DVD/Movie Review: American Ninja 5

 

American Ninja 5 is a movie from 1992 starring David Bradley, Anne Dupont, Lee Reyes (from the renowned Reyes martial arts family), and James Lew. Pat Morita (from The Karate Kid) is billed as a lead, but he is really only in the movie for less than 10 minutes, a couple of minutes in the beginning, a few minutes in the middle, and a couple of minutes in the end.

The plot of the movie is a mess. It is kind of a combination of the plots from the other American Ninja movies mashed together with a bit of Karate Kid (the mentoring aspect, not because of anything Pat Morita does) mixed in. The basics are a rich bad guy in Venezuela played by Clement von Franckenstein is forcing a scientist played by Aharon Ipale, to build a bio-weapon and using an army of (really pathetic) ninjas led by James Lew's character, the Viper as enforcers. 

The movie is about as bad as you would suspect, especially if you have seen the other movies in the franchise. Ultimately, this movie is not really a part of the franchise since it has no ties to the other movies. David Bradley is brought back, but he plays a completely different character than he did in American Ninja 3 and 4. Tadashi Yamashita, who played the lead evil ninja in American Ninja 1 does appear as himself at the very beginning of the movie, but there is not even a reference to Michael Dudikoff or Steve James' characters from the other movies. So, this movie is basically a total reset of the franchise that was not in any way needed. The acting and writing are horrible, but the martial arts action is good, for the most part. The movie is very cheesy and campy. There are horrible sound effects throughout the movie, and the lead evil ninja never wears a ninja uniform. Instead, he alternates between a trenchcoat and a cape from scene to scene, and he has a pompadour and a ponytail.

The DVD just has the movie itself, which starts playing as soon as the disc loads. There are no extras or bonus material, and there are no captions. Ultimately, you know what you are getting with the movie. A D-level action movie. It was one of the last ninja movies that was made after the genre started to putter out in the late 1980s. It is longer than most of the other movies in the genre (clocking in at 1 hour and 40 minutes) and definitely seems to drag on. If you accept it for what it is, it is an okay action movie. If you expect anything more than that, you will be disappointed.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: American Ninja

 

American Ninja was the other series of cult-classic martial arts/Ninja movies (the other being the Ninja Trilogy, Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination, which starred Sho Koshugi) that were put out in the 1980s by Cannon films and Golan-Globus productions. The plot is set around the character of Joe Armstrong, played by Michael Dudikoff, in one of his early roles, a Private on an American military base in the Phillppines. When a convoy moving not only weapons but the daughter of the base's colonel (played by Julie Aronson) is attacked by rebels and a band of evil ninjas, Joe is forced to fight to save the Colonel's daughter. From there, the movie becomes a mix of an action-drama, a romance story, and a story of a reluctant hero. The rest of the main cast includes Steve James as Corporal Curtis Jackson, Don Stewart, as a French arms dealer, Victor Ortega, Tadashi Yamashita (who had black belts in multiple martial arts styles) as the Black Star Ninja, and John LaMota, as Master Sargent Rinaldo. 

The blu-ray, which was released in 2016, got a decent A/V transfer, so it is definitely an upgrade from the VHS version, which many people who are old enough to remember the movie probably owned. There are a handful of extras that were made for the 2016 release, including a commentary track that is basically a conversation between producer Elijah Drenner and the director of the movie Sam Firstenberg (who also directed Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III) that provides a lot of details about the production of the movie and a lot of interesting tidbits, including the fact that the movie was originally developed for Chuck Norris, who passed on the role because he did not want to have his face covered. Then, there is a 22-minute behind-the-scenes/making-of featurette that includes interviews with Dudikoff, Firstenberg, Aronson, and the stunt coordinator, Steve Lambert, and the theatrical trailer.

