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American Ninja

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

1985-08-30 Action 1hr 35m

Joe Armstrong, 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 kidnap the base colonel's daughter.

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Storyline

Joe Armstrong, 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 kidnap the base colonel's daughter.

  • Released
    1985-08-30
  • Revenue
    $10,499,694
  • Budget
    $1,000,000
  • Runtime
    1hr 35m
  • Genre
    Action
  • Status
    Released
  • Language
    English
  • imdb-logo
    5.4
  • Production
    The Cannon Group, Golan-Globus Productions

Crew

Sam Firstenberg
Director
Paul De Mielche
Screenplay
Ken Metcalfe
Producer

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Cast

Michael Dudikoff

Michael Dudikoff

Pvt. Joe Armstrong
Steve James

Steve James

Cpl. Curtis Jackson
Judie Aronson

Judie Aronson

Patricia Hickock
Guich Koock

Guich Koock

Col. William T. Hickock
Don Stewart

Don Stewart

Victor Ortega
John LaMotta

John LaMotta

MSgt. Rinaldo
Tadashi Yamashita

Tadashi Yamashita

Black Star Ninja
Phillip Brock

Phillip Brock

Pvt. Charley Madison
Tony Carreon

Tony Carreon

Older Colombian
Roi Vinzon

Roi Vinzon

Younger Colombian
Henry Strzalkowski

Henry Strzalkowski

Bit Part (uncredited)

Videos and Photos

American Ninja
American Ninja
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American Ninja
American Ninja

Movie Reviews

Reviews for American Ninja
reviewer avatar

A Review by PolyWogg 6

Written by PolyWogg on 2019-02-24

The Bottom Line A basic action movie from the '80s but it doesn't hold up. Plot An American soldier with special skills gets posted... read more

The Bottom Line A basic action movie from the '80s but it doesn't hold up. Plot An American soldier with special skills gets posted to an island base where someone keeps hijacking military convoys. When his convoy gets hit, he's cooperating right up until someone hits the Colonel's daughter, and then he intervenes. His memory of his childhood is mostly gone from an explosion on an island, but he has obviously had training. When the hijackers send Ninjas after him, it becomes obvious though that his skills are way more than just simple techniques. What I Liked Some of the basic fight scenes are fine, particularly between Joe and the Black Star Ninja. And the opening sequence is really well done. There's a scene where they shoot arrows at him, and he uses the handle on a shovel to deflect their trajectory...highly iconic and when I first saw it as a kid, I was hooked. What I Didn't Like I rewatched it recently, and it just doesn't hold up. As I said, some of the basic fight scenes are good, but the fight scenes with guns seems more like a Stephen J. Cannell TV show where a million bullets are fired but nothing ever hits its target. In addition, some of the stunt work is either done at low speed, shows that it isn't the actor doing the stunt (particularly a motorcycle jump), or in one case, requires a helicopter to hover in place for about 5 seconds for the stunt man to get ready to jump on the front.

reviewer avatar

A Review by misubisu 8

Written by misubisu on 2024-07-12

The acting is terrible, the scripts and dialogue are terrible, the plot is [extremely] shallow. But, I love this movie... from the 1st time... read more

The acting is terrible, the scripts and dialogue are terrible, the plot is [extremely] shallow. But, I love this movie... from the 1st time a watched it (a straight to VHS video tape). The fighting sequences are actually pretty well done, and believable. You'll get many laughs out of the non-sensical dialogue and some good entertainment out of the action and fighting scenes. A diamond in the rough, that's for sure.

Read Full Review (The thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the reviewer.)
A Review by PolyWogg

The Bottom Line A basic action movie from the '80s but it doesn't hold up. Plot An American soldier with special skills gets posted to an island base where someone keeps hijacking military convoys. When his convoy gets hit, he's co...

reviewer avatar

A Review by PolyWogg 6

Written by PolyWogg on 2019-02-24

The Bottom Line A basic action movie from the '80s but it doesn't hold up. Plot An American soldier with special skills gets posted to an island base where someone keeps hijacking military co...

read more
reviewer avatar

A Review by misubisu 8

Written by misubisu on 2024-07-12

The acting is terrible, the scripts and dialogue are terrible, the plot is [extremely] shallow. But, I love this movie... from the 1st time a watched it (a straight to VHS video tape). The fighting ...

read more