342:, adopted Joe at birth after the boy's parents died. He trained Joe in the ways of ninjitsu until a bomb blast separated the two; each has believed the other to be dead for years. Now Shinyuki completes Joe's training, and they launch a surprise attack on the Black Star training camp. Shinyuki sacrifices his life to help Joe defeat the Black Star Master; meanwhile, Hickock leads his own assault on Ortega's villa to rescue his daughter and to wipe out "loose ends" connecting him with Ortega's weapon-trafficking. Ortega flees by helicopter, with Patricia as his hostage, after gunning down her father. Joe, however, boards Ortega's chopper; he and Patricia jump to safety just before Jackson shoots down the helicopter, killing Ortega.
317:; he remembers very little of his past, other than running with various street gangs and mastering several exotic martial arts. The grateful Patricia organizes a date for herself with Joe. Jackson and another soldier, Charley Madison, sneak Joe off the base. Joe and Patricia are caught during dinner by First Sergeant Rinaldo. Rinaldo is in the middle of a meeting with
306:. He saves Patricia Hickock - daughter of Colonel William Hickock, Joe's commanding officer - from a kidnapping attempt. But when the rest of Joe's platoon is wiped out by the Black Star ninjas, Joe's popularity with his fellow GIs takes a nosedive even as he is targeted for revenge by the Black Star Master who directs the ninja order.
325:
Joe, however, hides under the truck. He is brought to the heart of Ortega's operation, which encompasses the Black Star ninja training camp. Ortega is paying the Black Star Order for weapons stolen from the Army, which he then resells to the highest bidder. Joe is discovered but escapes with the aid
321:
Victor Ortega, whose payroll the sergeant is on. To get Joe out of the way, Rinaldo leads him to an abandoned warehouse, ostensibly for dropping off supplies. There Joe is ambushed by ninjas but defeats all of them. Then Joe's truck is stolen, and he gives chase using a motorcycle. The truck driver
330:
under
Rinaldo's false accusation that Joe himself is fencing the arms. Jackson realizes that Joe has been set up, but his protests are wasted on Rinaldo. The Black Star Master infiltrates the base that night and slaughters the on-duty MPs. He then tries to kill Joe, but is thwarted by the sudden
334:
Only
Jackson, Charley, and Patricia believe that Joe is innocent of the charges he now faces. They tell Hickock everything they know about the hijacking and murders, but he scoffs at their story. After briskly dismissing them, Colonel Hickock meets Rinaldo privately, revealing that the colonel
36:
335:
himself is Ortega's accomplice. Even as
Hickock orders Rinaldo to finish off Joe, the Black Star Master kidnaps Patricia since her father is becoming a less-than-reliable partner. Rinaldo attempts to run Joe off the road, only to be killed himself.
331:
arrival of MP reinforcements, none of whom see the Black Star Master fleeing the scene. One of the dead MPs is found with a throwing star lodged in his head, further implicating Joe.
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for all other releases. The trailer (included on the DVD) contains the original title. In
Germany, however, the film was released under the title
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While they are performing chores on the base, Corporal Curtis
Jackson goads Joe into a fight. Jackson proves no match for Joe's
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expertise, which greatly impresses him and their fellow soldiers. Shortly thereafter, Jackson discovers that Joe is an
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Joe returns to Ortega's mansion, where he is reunited with
Shinyuki. It is revealed that Shinyuki, a former
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282:(1987). It had a mixed reception, but it was a financial success, and since then, it has been considered a
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was cast, but had no martial arts experience. He was, however, already very athletic. Fight choreographer
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487:, the film holds an approval rating of 0% based on 7 reviews, with an average rating of 3.2/10. On
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Blowen, Michael (August 31, 1985). "'AMERICAN NINJA' OFFERS GRATUITOUS VIOLENCE".
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of 20 out of 100, based on 5 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".
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As an alternative to prison, young
American Joe Armstrong is conscripted into the
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of Ortega's servant
Shinyuki. Returning to the base, Joe is promptly arrested by
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563:– 1992 (not a sequel, but a similarly themed film from director Sam Firstenberg)
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to star. Some sources stated he didn’t want to have to cover up his face.
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runs Joe off the road; thinking Joe dead, he brings the truck to Ortega.
