American Ninja is a 1985 ninja action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's Cannon Films. Directed by Sam Firstenberg, who specialized in this genre in the 80s, the film stars Michael Dudikoff in the title role, with Steve James as his side-kick. Domestic box office grosses for the picture totaled $10,499,694.
Plot
Pvt. Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff), an orphaned drifter with 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 try to kidnap Patricia (Judie Aronson), the base colonel's daughter, who happens to be along for the ride. Joe rescues Patricia and defeats all the rebels, but ninjas suddenly arrive and kill everyone in the platoon. Joe escapes with Patricia and gets her safely back to the base, but everyone else in the platoon is killed. When he arrives back on base, Joe is yelled at by the Col. William Hickock (Guich Koock) and Master Sergeant Rinaldo (John LaMotta) for disobeying a direct order. This leads his superiors to conclude that Joe is guilty of cowardice, collaboration or simple incompetence. Even his fellow army soldiers want nothing to do with him, asking if the price of one girl was worth the lives of four fellow soldiers. At the same time, the rebel leader of the Black Star Ninja army (Tadashi Yamashita) vows revenge against the serviceman who disrupted his plans, and is ordered by a businessman named Victor Ortega (Don Stewart) to eliminate the "American Ninja" Joe Armstrong.
While performing his daily chores, Cpl. Curtis Jackson (Steve James) antagonizes Joe and challenges him to a karate match. Joe easily wins, showing off his karate skills and impresses Jackson, earning the respect of the others as well. Jackson gets the whole story from Joe: he has amnesia, but he always remembers his karate moves, and that has helped him with his instinct for survival. Patricia arrives back on the base and arranges a date night, Jackson and Charley Madison (Phil Brock) sneak him off the base, but they are caught during dinner by Rinaldo, who is having a business dinner with Ortega (meaning they're in league together). To ensure his elimination, Rinaldo leads him to an abandoned warehouse on the pretense of dropping off some supplies. Ninjas ambush Joe, but Joe quickly dispatches all of them. Somebody steals his truck and Joe chases him on motorbike. The driver tails Joe, crushing his bike and thinks he is dead. Joe, however, rides under the car and gets a glimpse into Ortega's operation and the ninja training: he is smuggling weapons from the U.S. Army and selling them to the highest bidder. He is caught by ninjas and fights, but later makes his escape thanks to Ortega's helper named Shinyuki (John Fujioka). Joe is immediately placed under arrest upon his arrival at the base. Jackson later protests to Rinaldo at the charge. The black star ninja leader sneaks in to the cell that night, and kills all the stationed MP officers before trying to kill Joe. Joe escapes, and challenges him to a duel before other MP officers arrive at the scene. Joe explains everything to Jackson, who brings Patricia along as well.
Joe informs William of the hijacked weapons, but not before he is betrayed when Williams orders Rinaldo to finish it. The black star ninja leader arrives at the house and kidnaps Patricia, while Ortega threatens William, who now know the full extent. At the same time, Joe drives off with Rinaldo and his men on the trail. Joe's car clips Rinaldo's that sends him off course and into a tree, killing him instantly. Joe sneaks back into Ortega's, reuniting him with Shinyuki. It is revealed that Shinyuki raised Joe when he was a baby, training him in the art of Ninjutsu before a bomb blast separates them both. With the remaining time left, Shinyuki completes Joe's training and begin an assault on Ortega's base. Shinyuki dies in battle, as the Army officers arrive on the scene with Hicock leading the way. Hickock is killed by Ortega, and the black star ninja leader is killed by Joe. Ortega leaves with Patricia in the chopper, but Joe rescues Patricia in time for Jackson to fire a missile at the helicopter, killing Ortega.
The final scene shows Joe fulfilling his duties as an American ninja as he lets Jackson catch Patricia.
Cast
Production
The film was originally called American Warrior, but was changed to American Ninja prior to its release. The trailer (included on the DVD) contains the original title. In Germany, however, the film was released under the title American Fighter. It was also the first of three films pairing Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, the other two being American Ninja 2: The Confrontation and Avenging Force.[citation needed]
References
External links
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The American Ninja anthology |
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