American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990) User Reviews

Mongols vs the Ninjas

[ebiros2 · 4/10 · 18 October 2012]

Michael Dudikoff, although not doing much acting, has more on screen presence in this movie. He's clearly evolved over this series as an actor, and has a leading man charisma to him in this movie.

Unfortunately the series didn't evolve with him, but devolved.

Seen one, seen em all characterizes this fourth installment of the American Ninja series. Producers might lose interest after the first few production, and they're only making it on inertia. Even a big franchise like the JAWS went the same route, so maybe we can't blame the producers too much.

The story is choppy, and doesn't flow smoothly. Trying to find a meaning in a movie like this is a futile effort, but I wished they kept producing the movie in a nicer looking locations as they did in part 2 of this series.

The Return of Dudikoff

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 1 January 2014]

After the abysmal American Ninja 3, it seemed all hope was lost for fans of low-budget martial arts movies starring white guys. But like a phoenix rising from the ashes, this film would see the return of the one and ONLY American Ninja: Michael Dudikoff. Unfortunately, he doesn't return until about halfway through it. Still, it's Dudikoff's last hurrah as Joe Armstrong so it's worth seeing for that alone. Steve James is absent, which is unfortunate. The movie doesn't have the same feel as the first two. But that was generally true of most Cannon films of the time. The heyday of Golan/Globus was gone and Cannon by 1990 was just another cheap production company. Is this movie worth checking out for anybody who isn't an American Ninja or Dudikoff completist? Probably not.

Ninja against Ninja...

[fmarkland32 · 3/10 · 7 August 2006]

Michael Dudikoff returns as Joe Armstrong, the original American Ninja (Who doesn't even show up until half way) who is forced into single handedly rescuing a delta force team as well as the other American Ninja(David Bradley) after the ninjas provide too much even for him. American Ninja 4 walks the fine line between guilty pleasure and just plain bad. There are moments of sheer stupidity that you just can't help but love the antics. For example the movie asks us to believe that an Arab terrorist would have ninjas guarding him. Or that a gang of Mad Maxish rebels couldn't overthrow the Arab terrorist and his minions until the American Ninja (The one played by Dudikoff) arrived plus the bad guy's army actually takes the time to try and arrest what looks to be a thousand rebel soldiers armed with machine guns and axes. The most ridiculous moment arises when Dudikoff catches an arrow in his mouth which he then uses to stab a ninja in the neck with. (Take that James Bond!) American Ninja 4 does have slightly more life in it's fight sequences than American Ninja 3 but really American Ninja 4 is a sub-par effort in all respects as the action sequences while competent are filmed with lack of inspiration and imagination. Still the movie has just way too many unintentionally amusing moments which almost (but not quite) save the day. American Ninja 4 also becomes a laugh riot due to some of the dialog handled with astonishing straight faced seriousness. For example the Arab terrorist and his sidekick James Booth are excited about the nuke that fits in a briefcase, to which the Arab actually activates it and lets it tick down to 1 second which then has the biggest howl of the movie. "It fills me with ecstasy to know that I was one minute from meeting Allah!" However he never elaborates if he means the drug or happiness in general. When Dudikoff finally blitzes the Arab's stranglehold, the Arab runs to the helicopter which leads to another howler of dialog. "Where we headed?" "MECCA!" It was classic moments like this made me enjoy the cheese of this bad ninja movie. Also of note is that Dudikoff and Booth (The best thespians in the movie) give performances of such contempt that is also vaguely amusing. The disinterested performances are still better than any other performance in the film. My wife who is a good sport, sat through this with me and said the funniest remark. "How lame of a ninja do you have to be to wear a bright yellow ninja suit."

*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)

Two American ninjas...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 30 December 2015]

After a fairly disappointing third movie, without Michael Dudikoff, the fourth movie brings together Michael Dudikoff (playing Joe from parts one and two) and Daving Bradley (playing Sean from part three). And you think that would blow the roof off of the series, but it was hardly so.