Ultimately, this is a movie that is mostly an action movie that will appeal to those who were kids or young adults in the 1980s. The story is pretty cookie-cutter and the script was nothing to write home about. Dudikoff, who had no martial arts training before he was cast in the movie, actually does a very good job in the action sequences, and did a lot of the fight work himself. He actually looked very fluid and looked like he had practiced martial arts for years (unlike Franco Nero in Enter the Ninja who looked absolutely awful in the fight sequences he performed). The problem with this movie is that the script was pretty bad, and Dudikoff had to play Armstrong with almost no personality. Steve James and Phil Brock (who played the comic relief in the movie) probably had the best material to work with. It very much feels like a low-budget 1980s action movie and would probably not be made the same way today as it was back then. But, if you accept the fact that you are not going to see an Academy Award-winning drama and accept it for what it is, it is enjoyable.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Pray for Death

 

Pray for Death is one of the movies that Sho Kosugi made after the widely popular "ninja trilogy" movies made during the early to mid-1980s (Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination). In this movie, Kosugi plays a retired Ninja Warrior named Akira Saito, now working in an Office job in Japan. His American-born wife Aiko convinces him to move to Los Angeles where they open a Japanese restaurant, and immediately are targeted by a local crime boss Mr. Newman (played by Michael Constantine), and his enforcer Limehouse Willie (played by James Booth). Basically, much like Revenge of the Ninja, the plot involves Akira and his family being threatened until he has to dust off his ninja skills and take out the bad guys.

Overall, I would say that the movie is decent but not as good as Revenge of the Ninja or Ninja III. But, you obviously know going into a movie like this that you are getting it for the action, the ninja weapons, etc., and not the overall quality. This is also the first movie I have seen in which Kosugi was given a lot of dialogue and not overdubbed. In the Ninja Trilogy, at least some of his lines were very clearly overdubbed, and although he does speak with an accent, you can easily understand him. Also, this one did away with the ninja-versus-ninja final battle. That required the movie raising "regular" bad guys to the level of a ninja, which destroyed a bit of the mystique of ninja invincibility. I was not a huge fan of the ninja uniform that Kosugi wore in this movie, but that is a minor point.

For those who get the blu-ray, the extras include part 1 of a two-part interview with star Sho Kosugi discussing his life growing up and his career. The second part of the interview is available if you buy the Rage of Honor disc, so it kind of sucks that you cannot get both parts on this disc if you do not want the other movie. It also includes an archive interview and Ninjitsu demonstration with Kosugi from the film's New York premiere, and the theatrical trailer. So, the extras are good if you want to watch them. While the movie is not great, if you were a fan of Kosugi's other work, it is still worth checking out.

Blu-Ray/Movie Review: Enter the Ninja

 

Enter the Ninja is the first of the Cannon Films' Ninja Trilogy which consists of Enter the Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III: The Domination. It is really only considered a trilogy because the same production company made all of the films, and real ninjutsu practitioner Sho Kosugi appeared in each of the movies (although he played completely different roles in each movie).

The basic plot of Enter the Ninja is that a mercenary named Cole, played by Franco Nero, is trained as a ninja in Japan. The movie opens at the completion of his ninja training in a great action sequence. One of his fellow students, Hasegawa, played by Sho Kosugi, resented having an American trained as a ninja, which sets up the end of the movie. The main part of the story starts when Cole goes to visit his war buddy Frank Landers (played by Alex Courtney) and his newlywed wife Mary Ann Landers (played by Susan George), who are the owners of a large piece of farming land in the Philippines. Cole soon finds that the Landers are being repeatedly harassed by a local land baron, Charles Venarius, the wealthy CEO of Venarius Industries, in order to get them to sell their property because, unbeknownst to them, a large oil deposit is located beneath their land. Most of the middle portion of the movie involves Cole beating up the local henchmen Venarius has hired to bully and coerce the Landers. At the end of the movie, we get the classic ninja-versus-ninja battle between Cole and Hasegawa.

For those who get the Blu-Ray, the A/V quality is good, but not great. It is much better quality than the picture and sound on the VHS, which is how many of us in our mid-forties or older saw the movie when we were kids. But, it did not get a high-quality restoration and transfer given that it was an independent 1980s martial arts film. There are no extras on the blu-ray aside from the trailer for the movie.

