What can you really say about Michael Dudikoff? He never made it to A-Lister and hardly is a B-Lister. He had no martial arts training at all going into this film which makes him an odd choice. Somehow he's watchable but mostly for morbid curiosity sake. He is so bland and trying so hard to be brooding and serious. He's so bad that he is perfect in this movie. Steve James is awesome. What else can I say? Like Dudikoff, he is awful. He acts bad but he is so high energy and so much more charisma than Dudikoff. They work together though but James is just train-wreck enough to not be able to not like! Judie Aronson is the romantic interest and she is okay but she is there for a single purpose and does that decently. John Fujioka is Dudikoff's mentor and he is quite good but a very small role without a lot of screen time. Don Stewart is an "okay" villain but this movie desperately needed a really bad-ass villain considering its an 80's action movie.Sam Firstenberg is an expert at this type of movie. His directorial list is a what's what of silly absurd B-Films that I have no doubt he thinks were fantastic. His direction isn't terrible and like I said earlier this might be the perfect homage to the Kung Fu Genre. The story isn't bad, in fact, its simple and straight forward with plenty of action even if that action is ridiculous. This type of film is a whole genre in itself and you have to respect it for that. If you're someone who gets together with friends and watches and the worst of the worst and has a great time doing it then American Ninja should be HIGH on your list. I intend on making my way through all five of these (although five apparently has nothing to do with the first four despite having a returning actor who changes characters...fantastic!) This series is one to watch and just laugh. 7/10
Master of the squinty glare Michael Dudikoff rescues cute Army brat Judie Aronson from ninjas, with help from sidekick Steve James. One of my favorite dumb '80s action cheapies from Cannon. What's there not to like? Terrible stunts, laughable usage of Army surplus equipment and uniforms, and some of the worst directing and editing ever on film. Lots of continuity errors and mistakes. It becomes a sort of drinking game after awhile. Take a drink every time you see a goof. Still, despite so many flaws, it manages to be extremely entertaining. Fans of Cannon movies will love it. It's one of their best. Dumb, mindless popcorn movie.
