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 |
|
| 0Share... |
| 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>
When asked at school "What do you want to be when you grow up?" most kids answer fireman or astronaut. To hell with that, I wanted to be the American Ninja. As far back as I can remember I wanted to be the American Ninja. So, I finally picked it up on DVD the other day and let me say this is one of the corniest action movies out there, but I still love it. It's one of my fondest childhood dreams. As unrealistic as it may seem, Michael Dudikoff stills kicks ass, as does the late, great Steve James. Dudikoff single handedly takes out an entire private army of ninjas. It's better than Commando. It's definitely not for the serious action audience. But here's the real kicker, the villain who is hijacking military equipment to sell to the highest bidder is only making 4 million dollars. That's really not that much money for all of the trouble he's going through. Did he only go to one bidder or what? Oh well, it's all about fun, right? My friend came up with the suggestion that we should get all of the eighties martial arts stars and have a huge battle royal. To which I replied: "Well, Dudikoff and Steve James would team up with Ralph Macchio to win the thing." Check out jedibolger's comments for a hearty laugh.