American Ninja 4: The Annihilation

Realizing that nobody wants to see an AMERICAN NINJA film without Michael Dudikoff, the producers got him back for this entry in an attempt to make things right. Unfortunately, it didn't work. Headbashing Dudemeister doesn't even show up until nearly halfway through the film, after David Bradley (star of the previous film) and some friends are captured overseas during an important mission. Dudikoff's Joe Armstrong reluctantly agrees to come out of self-imposed retirement and save the day, rescuing the others and stopping James Booth's plot to detonate a nuclear weapon. There's a good bar fight with Bradley, and the climax (cutting between two fights, one with Dudikoff and one with Bradley) is pretty decent. They are no Jackie Chan moments, but then again, the AMERICAN NINJA films are more for "chop socky" fans.

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Trailer—American Ninja 4: The Annihilation

Part 4 was a decent film...sorely missed Powerhouse Jackson Rest in peace. The kid in this movie is similar to the kid from part 2. Sean is a pretty decent martial artist, definitely better than Joe but Sean is an ugly guy & doesn't capture the screen as much as Joe. Part 4 was pretty predictable & offers nothing new. However I stilled enjoyed these B-movies because when I was a kid these movies were awesome visually. Red ninjas, yellow ninjas, blue ninjas...loved it. In part 3 Sean was just a martial artist & there was no mention of him being in the Central intelligence agency as is revealed in part 4. What is the deal with that? Someone please answer this for me.

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.

After watching the god awful American ninja 3 movie this one made my day better, it's nothing near the first movie nor the 2nd but it's a great finish of this ninja book too bad they had to made a 5th. The good news is that Joe returns, this time he is a school teacher, living a normal life. But after 4 us troopers and his best friend Sean is kidnapped in Lesotho, Joe has to become once again a ninja to fight fire with fire. Here he American ninja legacy should have ended, even though they brought back two characters Sean from American ninja 3 and Joe the real hero from the first two movies was a good idea to make Sean just a ninja expert and joe as the real ninja. But it's clear that they were running out of ideas. American ninja 4 is ok and should have ended here but greed makes people do stupid things I guess.

Now this part (personaly my favorite) takes itself more seriously. The enemies looks really dangerous this time not like in the third part where ninjas appeared so weak that anybody could handle them five in one time. This part is more violent than the first three so it's kinda raises an intensity. Maybe it gets sometimes boring but only for a short time. The fighting scenes are much better (especially David Bradley fighting scenes) and the plot is good enough. This time the movie has much more colorful characters so it makes the movie even better. David Bradleys acting skills apparently get much better in this film and i disagree with those who says he can't act. This movie is truly a gift for ninja fans.

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.

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.

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.