American Ninja (1985) 4.9
American soldier, obviously very skilled in martial arts, single-handedly takes on mercenaries in the Philippines. Director:Sam Firstenberg |
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American Ninja (1985) 4.9
American soldier, obviously very skilled in martial arts, single-handedly takes on mercenaries in the Philippines. Director:Sam Firstenberg |
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Michael Dudikoff | ... | ||
| Steve James | ... | ||
| Judie Aronson | ... | ||
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Guich Koock | ... | |
| John Fujioka | ... | ||
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Don Stewart | ... |
Victor Ortega
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John LaMotta | ... |
MSgt. Rinaldo
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Tadashi Yamashita | ... | |
| Phillip Brock | ... |
Pvt. Charley Madison
(as Phil Brock)
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Tony Carreon | ... |
Older Colombian
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Roi Vinzon | ... |
Younger Colombian
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Manolet Escudero | ... |
Bodyguard
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Greg Rocero | ... |
Bodyguard
(as Gregg Rocero)
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Berto Spoor | ... |
Bodyguard
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Michael Hackbart | ... |
Bodyguard
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Joe Armstrong, an orphaned drifter will 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 Patricia, the base colonel's daughter, who happens to be along for the ride. Joe rescues Patricia and gets her safely back to the base, but everyone else in the platoon is killed, leading his superiors to conclude that Joe is guilty of cowardice, collaboration or simple incompetence. At the same time, the rebel leader vows revenge against the serviceman who disrupted his plans, and sends an army of ninjas to assassinate him and bring back Patricia. If he wants to survive and save the girl, Joe's going to have to draw on every last ounce of his training. Written by Jean-Marc Rocher <rocher@fiberbit.net>
Yes this is unrealistic and far fetched and whatever word you wanna call it, but its fun. Dudikoff is a speechless loner in the army. In the first five minutes a convoy is hijacked and big Mike defends everyone all by himself, one of many good, if unbelievable, sequences in the movie. Several times Dudikoff is asked to dispatch small armies of ninjas and even though its too Superman-ish, they're nicely choreographed, so you just sit back and shake your head smiling. There's also good chemistry from Dudikoff and James, his buddy through the whole thing. And this probably sets a record for most crushed testicles in a movie, as there are several moments when theyre grinded with heels, knees, or palms. I still laugh 14 years later when James gives the "saw" to a bad dude (or was he saying "sir?"). According to Joe Bob Briggs, this set a record for most deaths in a movie with over a hundred. Even without counting that wouldnt surprise me, though some movie expert claims that Chuck Norris' "Invasion USA" holds the record for most dead, which came out the same year. What a double-bill that would be. This gets my vote for best martial arts film of the 80s.