When Sean is sent in to liberate a team of captured Delta Team soldiers and fail, former ranger Joe is sent in to bring everyone home.

And that was basically the storyline summarized in a single sentence. It is a no-brainer all the way through, but it is up to par with the previous three movies. I must admit that it is the first time I have seen or heard about an Arab terrorist group keeping ninjas in their ranks, but sure, why not? You would also think by the fourth movie that the villain might have better trained ninja henchmen about, but you are sadly mistaken. They were still equally worthless.

Michael Dudikoff doesn't even show up before into the last half of the movie. But still he is the main attraction for this fourth "American Ninja" movie.

By this fourth movie it is starting to really show that there is a growing fatigue in the franchise, which started to show already in the third movie. So I am a little bit hesitant about watching part five.

All in all, "American Ninja 4: The Annihilation" doesn't really revive the franchise after the disappointing third movie. But if you enjoy the first two movies then you will also find some enjoyment, at least, in part four.

When one ninja is not enough, who you gonna call?

[SkullScreamerReturns · 5/10 · 17 May 2020]

One thing that I've always liked the American Ninja series is its revolving cast of actors. It creates a feeling of a "universe" of its own. First Dudikoff-James, then Bradley-James, and finally Dudikoff-Bradley. All combinations. Only the dream team movie with all three guys is something that never happened.

The plot is again quite ridiculous and the less you think about it the better. The karate master Sean (Bradley) from American Ninja 3 is now working for CIA. Why? I guess he got promoted for saving the day last time... Well, I must say that Bradley's acting is more focused this time, he's more confident and cool like an action hero should. Though, that new found coolness gets kind of wasted because the character is captured and spends a lot of time just being a victim. Come one, don't do that...let him kick some ninjass!

Things get better when Joe (Dudikoff) joins the party. I wouldn't mind giving Bradley a chance to be Dudikoff's equal american ninja but this script just cements the fact that Dudikoff is the real american ninja. He becomes like a Chuck Norris style superman who is the only man in the universe who can save the day.

The plot is quite dragging most of the time and I feel like waiting for the real action to start. There are good action scenes along the way but the fact that the two american ninjas are separated most of the time is a bit disappointing. The poster makes me imagine the two of them fighting side by side which doesn't happen very much in this film.

I think it's a weaker entry in the series but I'm still glad it exists. Recommended for diehard fans of ninja b-movies. Those searching for "artistic" values might want to steer clear (unless you count colorful ninja costumes as art...which of course they are of the highest form!)

Should Have Stopped at Two

[evanston_dad · 4/10 · 4 December 2023]

Michael Dudikoff and his blank stare return to the "American Ninja" franchise, and he's the film's selling point, though even with him this fourth installment of the series that really should have stopped after the first two is hard to sit through.

We do desperately need Dudikoff's Joe though, because our other ninja is Sean, played by David Bradley, who looks too weird and wears too much eye makeup for me to ever fully get behind. Plus he's not a very effective ninja. He spends what feels like half of the film's running time chained to a post in someone's basement. Jackson, who served as Joe's sidekick in the first two movies and then Sean's in the third, would never have settled for that. He would have ripped the post out of the ground, and then ripped off his own sleeves before pulling two giant machetes out of his underwear and kicking some ninja ass.

Speaking of Jackson, this is the first film in the franchise that doesn't have Steve James in it, and when he's absent, you realize how much he made the series in the first place.

I did enjoy the Mad Max band of ruffians who appear mid-way through this movie living in some kind of dystopian society. I'm not really sure where they are supposed to be or why they're all living like characters out of "Ready Player One," but I could roll with it.

It's not like the "American Ninja" movies were ever movie masterpieces to begin with, but the third and fourth installments make you realize how relatively good the first two are.

