| American Ninja (1985) Cast:Michael Dudikoff,Steve James,Judie Aronson,Guich Koock,John Fujioka A soldier(Dudikoff) must fight corruption among his ranks and ends up finding out ninjas are behind it and he must now rescue his girlfriend from the master ninja in this pretty enjoyable martial arts actioner.. American Ninja is the perfect actioner made for teens, the hero Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) is a rebel without a cause who just happens to be a ninja, who's past remains unknown, he woos the girl then must save his girlfriend from ninjas and no matter who comes in his way he destroys them. There is simply not a hammier movie made for pre-teens, then American Ninja. Mainly American Ninja's plot structure speaks to them basically, which is why it was probably a hit. But adult fans of the genre will enjoy this also, if only for the good action and cheesy story and performances. Also the climax provides a lot of fun, where the black star ninja somehow fires lasers from his arm and also shoots bullets. In other words it's the perfect guilty pleasure ninja film. Indeed the only real flaw is that there isn't as much stupid action as there could've been and that Dudikoff and Aronson's overall romance angle is a very bad idea, However American Ninja is still quite enjoyable, If martial arts movies are your thing this is well worth a look, if not only out of nostalgia. It's also one of Cannon's better efforts, as this one is far more enjoyable than a lot of Norris and Stallone efforts they produced. D.Sam Firstenberg*** |