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	...	Rinaldo (as John La Motta)
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:

ninja | murder | one man army | swordsman | action hero | 

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Taglines:

The Orient created the world's deadliest art. Now there's an American master!

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Romance

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA Philippines

Language:

English Spanish Japanese

Release Date:

30 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Warrior

Filming Locations:

Philippines

Box Office

Budget:

$1,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$3,234,837, 2 September 1985

Gross USA:

$10,499,694

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$10,499,694

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

This is the first of three films with Michael Dudikoff and director Sam Firstenberg. The other two were Avenging Force (1986) and American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987).

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Goofs

During the final battle, as Shinyuki uses his ninja training to become invisible, his disappearance is obviously stop-motion. The security guard in the background jumps a few feet over without moving.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Pvt. Charley Madison: Hey! I'm great at that game. Back home in California, I'm like deadly. Hold on, I'll teach you girls how to play.
First Soldier: Yeah. Yeah.
Pvt. Charley Madison: Hey, Buddy, come on. We need an extra guy to even up the sides. Hey, come on.

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Alternate Versions

Scenes that were cut from the theatrical release in order to prevent time restraints are.

• A scene where Joe enters his room and one of the troopers calls Joe a loser and then shoves him.
• Jackson asks Joe if he wants to shoot some pool but Joe declines.
• A scene of the Black Star Ninja and Ortega discussing whether or not the Colonel will change his mind about shipping the weapons.
• Joe finds a dead corpse in the barracks the same day he gets blackmailed.
• Black Star Ninja asks Ortega if Joe has any other relatives that's been trained the way of the ninja.

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Connections

Followed by American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987)

User Reviews

chop socky action

For those who know Michael Dudikoff, he most-likely became a household name thanks to this movie. Who knows where he would be today had Chuck Norris not passed on the film. (Probably busy as a child psychologist since that's what he originally wanted to be). This is a film I virtually grew up with as a kid, thanks to it being on cable seemingly every other day. Anyway, Dudikoff finally got his shot at headlining a movie with this cheapo chop socky flick about an Army G.I. in the Philippines going up against a secret Ninja army and an international weapons dealer. Dudikoff is at his most wooden in the this part, but as someone who's a fan and has see nearly all his movies, I can see the progression of him as an actor over the years, and he has certainly improved since this movie. Steven James co-stars in the first of three collaborations with Dudikoff, and the two work well together, but they're basically the best part of the movie. There's the usual B-movie acting, ranging from stiff to lame over-the-top performances, but pretty co-star Judie Aronson fares well. Of interest only to chop socky fans.