Grade: C-

This is plenty of action , adventures , fights and suspense in a comic book style

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 23 December 2021]

New installment in which the tough American Ninja encounters ample reasons and opportunity to use his deadly skills . Michael Dudikoff returns for the fourth "American Ninja" : ¨American Ninja: Annihilation¨ by Cedric Sundstrom with David Bradley, James Booth , Ken Gampu . This explains why star David Bradley plays Joe, a different character than the Sean Davidson character he played in American Ninja 3 : Blood Hunt . In American Ninja 4: The Annihilation(1990) there're lots of karate combats , fighting and plenty of suspense and thrills . CIA agent Sean Davidson (David Bradley) and his sidekick Carl (Dwayne Alexandre) are sent into the stronghold of heinous British ex-soldier Mulgrew (James Booth) to rescue some Delta Force commandoes who have been captured , mistreated and tortured . Then Sean , Carl and a beautiful Peace Corps worker called Sarah (Robin Stille) who uses her morgue as a hiding place , join forces to rescue them but they run into some problems . They attempt to free captured Delta Force soldiers , held for ransom in the fortress of a villainous colonel and his evil Arab dictator ally who plan to send a missile into New York . As the nasty rulers have imposed a dictatorship at a country and supported by bands of implacable ninjas . Sean Davidson and his pal , Brackston , a linguist, are assigned the task of infiltrating the fortress of the cruel former British soldier Mulgrew , featuring an army of training Ninjas who obey the sheik's every command . But then , things go wrong and vet Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) who is working as a teacher as well as enjoying a pacific life , is called and he reluctantly goes into action . The two-fisted American Ninja must face a deadly terrorist contender . Now his most deadly enemy ... is time. Evil with no cure. A warrior with no fear.

Lots of action , thrills , shoot-outs and non-sense fighting and plenty of silly intrigue . This time the 'The American Ninja' , Michael Dudikoff , teams up to David Bradley to do battle against a sadistic terrorist and his band of Ninjas and along the way showing their impressive karate skills . As Joe Armstrong lured out of retirement joins Sean Davison against an army of violent Ninjas and his ruthless chiefs : a nasty soldier and a a villain Arab who are planning a fiendish global terrorist attack , threatening the world peace with horrifying disasters ; as our brave protagonists must save the kidnapped people and to stop Mulgrew's plan to explode a nuclear device in New York City . Of course , the main amusement results to be the breathtaking fights between the valiant heroes against the super-Nijas dressed in black, hooded , a blade on the back and using Shinkaisen, a metallized star they throw . It's a gripping story of one man's revenge and a dangerous rescue , including graphic violent scenes . The film displays a Norris' style but Chuck does it much better . This violent art-martial film is the fourth entry about our heroes , the brave Joe Armstrong , Sean Davidson along with his proficient sidekick , and here the late Steve James who early died of pancreatic cancer is replaced , all of them undertake a difficult mission . And enjoyable secondaries as James Booth boasting his badness with hammy panache , Ken Gempu , Ron Smerczak and Robin Stille who sadly died and very early by committing suicide . At the beginning this movie was not originally intended to be part of the American Ninja series ; however , producers Ovidio G. Assonitis , Avi Lerner and Christopher Pearce changing of mind . Stars two expert fighters : David Bradley and David Bradley , as they'll wipe out a passel of violent Ninjas , as the relenting pair running afoul while facing off evil criminals . David Bradley who is beefy as ever plays a two-fisted karate man utilizing efficiently his deadly skills , as well as the always good-looking and attractive Michael Dudikoff . Entertaining , though pedestrian -at times- screenplay by actor/writer James Booth , based on characters created by Avi Kleinberger and Gideon Amir . Atmospheric musical score composed by synthesizer in similar style to previous entries and functional cinematography by Yossi Wein who would countinue to shot a lot of B-action films . The film was regularly directed by Cedric Sundstrom , he's a low-grade expert about art-martial and Ninjas sub-genre and in Delta Force rip-offs . ¨American Ninja¨ has various entries starred by Michael Dudikoff substituted by David Bradley and Steve James and mostly directed by Firstemberg and Cedric Sundstrom . Cedric worked in the theatre as an actor and stage manager. He got to work as an assistant director on international films made in South Africa. He has worked in England, America, Italy and lives in Johannesburg, South Africa. His brother, Neal Sundstrom, is also a director . Cedric has shot some action and thrillers films , such as : The Revenger , Treasure Hunters , The Shadowed Mind , The Mountain , The foster gang , Captive Rage and American Warrior III .

