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

Sam Firstenberg revealed in an American Ninja reunion special that during the casting process Michael Dudikoff had made it to the final five actor considerations and test screened with an unnamed actress as the main love interest. Sam then went on to say that Judie Aronson had a separate on screen test with another final five actor up for the role of Joe Armstrong, Chad McQueen. Michael and Judie were hired in their respective roles based on these tests before having actually met each other and knowing if they had on screen chemistry or not.

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Goofs

Several of the soldiers, including the Colonel who is in command, have hair way too long to be allowed by Army regulations.

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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

The film was released as "American Warrior" in UK cinemas and cut by 11 secs to remove shots of throwing stars and a man's genitals being squeezed during a fight scene. The same cuts were made for the video release (now retitled "American Ninja") though these were later waived for the DVD release.

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Connections

Featured in Rumble in the Jungle: The Making of 'American Ninja' (2016)

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.