Overall, this movie is a blast from the past for those of us who saw it as kids. Chances are, if you were into martial arts at all in the late 70s through the early to mid-80s, you probably loved this movie when the horrible acting and cheesy fight sequences (and Nero's 70s porn stache) were easily ignored. It is kind of hilarious to watch Nero in the fight scenes in which he is not in the ninja costume because it is clear he had zero martial arts training or skill. But, when the stunt guy is in the costume and fighting with Kosugi, those are good fight sequences. Kosugi was still pretty green as an actor (not that he was ever a great actor), but he could pull off the menacing bad guy very well. It does have one sex scene (which is pretty tame) and a lot of violence (but even that is tame by today's standards), as well as its fair share of stupid comedy (including a guy with a hook for a hand). You definitely have to take this movie for what it is, and as long as you do not expect more from it than being a cheesy action movie with ninjas, it is enjoyable. If you are looking for an academy award winner, this is definitely not something you will be interested in.

Movie/Blu-Ray Review: Revenge of the Ninja

 

This is the second movie in the well-known (at least if you were into martial arts in the 1980s) trilogy of ninja movies released by the Cannon Group/Golan Globus productions that starred real-life ninjutsu practitioner Sho Kosugi. It was a trilogy in name only as none of the movies were interconnected, and Kosugi played different characters in each.

In this one, he plays a Japanese immigrant to America. At the beginning of the movie, his family (save for his mother and newborn son) are killed by a ninja hit squad. He movies to the US opening a gallery that imports Japanese dolls, with the help of an American partner, who turns out to be an evil mask-wearing ninja.

This is definitely an 80s B-movie and has that feel, including the racist stereotypes (basically the over-the-top Italian mobsters and the hatchet-wielding Indian), the hot damsel in distress, and some nudity. What passed for the local gang hanging out in the park was downright hilarious though. They looked more like the Village People than a threatening gang. 

The movie has been around long enough that it has been released on VHS, DVD, and blu-ray (in 2015). The blu-ray version had some extras including a commentary track with the director and stunt coordinator, the trailer, an intro by the director, and a stills gallery.

Overall, the movie is enjoyable if you take it for what it is. A B-level, totally unrealistic action movie. It does have some very good action/fight sequences. Kosugi was a very accomplished martial artist. Arthur Roberts, who played the evil ninja, not so much. But during the action scenes, he was mostly replaced by a stunt performer, which worked since he wore a mask (in addition to the ninja mask). If you do not expect award-winning acting or writing and want to watch a decent, but now out of date, action film, this is a good choice.

Movie/Blu-Ray Review: Ninja III: The Domination

 

Ninja III is the third in the trilogy of ninja movies put out in the 1980s by the Cannon Group/ Golan Globus production company starring real-life ninjutsu practitioner Sho Kosugi. Interestingly enough, this was the same production group that would try, and astonishingly fail to produce Superman IV a few years after this was made  The "ninja trilogy" is only called a trilogy because there were three movies, Enter The Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and Ninja III, but they are not a trilogy in the way people typically think of. The plotlines are not connected in any way, and Kosugi plays different characters in each one. 

Ninja III starts out with a major action sequence in which an evil ninja assassinates some high-ranking and seemingly well-protected individual on a golf course. The ninja ends up being chased by and shot multiple times by an entire police force. As he escapes he transfers his essence to a telephone company worker, played by Lucinda Dickey, and she then proceeds to take revenge on all of the cops. Kosugi enters the picture about a third of the way into the movie as the good ninja trying to stop her. 

Chances are if you were a kid in the 1980s and were in any way into martial arts you loved this movie and watched it anytime it was on TV.  It used to be a Saturday or Sunday afternoon staple on the local stations that played old TV shows in syndication, but I have not seen it on TV in years. So, if you are a fan of the movie this is really the only way to see it anymore. 

There have been many different versions of the movie after the years on physical media. I am old enough to have owned it on VHS, then picked up the 2013 blu-ray version. That one has a few special features including the trailer and a commentary track from the director and the stunt coordinator. It is a good listen if you like listening to commentary tracks and gives a lot of insight into how the movie was made with all practical stunts, and how the director used the movie Poltergeist as an inspiration. There is also a 2018 collectors edition on blu-ray that has a much-upgraded video transfer and interviews with main cast members Lucinda Dickey and Jordan Bennet. 

You definitely have to suspend your disbelief when watching the movie and accept that it is not an award winner. It is definitely a B-Level movie, and is, as many 1980s B movies are, very cheesy. It does not really try to be more than it is, and at right around an hour and a half, is not too long.  But, as an action movie, it holds up fairly well, as long as you accept it for what it is.