The American Ninja series is formed by the following ones : the first two "American Ninja" series entries produced in middling/low budget by Yoran Globus and Menahem Golan, Cannon Productions , ¨American Ninja I¨ (1985) by Sam Firstemberg with Michael Dudikoff , Steve James . ¨American Ninja¨2 (1987) by Sam Firstemberg with Dudikoff , Steve James , Larry Poindexter , Gary Conway , Jeff Celentano . ¨American Ninja 3 : Blood Hunt¨(1989) , here Michael Dudikoff turned down the lead role in this film for various reasons , among them being the fact that he didn't want to get burned out on martial-arts movies , being replaced by David Bradley , along with Steve James , but David Bradley's character was originally offered to Kurt McKinney, who turned it down for fear of being typecast as a martial-arts actor. And American Ninja 5 (2003) by Bob Bralvel David Bradley , Lee Reyes , Pat Morita , Anne Dupont , James Lew , Clement von Franckenstein , this film was not originally intended to be part of the American Ninja series . As Cannon Pictures made it under the title American Dragons but the title was changed to American Ninja V before release.

You can't Rate your own childhood.

[SaintNinja · 10/10 · 18 December 2018]

When you are living in poor eastern Europe town, you see things in different colours)) When I was kid, two things defined my interest for this Movie:

• Two American Ninjas in one film at the same time! Take 2!
• Ninjas of all colours! Take 5!
• New bad Ninja boss! Take 3! Now it's 10/10

It is really sad to see grown aged men giving American Ninja 4 low ratings and trash critics. Wake up, critic, you are no longer a kid. You can't see Magic no more. This movie is part of me. It's bad, who cares. It was.

Good

[manitobaman81 · 7/10 · 23 August 2014]

In part 4, the two American Ninjas, Joe Armstrong and Sean Davidson, team up to do battle against a terrorist and his band of Ninjas. It is always in people's nature to put down great things and to nitpick or sometimes just be plain mean. No matter what anyone says, this is utterly fantastic, an eye-popping cinematic treat. From an artistic standpoint, there were some plot elements and character developments I didn't think were totally needed. They do however drive the story, which seemed to be their purpose, so I can accept them. I am not saying the film is a classic, but I love it. My rating ends up being 7 out of 10.

*1/2 OUT OF FIVE

[bronsonskull72 · 3/10 · 10 July 2003]

Michael Dudikoff returns as Joe Armstrong the original "American Ninja" who is the last hope to save the other "American Ninja" Sean Davidson (David Bradley) from an angry Arab who is developing a nuke that can fit in a suit case in this dull yet much improved sequel. American Ninja 4 has a few okay actionscenes and the overall quality is better this time out, but overall the movie is far too wooden to be much fun. Only a few inspired moments emerge to make this one rise above a "Turkey" rating. My only other observation has to deal with Dudikoff himself, he looks very bored and disinterested with the whole thing,while the other actors are just woeful. Strictly by the numbers.

Pretty routine chop-socky

[PIMannix · 21 June 1999]

I imagine Cannon was pretty excited about the concept of teaming up the two leads from their earlier "American Ninja" trilogy. Unfortunately the two barely appear on screen together, and Bradley (who resembles a less macho Rick Springfield) is a woefully inadequate screen presence. Booth--whose son appears to have been the screenwriter...or was it Booth himself using a pseudonym?--gets all the best lines and chews enough scenery for everybody. There's nothing here you haven't seen a dozen times before, but it should keep you awake if you stumble upon it on late-night cable.

So bad it's beyond belief!!!

