American Ninja
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Movie Reviews of American Ninja
Movie Review: Sure it's not Lucas or Kubrick it's b action movie take for what it is!,
Summary: 4 Stars
Amercian Ninja is a gulity pleasure if anything. The film has some decent fight scenes and some good B movie acting. Mike Dudkoff and Steve James are some smooth pimps in the movie bringing it to the man as only they can. If you like 80's karate movies then check this out.Movie Review: Nostalgic Ninja Fights!!! Good Movie...
Summary: 4 Stars
Great movie!! It remainds me the old times, when my primal preferences at the video store where the ninja movies!! Well, I must say that this one is one of the best of all them!!! Good movie for a collector, and also for martial arts fans! Good buy, for a low price!Movie Review: Nice Flashback
Summary: 4 Stars
Very nice flashback from my High School years. I always loved martial arts related action films and this was my favorite.Movie Review: American Ninja DVD
Summary: 4 Stars
I was satisfied with the condition of the DVD. It was wrapped and in good condition. The DVD arrived quickly. Thank you.Movie Review: Beware the ninja that is Joe
Summary: 3 Stars
You must bow down to the 1985 ninja action cheesefest that is.... AMERICAN NINJA, a film in which you get ninjas exercising their skulky craft in the shadows of the night, but then you also get those other ninjas clad in day-glo yellow and orange outfits so as to better blend into their environs, if the environs were a cheery day care center or maybe Jamba Juice. There's a lot to bag on in this film with its budget so low it's like a boxcar hobo financed it. The shady martial arts. The plot holes. Michael Dudikoff's acting which is so wooden even Steven Seagal is wincing. My man Dudikoff tries to achieve this sexy sullen James Dean vibe, except that staring glassy-eyed into the distance isn't the way to go... Having said all this, I like AMERICAN NINJA. I saw this as a kid, thought it was the bee's knees, and maybe it helped that I saw it before I started watching Hong Kong action cinema. Even today, I get a kick out of it, on a nostalgic level and when watching it with buddies and laughing at all the hokey and the technical screw-ups.
Michael Dudikoff is Joe Armstrong, an orphaned serviceman stationed overseas (the Philippines?) in the U.S. Army base, Fort Sonora. Joe is the kind of loner guy who'd rather play with his switchblade rather than engage in hackey sack with the other grunts. When a convoy of Army trucks is ambushed by guerrillas and ninjas and Joe ends up rescuing the base commander's cute but horrifyingly annoying daughter, he gets saddled with the rep of being a glory hound, especially since there were Army casualties. But this is like water off a duck's back to Joe. He's James Dean, after all, and he's fine being a loner.
He does end up making two friends: Patricia, the aforementioned base commander's daughter, and Corporal Curtis Jackson. Jackson, thinking to put Joe in his place, challenges him into a martial arts throwdown, and when Joe puts a bucket over his own head and still trounces Jackson, why of course they become great pals. Curtis Jackson is played by Steve James, by the way, and his zesty performance adds to the film what Dudikoff's acting subtracts. Joe will need his pals to foil the ongoing hijackings of Army trucks loaded with arms supplies. But Joe will have to face the deadly Black Star Ninja all by his lonesome. And the Black Star Ninja has all sorts of arsenal hidden on his person, including the traditional ninja weapon of laser ray.
The voiceover narrator on the movie trailer (when the film was titled AMERICAN WARRIOR) makes the movie sound better than it is (the trailer is also on this DVD). But, for all its flaws, it's fun eyeballing Dudikoff as he applies his martial arts moves to take out hordes of opponents, fun to watch these presumably highly trained Oriental ninjas fold like origami paper. And I say it's fun because Dudikoff demonstrates enough believability in the action sequences that you can't quite dismiss him as a straight out poser. Enough people liked him that this sucker spawned four bloody sequels.
Production values so bad they make you grin. It's a mystery why Joe is the only Army guy to not ever wear an Army cap or why he'd put on his dress uniform just to sneak out of base for half an hour to slip a note to a friend's girl. Or why there's no blood on any of the swords after they've been used to stab a body. Also keep an eye, late in the film, for the segment of roof - clearly foam or rubber matting - on which Joe and Patricia land from their helicopter leap. But what makes me laugh the most is a scene, during the first ambush, in which the ninjas are ordered to attack and, in the background, one of dead soldiers gets up just a bit too soon. For its disarming combo of hits and (inadvertent) giggles, I'm giving AMERICAN NINJA 3.5 stars out of 5. I guess, ultimately, even Dudikoff's acting, instead of totally wrecking the film, actually adds to the flavor.