American Ninja Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		3.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.0
Overall		3.5

American Ninja Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 20, 2015

Sam Firstenberg's "American Ninja" (1985) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films. The supplemental features on the disc include an original UK trailer for the film; audio commentary with director Sam Firstenberg and stunt coordinator Steven Lambert; and a lengthy documentary. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

The Ninja

Soon after the handsome Private Joe (Michael Dudikoff, Avenging Force) -- just Joe -- arrives at a military base on the Philippines, a group of ninjas attempt to kidnap the beautiful daughter of his colonel. After an uneven fight with the ninjas, Joe saves Patricia (Judie Aronson, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) and they hide in the jungle.

Later on, when the couple return to the base, Patricia’s father confronts Joe and makes it clear to him that he does not like heroes -- and especially handsome heroes that could make his daughter dream unhealthy romantic dreams. Joe is then confronted by Curtis Jackson (the late Steve James, I'm Gonna Git You Sucka), a martial arts trainer, who quickly discovers that he is no longer the best fighter on the base. As time goes by, Joe and Curtis become best friends.

Meanwhile, Patricia’s father angers an ambitious businessman, Victor Ortega (Don Stewart), with an army of ninjas who decides to teach him a lesson he won’t forget. When the ninjas go after the shady colonel, all hell breaks loose.

Sam Firstenberg’s American Ninja can make some sense only if seen very late at night. It is one of those Cannon Group films that feels too cheap and too ambitious, but looks seriously underdeveloped. In other words, it is a typical ‘80s B-action film.

The film’s roughness and unevenness, however, may well be the two key reasons why it is liked so much. Indeed, it is a lot of fun watching Joe acting like a superhero without superhero powers -- excluding only his ability to dodge bullets -- and his opponents collapsing around him while making odd noises. During the mass fights, one could also spot different ninjas that are trying so hard to impress that quite often the camera actually waits a few extra seconds just to make sure that they are done with their moves.

The dialog is equally rough. More often than not it feels like the main characters are actually reciting their lines while thinking about something entirely different. As a result, there are some very odd facial expressions and emotional climaxes that are completely out of sync.

Conventional logic completely exits the film during the final act. There are some pretty awful special (but cheap) effects that are used to make the fights look more impressive, but all they accomplish is reveal that Firstenberg and his team had a pretty modest budget to work with. There are quite a few sequences that could have been edited a lot better.

Ultimately, however, no one should be surprised that American Ninja looks as rough as it does. After all, it is a Cannon Group film and it delivers exactly what its producers, Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, wanted -- a lot of mindless action delivered with a great deal of enthusiasm.

The film is complimented by a surprisingly good soundtrack which was created by composer Michael Linn (Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, Allan Quatermain and the Lost City of Gold).

American Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Sam Firstenberg's American Ninja arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films.

The high-definition transfer been struck from a pre-existing master, one that was most likely used by MGM to produce the previous DVD release of the film. Generally speaking, detail and clarity are quite pleasing, but there are noticeable fluctuations. The majority of the well-lit close-ups, for instance, look good. There are even a few larger panoramic shots that look quite nice. During the darker footage, however, shadow definition isn't always convincing and as a result depth isn't as good as it should be (see screencaptures #10 and 11). Grain is present throughout the entire film, but it could be much better distributed and resolved. Also, portions of it are occasionally mixed with very light noise, which is why at times it looks blotchy. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Colors are stable and unmanipulated, but it is easy to tell that saturation could be better (see screencaptures #5 and 7). Finally, there are no serious stability issues, but a few minor scratches, dirt specks, and stains can be seen from time to time. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free Blu-ray player in order to access its content).

American Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles have not been provided for the main feature.

The film has a surprisingly complex soundtrack -- the orchestration is excellent and there are plenty of terrific solos -- that benefits the most from the lossless treatment. Some of the action sequences also get a decent boost, though admittedly overall dynamic intensity is rather limited. The dialog is stable, clean, and easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

American Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Original UK "American Warrior" Trailer - an original UK trailer for American Ninja a.k.a. American Warrior. In English, not subtitled. (2 min).

• Ninja Gaijin: Remembering A Classic Cannon Franchise - this lengthy documentary takes a closer look at the production history of American Ninja and its sequels, the reception of the films and their financial success, the ninja genre and Cannon's roster, etc. Included in the documentary are interviews with director Sam Firstenberg, Judie Aronson (Patricia Hickock), Michael Dudikoff (Joe), Debbi James (daughter of Steve James), scenarist (Paul De Mielche), and Phillip Brock (Pvt. Charley Madison), amongst others. In English, not subtitled. (84 min).

• Audio Commentary - director Sam Firstenberg and stunt coordinator Steven Lambert discuss in great detail how different parts of American Ninja were shot (the film was shot in the Philippines), some of the dilemmas the cast and crew members faced during the production process, the film's cult status, etc.

• Trailers - trailers for other 88 Films releases.

• Cover - reversible cover.

American Ninja Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

American Ninja is a product of its time. This could be a very good thing if you remember watching it during the '80s and liking it -- it will surely remind you of a time when you were a lot younger. But it could be a bad thing as well because now it looks very dated and uneven. 88 Films' technical presentation of American Ninja is quite good. Also included on the Blu-ray is a very informative documentary featuring interviews with director Sam Firstenberg and cast and crew members. RECOMMENDED.