[gothic-child · 1/10 · 11 September 2005]

I was really surprised, how can there be so many positive reviews on this crap. This is one of the absolutely WORST movies I have ever seen in my life. The movie was really funny - I think it wasn't meant to be funny, but it was much funnier than many crazy-comedies :) The plot was ridiculous and made absolutely no sense. A gang of Ninjas working for an Islamic maniac (who was really absurd)...what the hell...?? Ninjas were most dreaded, well trained intelligencers in feudal Japan, and in this movie they looked like a couple of absurd and lame idiots. Dudikoff was terrible as a teacher and even more terrible as a martial arts expert. I can't understand, why didn't the film makers find someone who can act at least a little, and who can do martial arts (hmmm...maybe it's because no one good wanted to act in such a crap). David Bradley was terrible as well and the rest of the "actors" weren't much better. In general, the whole ¨"movie" is a bunch of crap. Terrible plot, terrible dialogues, terrible acting, terrible fight scenes and so on. The only good thing were the funny moments (that weren't supposed to be funny), that's why I'm giving it 2 out of 10.

In my opinion...

[janirantalainen · 7/10 · 12 February 2021]

Atleast this movie is ALWAYS better than Avatar or Twilight... Combined.

tedious

[disdressed12 · 5/10 · 9 April 2010]

this was pretty tedious in my opinion.it wasn't anything special.Michael DudiKoff returns(sort of)as does David Bradley.but Dudikoff and Bradley have very little screen time together together.the plot isn't much different than the third one.the fight sequences didn't really do all that much for me either,except when Dudikoff's character was fighting.he seems to have a natural graceful way of moving in his fighting motions.but mostly though,i was just waiting for it to finish.i wouldn't call it a horrible movie.and believe me,i may say with great certainty i have seen some of the worst movies ever made.and this is not one of those.it just wasn't great.for me,American Ninja 4: The Annihilation is a 5/10

Not What I expected But Still Good

[alucard_castlevania86 · 8/10 · 11 June 2011]

After a quite disappointing third sequel, the fourth one did bring back some grace into the franchise (eventhough it didn't work out as I hoped). Steve James resignation for the fourth sequel (and if I'm not mistaken, this film was made before he passed away) in my opinion was due to the fact that the director decided to bring Dudikoff back after a setback in the third installment

For me, the most interesting but could have used a little bit of polishing up in the film was the plot itself. A group of soldiers gets captured by an Arab and English terrorist building a bomb. The American government then sends Sean Davidson (David Bradley) to try and handle the situation and when he fails as well, they finally the send in the back the original kickass ninja pro Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) into the action since it was sort of like when everything else fails, Joe Armstrong doesn't

This was a pretty interesting sequel and probably the 2nd best of the entire series behind Annilation. To get to this film, I have no real idea why Dudikoff agreed to return back to this fourth installment (maybe he did it just for the sake of the fans of the franchise) but thankfully, he really brought the life back into the series (and for fans like myself) even though he didn't seemed like he was in the mood of acting in this sequel. David's character in this sequel in my opinion was far more respectable than in the third one. He might have done a decent if not good job on the 3rd sequel but in my opinion, his performance here as the 2nd leading actor was way better since he really looks more of a ninja expert in this one compared to the third installment

However, there were a few minor complaints that I have for the film. First off, I expected Dudikoff and Bradley to team up together and become buddies like almost immediately in the film but sadly this did not happen for until like the final 20 minutes of the film. The final fights from both sides (Dudikoff's and Bradley's) were not really that entertaining either since Bradley only had to fight a chicken whuss and Dudikoff once again made an Arabic ninja (whose even more quite in the film than Michael was throughout the film) look like a kindergarden amateur

Another complaint that I would like to bring up (although minor) is that I think that it felt like pointless having the scene where Joe was making his weapons (the sword and shurikens) and holding up the sword in front of his face like it was the most important possession that he ever had but in the end, he just fought the enemies with his own bare hands and never used them at all throughout the ending of the film. I think that maybe the director had accidentally forgotten about that part which was why we never got to see Dudikoff using his weapons in the end.

