American Ninja
| American Ninja | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Sam Firstenberg |
| Written by | Gideon Amir Avi Kleinberger |
| Produced by | Yoram Globus Menahem Golan |
| Starring | Michael Dudikoff Steve James John Fujioka Judie Aronson |
| Distributed by | Cannon Group |
Release dates | August 30, 1985 |
Running time | 95 min. |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $500,000 (estimated) |
American Ninja is a 1985 martial arts action film produced by Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus's Cannon Films. American Ninja was a low-budget action film. 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
Joe Armstrong, an orphaned amnesiac 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. The base comes under repeated attacks by local ninjas who are after the military equipment that their leader, Ortega, plans to sell to the highest bidder. His top henchman is Black Star Ninja, who runs a training camp to train Ortega's private ninja army. In the end, Joe must use his secret martial arts skills to defeat the bad guys and rescue his girlfriend, with the help of his new buddies in the army and his long-lost mentor. 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.
See also
- American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
- American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
- American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
- American Ninja V