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and was released in UK cinemas under that title, but was changed to
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This article is about the movie. For the athletic competition, see
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by a judge. Joe ends up fighting off the Black Star Order of
268:, who specialized in this genre in the 1980s, the film stars
621:
Ninja Day 2020: Behind the scenes of Cannon's
American Ninja
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director of photography Yossi "Joseph" Wein. Released as
483:
received a mixed-to-negative reception with critics. On
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in the title role and is the first installment in the
969:
1110:
648:10 Things You Didn’t Know about “American Ninja”
447:. It was also the first of three films pairing
385:John LaMotta as 1SG Rinaldo (as John La Motta)
955:
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714:. Fort Lauderdale. 1985-09-02. Archived from
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553:American Ninja 5: The Nostradamus Syndrome
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370:Guich Koock as Colonel William T. Hickock
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682:"'Ninja' Has The Fights, But No Fire"
679:
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394:Phil Brock as Private Charley Madison
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1032:American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
907:American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
706:"'American Ninja' an Embarrassment"
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14:
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1154:Films directed by Sam Firstenberg
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1189:Films produced by Menahem Golan
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785:"American Ninja (1985) reviews"
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663:"AMERICAN NINJA RETROSPECTIVE"
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574:List of American films of 1985
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435:The film was initially called
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1008:Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo
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415:Originally the studio wanted
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514:American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
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59:Paul De Mielche (screenplay)
7:
1134:American martial arts films
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65:James R. Silke (uncredited)
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680:Kogan, Rick (1985-09-03).
579:List of martial arts films
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361:as Corporal Curtis Jackson
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1000:Ninja III: The Domination
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355:as Private Joe Armstrong
340:Japanese holdout soldier
164:Cannon Film Distributors
153:Golan-Globus Productions
1129:1985 martial arts films
754:"American Ninja (1985)"
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302:while stationed in the
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276:franchise, followed by
234:$ 10,499,694 (domestic)
63:Avi Kleinberger (story)
493:weighted average score
455:, the other two being
21:American Ninja Warrior
1139:American action films
1080:Operation Delta Force
634:American Ninja (1985)
1199:1980s American films
992:Revenge of the Ninja
1149:Films about amnesia
584:List of ninja films
391:as Black Star Ninja
367:as Patricia Hickock
245:is a 1985 American
61:Gideon Amir (story)
1159:Golan-Globus films
970:Films directed by
547:, and directed by
527:In popular culture
121:Peter Lee-Thompson
1179:1985 action films
1106:
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555:in South Africa.)
476:Critical response
389:Tadashi Yamashita
238:
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252:produced by
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194:Running time
171:Release date
149:Cannon Group
135:Michael Linn
111:Hanania Baer
74:Yoram Globus
1164:Ninja films
499:Other media
461:(1986) and
453:Steve James
380:Don Stewart
376:as Shinyuki
359:Steve James
304:Philippines
250:action film
95:Guich Knock
70:Produced by
46:Directed by
1119:1985 films
1113:Categories
1064:Cyborg Cop
790:Metacritic
722:2010-09-04
691:2010-09-04
590:References
489:Metacritic
425:Mike Stone
406:Production
231:Box office
198:95 minutes
182:1985-08-30
141:Production
56:Written by
1096:Quicksand
1040:Riverbend
769:April 10,
471:Reception
296:U.S. Army
284:cult film
143:companies
116:Edited by
16:1985 film
847:AllMovie
800:April 4,
568:See also
467:(1987).
315:amnesiac
311:ninjitsu
211:Language
132:Music by
84:Starring
504:Sequels
411:Casting
214:English
203:Country
180: (
1099:(2002)
1091:(2000)
1083:(1996)
1075:(1994)
1067:(1993)
1059:(1992)
1051:(1991)
1043:(1989)
1035:(1987)
1027:(1986)
1019:(1985)
1011:(1984)
1003:(1984)
995:(1983)
987:(1981)
520:, and
300:ninjas
219:Budget
892:Films
400:as MP
825:IMDb
802:2020
771:2022
637:IMDb
451:and
346:Cast
290:Plot
256:and
224:est.
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260:'s
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184:)
23:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