Another part that I have to complain was that they never really told the story of how Joe (Michael) and Sean (David) became friends in the first place and all in all, I felt like maybe this was more of like shrink and squeeze in as much as possible kind of plot story than the one that they had originally intended to create

However, these flaws did not ruin the film too much since I felt it really did make up for the rather disappointing third sequel. All in all, I would really recommend this to all American Ninja fans out there and anyone else who just wants to spend three hours of their time watching some mindless but still a rather fun action movie

Should Have Been The Best, But - Dudikoff...

[Movie-Misfit · 6/10 · 24 April 2020]

I really wanted this entry to be the very best of the lot. After all, we have both main stars on the cover together and Bradley donning his nunchuka's once again. And while I really don't think it is, American Ninja 4, is definitely my favourite!

And that's not because its brilliantly made or wow's me with amazing fight sequences... Not at all. In fact, this is my favourite entry to he series because of how dreadful it really is and because it is the funniest of them all...

South African director, Cedric Sundstrom, takes the team back to the motherland for a tale so ridiculous, so insane, that it makes the rest seem legitimately brilliant. I haven't been rating these American Ninja films because of how good they are - I rate them because of the joy and entertainment value they bring me. Sundstrom mashes Delta Force with Mad Max, and an army of brightly coloured ninjas - who's outfits are so quilted and padded they make a Godfrey Ho ninja film look like a historical documentary - with the best, worst bad guy I've seen since 9 Deaths Of A Ninja!

Even though Dudikoff gets top-billing, this is really Bradley's gig until Dudikoff shows up to save the day. Legend has it that Bradley has lobbied for both heroes to work together through the film, but Dudikoff would only return as Joe on the condition that his character would save the day and look like he was the superior ninja warrior by saving Bradley's imprisoned self. Bit of a dick move really, and upon viewing the big finale, one can clearly see that, although his acting had improved, Michael Dudikoff's fighting skills were nothing compared to his replacement...

In fact, the fights - choreographed by Kely McClung who stars as the Super Ninja - are so theatrically done and badly edited, we lose a lot of great moves from Bradley, although in turn, get to laugh hard at Dudikoff's take-down's and infiltration of the ninja camp (on top of a flat mountain top). At the end, Joe basically sends Sean away so he can take on the army of ninjas, then walks off without so much of a reunion of sorts before telling Sean where he can find him.

It's so bloody stupid!

With an obvious lack of Steve James as Curtis Jackson, we are given a replacement token black guy who looks like a young Chris Rock, and does absolutely nothing to enhance your viewing pleasure. The young comedy sidekick, Pango (Jody Abrahams) was more fun to watch...

Overall: While Bradley shines, terrible lines, dreadful attempts at comedy, campy villains, and poorly staged fight scenes help make American Ninja 4 a highly entertaining film for all the wrong reasons!

American Ninja bore

[Wizard-8 · 30 May 2004]

If it wasn't bad enough in the previous entry where Steve James wasn't promoted to be the star when Dudikoff temporarily exited the series, the producers don't even call him back for this entry! Actually, upon carefully looking at the movie, it DOES seem that it was originally written for James to return; Bradley is given a sidekick character that you can easily picture James playing, and Dudikoff's character gets involved only when he's told that his "friend" Bradley is in trouble, even though there was previously no evidence they were friends - both being signs of a quick rewrite.

I'm willing to bet that the reason James didn't return was his own decision instead of the producers - the movie didn't end up giving his role a whole lot to do. Also, the end results just aren't very good. Certainly, it's a notch up over the terrible part 3. For one thing, the production values are a significant step up. Also, the movie starts off very promising with a not-bad action sequence. But after that part of the movie ends, the movie quickly collapses. Bradley is again an uncharismatic lead (who fortunately is moved offscreen for much of the movie!), and Dudikoff (who finally appears halfway through the movie) seems alternately bored and annoyed to be there, though he is clearly more confident in his martial art sequences. There's also very little action, a very slow-moving plot, and some *unbelievably* bad editing. The climax does bring back some action, and also has a number of unintentionally funny moments, but it's too little too late.

