American Ninja (1985)

American soldier, obviously very skilled in martial arts, single-handedly takes on mercenaries in the Philippines.

Director:

Sam Firstenberg

Writers:

Paul De Mielche (screenplay), Avi Kleinberger (story),

Stars:

Michael Dudikoff, Steve James, Judie Aronson

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Dudikoff	...	Pvt. Joe T. Armstrong
Steve James	...	Cpl. Curtis Jackson
Judie Aronson	...	Patricia Hickock
Guich Koock	...	Col. William T. Hickock
John Fujioka	...	Shinyuki
Don Stewart	...	Victor Ortega
John LaMotta	...	MSgt. Rinaldo
Tadashi Yamashita	...	Black Star Ninja
Phillip Brock	...	Pvt. Charley Madison (as Phil Brock)
Tony Carreon	...	Older Colombian
Roi Vinzon	...	Younger Colombian
Manolet Escudero	...	Bodyguard
Greg Rocero	...	Bodyguard (as Gregg Rocero)
Berto Spoor	...	Bodyguard
Michael Hackbart	...	Bodyguard

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

martial arts | rescue | training | ninja | rich villain | 

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Taglines:

The deadliest art of the Orient is now in the hands of an American.

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Fighter

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cannon Group, Golan-Globus Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color (TVC)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steve James said in an interview that Michael Dudikoff was anxious about working with him, since James knew martial arts and Dudikoff didn't and he didn't want to be shown up. James even requested his final fight scenes be filmed on the other side of the compound, far away from Dudikoff, to avoid any further problems. It wasn't until halfway through filming the sequel that the two of them set their differences aside.

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Goofs

One of the dead soldiers in the beginning of the movie seems to be getting up in the background even though he was killed in the previous scene by a Ninja.

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Quotes

Jackson: Have you ever heard of ninjutsu sir?
Colonel Hickock: What's that?
Jackson: The secret art of assassination.
Colonel Hickock: Yeah of course I have!
Jackson: Well according to witnesses testimony and evidence, this massacre was the work of ninjas.

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Connections

Referenced in Tenchu: Wrath of Heaven (2003)

User Reviews

"He...Possess...Great...Skills."

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.