American Ninja

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American Ninja

R

Released Aug 30, 1985

1h 35m

Adventure

Action

Romance

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8 Reviews

47%

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10,000+ Ratings

A GI (Michael Dudikoff) rescues a colonel's daughter (Judie Aronson) and fights an arms dealer's ninjas in the Philippines.

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James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

it has persisted because it so perfectly encapsulates in a single film the beloved cheesiness of a bygone era, when low-budget action fare still had a theatrical presence and ninjas still had an air of mystery

Rated: 2.5/4

Nov 2, 2023

Full Review

Nick Rogers

Midwest Film Journal

Hilarious, if true, that Chuck Norris balked at what amounts to maybe 10 minutes of director Sam Firstenberg’s 1985 film — C-grade Cannon fodder if there ever was, which is saying something.

Rated: 2.5/5

Oct 30, 2023

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

...the arms-length atmosphere [is] compounded by seriously low-rent visuals and Dudikoff's wooden (and far from athletic) turn as the bland central character.

Rated: 2/4

Aug 27, 2020

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Tom Long

Santa Cruz Sentinel

American Ninja was still a compltely awful movie. But educational in its own awful way. Now when I see my next ninja movie I'll have something to compare it to.

Jan 30, 2019

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Rated: 2/5

Sep 4, 2005

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Caffeinated Clint

Moviehole

So this is what happens to the support cast of "Grease"?

Rated: 2/5

Sep 18, 2002

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Noel L

The fight scenes were poorly choreographed, the acting subpar, and the all around plot seemed hard to believe

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

09/17/25

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Raul O

I must be the only one that loves this movie. So many childhood memories. Is it cheesy? Of course! But is still a fun movie. I don't care what anyone says.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

05/28/25

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thiago s

Filme mais ou menos, o roteiro é fraco, as cenas são mais ou menos, o elenco é fraco, e ninguém ajuda a melhorar o filme, a história é fraca, e o filme deveria ter cenas bem melhores e mais relevantes, e as cenas de luta salvaram o filme.

Rated 0.5 out of 5 stars

07/20/25

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baba y

great action vintage

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

09/06/24

Full Review

Marcos V

I grew up watching the film and I love watching American Ninja 🥷

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

06/15/24

Full Review

Kevin T

So much cheese it's good.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

04/10/24

Full Review

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Sam Firstenberg

Director

Michael Dudikoff

Pvt. Joe T. Armstrong

Steve James

Cpl. Curtis Jackson

Judie Aronson

Patricia Hickock

Guich Koock

Col. William T. Hickock

John Fujioka

Shinyuki

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Synopsis

A GI (Michael Dudikoff) rescues a colonel's daughter (Judie Aronson) and fights an arms dealer's ninjas in the Philippines.

Director: Sam Firstenberg
Producer: Menahem Golan, Yoram Globus
Screenwriter: Paul De Mielche
Production Co: Cannon Group, Golan-Globus Productions
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Action, Romance
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 30, 1985, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2018
Box Office (Gross USA): $9.7M
Runtime: 1h 35m

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