Dudikoff doesn't save this one at all

[sveknu · 3/10 · 13 May 2005]

Michael Dudikoff continues in this 4th American Ninja movie. That doesn't mean they kicked out David Bradley, he is still the lead. Maybe they thought bringing the two 'American Ninjas' together would bring an extra dimension to the film, but that didn't happen at all. For that, Dudikoff and Bradley were almost not fighting together at all. I consider that a missed opportunity. What's worse, is that Steve James now is gone from the series. He was a crucial element in these movies. Without him, it's much worse. It really doesn't help that the fighting scenes are worse than ever, either. The definitely should've stopped this series after the third movie. Surprisingly enough, the also made "American Ninja 5". Beats me.

The 4th American Ninja

[rohanm546 · 3/10 · 20 August 2018]

I am a huge fan of Cannon made movies. I remember watching this movie for the first time in 2017. This movie contains every thing which a B grade Low budget action Ninja movie offers u. Lose plot, weak story line, Cheap action & stunts & limited star cast with Michael Dudicoff returning for the last time in American Ninja series. The Main/ Original hero of American Ninja series comes in at almost 45 mins later. Till that from start till Michael's entry in the movie David Bradley Handles it, in his way. From middle to end of movie michael is shown rescuing david & the heroine & his friend from the main Antagonist & destroying him & his Ninja force. This movie Lacks the American Ninja touch, the feeling which we get in original movie & its sequel with Michael Dudikoff's touch. Also Steve James is absent in this movie. Dwayne Alexandre is shown in Steve's place helping David in his mission. In all if u r bored from watching A Grade action movies, you can go for this movie for a change. It will b best suitable for a lonely afternoon movie on a bored afternoon or as a late night action flick if u r not in a mood of sleeping.

Bawahaha

[damianphelps · 2/10 · 28 January 2021]

Lets combine the worst elements of American Ninja 1 and 2 with the worst elements of American Ninja 3 (being the cast), remove Steve James and what do you have?

American Ninja 4!

Nuclear Disaster

[rollernerd · 3/10 · 6 February 2021]

Welcome back to another edition of Adam's Reviews!! **queue in intro music**

Tonight's movie review is American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990) is the fourth instalment of the American Ninja franchise and honestly the weakest one in the series. Not even original American Ninja star Michael Dudikoff could save this film, who only enters this film half way through once Sean played by David Bradley who is the star of the previous film and some of his comrades are captured overseas during an important mission. We have a wedding at the beginning of the flick which seems rushed and pointless and also a recycled story from Navy Seals, we have ninjas who dodge bullets while the person shooting said victims does an interesting expression and catching an arrow with your own mouth. I liked how they started off with Dudikoff's Joe Armstrong character as a teacher who reluctantly agrees to come out of self-imposed retirement and save the day. But the story after that does no credit to Dudikoff or in general the whole film. There is a supposed nuclear weapon which you hardly see and is hardly made some kind of important awareness throughout the film, there is also a stereotypical take on a Middle Eastern prince who keeps talking about faith and infidels and the chop socky scenes we are usually provided in this flick has no real wowness I was used to from the previous films. There is no comedic humour which original Steve James's character Jackson provided in the franchise. The fight between Joe and Sean did not meet any expectation and felt flimsy. The film is ridiculously boring and underused central characters like Sarah and Carl. The action scenes are non-exciting and the fight choreography is poor considering this is a B-grade action flick. Overall 3/10

Not the best in the series

[PeterRoeder · 5/10 · 6 January 2011]

I think, number four in this series is a bit too violent. Also, I mean, does the gang Joe hooks up with have to look so much like in "Mad Max"? And couldn't he, being like the greatest martial artist in the world, perhaps have applied his talents better at the peace movement? Though I like the series, I don't understand why they have cut down on the Ninjutsu and put so much emphasis on telling a complex story. Surely, we watch a movie like this to watch great techniques. Anyway, this series is very good when it comes to showing actual techniques, except that Ninjutsu does not have so many high-kicks that they perform. That looks more like kick-boxing, although, of course, high kicks can be effective in certain situations. Anyway, I think all of the five movies are worth seeing, but it is somewhat a pity that they are not even better.

