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American Ninja

American Ninja (1985)

August. 30,1985
|
5.4
|
R
| Action

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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31416-1
1985/08/30

It was about a young man who was enlisted in the Army after given a choice of prison or the service, after nearly killing a man. The young man, Joe Armstrong, doesn't fit into the service at all in the Philippines. He quickly becomes a thorn in both his sergeant and his colonel's sides after he disobeyed a direct order to allow a group of rebels hijack military equipment. However, he wins over the colonel's daughter, after he saves her life from the local rebels and a group of Ninjas. He also befriends his drill instructor after the instructor tested out how good of a fighter Armstrong really was. An person he befriends is a Private named Charlie. Soon, Armstrong's sent off to drop off deliveries, and he realizes that he is a target of a Ninja Assassination Plot. It was a good plan to place the setting in the Philippines, because there was a lot of corruption going on. If you want to know how it ends, watch it to find out.

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Comeuppance Reviews
1985/08/31

Now this is what we're talking about! Much imitated but never duplicated. A true classic of the action genre.Pvt. Joe Armstrong (Dudikoff) is a troubled loner sent to an American army base in the Philippines. He doesn't say much, and he really doesn't want to play hackysack with his fellow officers. On a routine truck convoy, baddies kill some of Armstrong's fellow officers, and Armstrong escapes with Col. Hickock's spoiled daughter Patricia (Aronson). While Patricia falls for Joe, the remaining officers on the base blame him for the tragedy. At first, they disparagingly call him "karate boy", but he eventually wins their respect and the friendship of Cpl. Curtis Jackson (James) due to his excellent fighting skills. He has been training since he was a boy, but has amnesia and doesn't remember a lot of his past.As it turns out, an evil gun runner, Ortega (Don Stewart) is in cahoots with some of the army brass (including the Fred "time to make the donuts" guy lookalike John LaMotta as Sgt. Rinaldo), and there is only one obstacle to his newest million-dollar deal: Armstrong! Fortunately for Ortega, he has a large Ninja training camp on his vast estate. So he sends his army of Ninjas after Armstrong, Jackson and Patricia. When Patricia is kidnapped, Joe goes into full ninja mode and it becomes ninja vs. ninja in a fight to the finish. Will they be victorious over the nefarious ninja army? It's no wonder Cannon and director Firstenberg put Dudikoff and James back together shortly after this in Avenging Force. (1986) They work very well together, especially here, with the gregarious, charismatic Jackson and the mysterious, belligerent Joe. The climax puts the Rambo-like machine-gun shooting of James with the smooth Ninja-ing of Dudikoff with his never-ending supply of clever moves. It makes for an excellent combination that can't be beat.That's what's great about American Ninja - it's high-quality action fun that seems to put pleasing the audience as its number one priority. Why can't more movies, especially today, do this one simple thing? Please the crowd! What's so wrong with that? Well, we're proud to announce American Ninja simply does just that. It's not uncommon when you watch it with people to hear yells of "Yeah! Awesome!" and the like. You've heard the title "American Ninja" so many times, for such a long time, you probably don't realize how good it is. You just have to watch it to see why it's withstood the test of time so well.Comeuppance Reviews fan-favorite Richard Norton appears in a short, small role - but in the credits he is only recognized for stunts. But if you watch carefully, you can spot him as a soldier in the film.For Fun with a capital F - go with this great classic that is deserving of its fame and status.For more insanity, please visit: comeuppancereviews.com

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johnr1409
1985/09/01

Joe Armstrong is drifter forced into the military finds himself stationed in the Philippines. After his convoy is attacked by ninjas (that's right ninjas in the Philippines) Joe finds himself hunted by this mysterious group of ninjas, and the United States Army seeking his court marshal. Can Joe survive and prove he is an American Ninja? American Ninja should be listed on very VH1 I love the 80's special. Every once of this movie screams 1985. From the big hair to 1980's TV show special effects (American Ninja must have hired the special effects guy from A-Team) to ever present crotch rocket. American Ninja is at one with the 80's.The major problem with American Ninja is that it's a child of the 80's. American Ninja doesn't transcend to new generations. It's stuck in 1985. The sets, the script and the characters are just believable to today's viewers.That being said Micheal Dudikoff did a good job as Joe Armstrong. His acting was believable for a 1980's film. His acting had a few wholes in it, but mostly good. The character I love to watch the most was Cpl Jackson, the black Rambo of the 1980's. Really I know that last sentence wasn't pc but it was the truth. For some reason in the 80's Hollywood felt the only way to connect with the African American community was to copy other characters and replace them with an African American actors. I guess Hollywood forgot about amazing African American actors such as Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby from the 60's and 70's. I feel characters like Jackson where huge stumbling blocks for African American actors. All in all, American Ninja was great in 1985 but didn't transcend to today's audience. Sunday, May 23, 2010...written by John Richards for http://aroundthemovies.com

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TOMASBBloodhound
1985/09/02

Just when you thought director Sam Firstenberg could not take ninja films any further, we were treated to this spectacularly brilliant cheese fest in 1985. Michael Dudikoff, fresh off his stint in Bachelor Party, was cast as "Joe".... The American Ninja!!! Did it matter that Mr. Dudikoff had absolutely no martial arts training before this film? Certainly not. They only wanted a guy who looked like James Dean, didn't have to say much, and could act like he had a chip on his shoulder. Dudikoff more than fits those criteria. You have to feel for Steve James, though. He actually was a great martial artist, but had to play the sidekick role. At least in the two installments of this series I've seen.The story centers around our hero the mysterious "Joe" who is a newly arrived private at a U.S. Army base in the Phillipines. At least that's where they filmed this. Most movies about the military refer to their characters by their last name. Not here. I don't recall us ever learning what Joe's last name is. But nobody knows much about the young man. He was found on some Pacific Island as a young boy with no family or memories of one. Raised in reform schools until he "almost killed a man at age 16", Joe clearly needed some discipline, and the army is where he ended up. Curious however that the army has no knowledge of Joe's date of birth, yet they know how old he was when he almost killed a man! The film is filled with goofs like that! Anyway, Joe was apparently trained as a ninja while still a boy! And could you believe the guy who trained him actually works as a gardener on a plantation near Joe's army base??? As Elaine would say on Seinfeld.... GET OUT!!! Turns out the owner of this plantation is also stealing arms from Joe's base and selling them to the highest dirty bidder, too. And this plantation is also the training ground for an army of evil ninjas, too!!! Sounds like we have a Golan/Globus production here! Can Joe stop the sale of these arms and defeat the ninja army and their leader??? Honestly, you get what you pay for with this movie. There is a lot of action, and some of it is compelling. Despite Dudikoff's lack of training, he almost pulls it off. At least we get to see Steve James flex his muscles between stealing every scene. Judie Aaronson of Friday the 13th IV and Weird Science fame is here to provide a plucky love interest. She does fine with her character and comes off kind of like Jane in a Tarzan movie. The musical score is made from old Missing In Action pieces, and some outrageously over the top horn playing. Some of it sounds like Chuck Mangione's Feels So Good on crack. The film even has jeeps that will explode after slightly tapping a palm tree. Trust me. It's an hour and a half of your life that you probably didn't need, anyway! 5 of 10 stars.The Hound.

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