353:, 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.
328:; 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
317:. 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.
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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
332:
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
341:
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
345:
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
47:
346:
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.
342:
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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293:(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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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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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
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Ninja Day 2020: Behind the scenes of Cannon's
American Ninja
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director of photography Yossi "Joseph" Wein. Released as
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received a mixed-to-negative reception with critics. On
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in the title role and is the first installment in the
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659:10 Things You Didn’t Know about “American Ninja”
458:. It was also the first of three films pairing
396:John LaMotta as 1SG Rinaldo (as John La Motta)
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725:. Fort Lauderdale. 1985-09-02. Archived from
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674:"AMERICAN NINJA RETROSPECTIVE"
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70:Paul De Mielche (screenplay)
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366:as Private Joe Armstrong
351:Japanese holdout soldier
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164:Golan-Globus Productions
1140:1985 martial arts films
765:"American Ninja (1985)"
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313:while stationed in the
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287:franchise, followed by
245:$ 10,499,694 (domestic)
74:Avi Kleinberger (story)
504:weighted average score
466:, the other two being
32:American Ninja Warrior
1150:American action films
1091:Operation Delta Force
645:American Ninja (1985)
1210:1980s American films
1003:Revenge of the Ninja
1160:Films about amnesia
595:List of ninja films
402:as Black Star Ninja
378:as Patricia Hickock
256:is a 1985 American
72:Gideon Amir (story)
1170:Golan-Globus films
981:Films directed by
558:, and directed by
538:In popular culture
132:Peter Lee-Thompson
1190:1985 action films
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566:in South Africa.)
487:Critical response
400:Tadashi Yamashita
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205:Running time
182:Release date
160:Cannon Group
146:Michael Linn
122:Hanania Baer
85:Yoram Globus
1175:Ninja films
510:Other media
472:(1986) and
464:Steve James
391:Don Stewart
387:as Shinyuki
370:Steve James
315:Philippines
261:action film
106:Guich Knock
81:Produced by
57:Directed by
1130:1985 films
1124:Categories
1075:Cyborg Cop
801:Metacritic
733:2010-09-04
702:2010-09-04
601:References
500:Metacritic
436:Mike Stone
417:Production
242:Box office
209:95 minutes
193:1985-08-30
152:Production
67:Written by
1107:Quicksand
1051:Riverbend
780:April 10,
482:Reception
307:U.S. Army
295:cult film
154:companies
127:Edited by
27:1985 film
858:AllMovie
811:April 4,
579:See also
478:(1987).
326:amnesiac
322:ninjitsu
222:Language
143:Music by
95:Starring
18:Shinyuki
515:Sequels
422:Casting
225:English
214:Country
191: (
1110:(2002)
1102:(2000)
1094:(1996)
1086:(1994)
1078:(1993)
1070:(1992)
1062:(1991)
1054:(1989)
1046:(1987)
1038:(1986)
1030:(1985)
1022:(1984)
1014:(1984)
1006:(1983)
998:(1981)
531:, and
311:ninjas
230:Budget
903:Films
411:as MP
836:IMDb
813:2020
782:2022
648:IMDb
462:and
357:Cast
301:Plot
267:and
235:est.
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20:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