An old favourite

[oconnorbriann · 8/10 · 31 January 2021]

No one else watched these movies and expects them to be good. They're awful, but brilliant and I adore them. Travelling as a kid from London to Ireland every summer, brought fresh marvels as the video store, with a mere note from my sister, would allow me any 18 movie (apart from the real naughty stuff). The year I walked down to the store and saw that there was a part 4, with BOTH ninjas in it blew my mind. Currently watching it on Blu ray. Not for everyone, in fact not more most, but I love it.

Dudikoff Returns!

[AnotherMartiniPaul · 3/10 · 4 January 2021]

No one is a bigger American Ninja fan than I am. I'll never forget the visceral feeling of utter joy upon seeing an advertisement for this film coming out, back in 1991. It was like someone telling me, as a teenager, that I was about to lose my virginity. I thought the day of Dudikoff appearing in this series were over, so I was ecstatic at the news, and grateful to Cannon for having gotten him back. It's not an American Ninja film without Michael Dudikoff.

The plot is a fairly simple one, recycled from the previous three films in almost every way, but sufficient for the film to work. Avi Lerner gave us another evil bad guy running an evil empire, supplemented by an evil ninja army led by an evil ninja leader. Here, the ninja leader is the aptly named "SuperNinja." (Who chose this name for him, I am unsure, as I'm unsure as to how he got people to start calling him that.)

As an adult now, it's easy to spot the budget-friendly decisions made during production; (fight) scenes are either confined to a secluded compound, or otherwise mostly take place in open areas with no one around, like parks or a forests, etc. Actors are reused, costuming isn't particularly expensive, and-aside from Dudikoff, Bradley, and Booth-the cast is made up of unestablished stars. Presumably, most of the budget went to paying Michael Dudikoff's fee to appear in this glorified cameo, and for good reason; it was his face on the poster that made it so visceral to look at and so exciting to look forward to. THE American Ninja was back!

Keeping those budgetary restrictions in mind, director Cedric Sundstrom did quite well with what he had to work with - backstage drama he was forced to contend with during filming notwithstanding. As before, the martial arts experts brought in to reinforce the action in the film-from the series-staple Mike Stone working behind the scenes, to the very capable newcomer, Kely McLung (selected by Cannon to be the next Van Damme)-do a fine job here, along with David Bradley's array of martial arts skill. All three men are legit in their skills, and it shows. Cannon films always did well with their chosen martial arts representatives; while they were not on the same level as your Seagals or Bruce Lees, they were able to hang in there and hold their own very respectably. McLung sometimes pulls double- and triple-duty doubling for the leads, fighting as anonymous ninjas, and even portraying one of the doomed Delta Force soldiers in the opening scene. The film, however, does indeed suffer from Steve James' absence. (James claimed in an interview that he told off the producers some time during or after filming American Ninja 3, which meant he wasn't invited back for this fourth installment.)

Nicholas TenBroek's score is exciting, sleek, and extremely fitting - a massive step up from the previous film's score, and perfectly worthy in a series where a new score was birthed for each installment. Cannon regular James Booth not only penned the script here, but mugs for the camera as campy sadist Scarf Mulgrew, with Ron Smerczak's Sheikh Maksood here to fill the anti-Arab Cannon quota. As a side-note, it's quite sad to take into consideration the deaths of much of the main cast in the last several years: Robin Stille and Frantz Dobrowsky both committed suicide, while Booth and Smerczak died of age and cardiac arrest.

Some trivia: As per his FB page, David Bradley described his attempts, in vain, to lobby the producers to shape this film into a buddy picture with Dudikoff, who refused, insisting on returning to his iconic Joe Armstrong role on the condition that Joe is always shown to be the better fighter and the savior to the rest of the cast of protagonists. He got his wish, and we got our movie with him returning to form.

As a nine-year-old child, I was ecstatic.