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Regular
Price $14.98
Starring:
Michael Dudikoff,
Steve James,
David Bradley,
Larry Poindexter,
Gary Conway,
Directed By:
Cedric Sundstrom,
Sam Firstenberg,
Rated: R (Restricted)
Release Date: 1987-05-01
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Format:
Closed-captioned,
Color,
DVD,
NTSC,
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Customer Reviews for
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
2 movie reviews for the price of none part 2
For the record I only bought this two movie set because I liked American Ninja 2. I really didn't want part three and I will reveal why later on. The American Ninja series is a guilty pleasure series at best. I like parts 1 and 2 for what they were: action flicks to pass the time. If you look at it that way then American Ninja served its purpose.
American Ninja 2:The Confrontation. Rating 4 stars.
AN2 is the best sequel in the American Ninja series. The story detail the naval officers are kidnapped and its up to Joe to find out who is doing the kidnapping and stop them. Joe later on bumps into a plan involving genetically enhanced ninjas.
AN2 has some pretty cool fight sequences but my favorite scenes are the bar fight and the final showdown with the so-called super-ninjas. Michael Dudikoff is stiff as usual Steve James is a hoot as always. But I still have fond memories of this movie regardless. It was a good follow up to American Ninja and after seeing the other sequels its the best sequel period.
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt. Rating 1 star.
As a sequel I hate AN3 with a passion. This movie is soulless to a fault. Michael Dudikoff is replaced by someone even more wooden than he is(Michael Bradley) and the results are disastrous. Even Steve James looks like he doesnt want to be here.
The story is about David Bradley's character joining a martial arts tournament. He later finds the guy that kills his father is planning to unleash a biological weapon and plans to stop him.
AN3 is boring as hell and that was a big no-no back in the 80s. B-movies had to be fun or they would have no audience. The makers of this weak link didnt seem to grasp that concept. Even the action scenes(which are the bread and butter of the American Ninja series) are weak and repetitive. Steve James is not his normal scenery-chewing self. He spends most of the movie looking like he's bored out of his mind. Everything that made the first two enjoyable for what they were are absent in this movie. Two thumbs down.
Conclusion: 1 good sequel and 1 weak sequel. If you liked American Ninja 2 you will have no choice but to get this two movie set. Unless you want the VHS you have no choice but to settle for this deal. I'm okay with it because I can still watch AN2 and disregard part three.
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
American Ninja 2-Has Dudikoff, great.
Two action movies on one dvd is always good. American Ninja 2 alone is worth the price alone, so I think American Ninja 3 is like a bonus because alone, it is not a must-buy. So let me talk about American Ninja 2 first and give it a stand-alone review.
Michael Dudikoff and Steve James return in American Ninja 2, they were great in the first movie because they kicked a** and had great chemistry since they were good friends in real life, so more of that is in this one.One thing I like about these two, is there total opposite personalities. Joe Armstrong played by Dudikoff is quiet and calm, and only fights when he has to. Curtis Jackson played by Steve James is more talkative and funny and is always ready to go kick some a**, he even says so.
I'd like to say the storyline is kind of terrible, the story in part one was much better, but if you buy this, like me, it's for the action. But basically the Lion which is the main villian's name is having marines captured on an island and being trained by a real ninja after scientific enhancements to fight. Too bad the head ninja played by karate master Mike Stone(the only Asian ninja in this one)can't train his ninja to not be bumbling idiots. He's the only ninja that actually fights like a real ninja and can give Dudikoff a challenge. In the first movie, Dudikoff was the only one who could take on the ninja, of course all of the ninja in that one were Japanese, since this one has marines captured to become ninja, they aren't going to be nearly as good, so Steve James in this one kicks some ninja a**. He shows a little of his martial arts skill to the ninja as well. Plus he's buff as always.
In this one, there's lots of great combat. Dudikoff once again pulls off the martial arts very well, including some great throws outside the bar when a big fat man keeps pushing him until Dudikoff has enough and whoops some punk-a**. This is my favorite part. But some of the ninja are so slow it's funny and they don't pose a challenge for the Dude Meister either. Some are a little clumsy as well. I guess the American ninja is so good, he makes them look like greenhorns. So basically, the leader ninja is the only one who is fast, he shows it when he easily takes apart a civilian in a bar and later many of his own ninja at his demonstration. He also has one of the most corny but funny lines in an action movie of all time. "That damn American ninja. He fights like a tiger." I also would like to know why in part of the movie when Joe Armstrong is driving and a ninja latches on to his truck, and it's like he's the super ninja because he's dragging this ninja all over the place until he leaps out of the truck and it explodes. He could have just stopped the truck, got out, and easily kicked the ninja's a** like he'd done to all the others. I guess the director just wanted a driving chase type scene. Even if it's pointless, it's essential for an action movie.
As far as acting, there's plenty of b-movie bad acting. Dudikoff, James, and Larry Poindexter are the best actors here in this movie. I think Dudikoff and James are just being themselves as usual. Poindexter is a comic relief and doesn't fight that good in the bar fight scene. There's also a girl to save as well, she's pretty and of course Dudikoff saves her when she is captured as bait. James hooks up with a pretty woman as well in the movie. Anyways, the final confrontation is good as well and the super ninja tries to cheat too. And where the heck did he pull that shotgun out from? Anyways, the only real extra is a theatrical trailer, but the action in this movie, and Armstrong and Jackson are too likable not to enjoy this movie. Bad storyline, great action, funny lines, not enough extras, 4 stars.
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
I averaged the two movies out
I give american ninja 2 5 stars and anerican ninja 3 3 stars.It would have been better if they made a DVD that had american ninja 1 and 2 on it rather than 2 and 3American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
american ninja 2 and 3
it was awesome, i would tell everybody to watch it, very good show.American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
Ninjas Ninjas Everywhere!
Dudikoff and James come back for another heapin' helpin' of ninja hellraisin'. This time they're after a drug lord. Now if you were a multibillionaire drug lord with a top bio-engineer on staff, how would you protect your investment? Naturally you'd do the logical thing and create an army of Superninjas. That's exactly what this villain does too! Dudikoff and James catch on to this and there's major butt kickin' in store. Dudikoff is still likeable as he snatches arrows out of mid-air, woos a scientists chick and looks like a prettyboy. Steve James is pretty much a scene stealer with his one liners and cool fight scenes. In fact, James is the true highlight of these films coz his fighting style is so cool, and some great facial expressions. Definitely one of the most underrated action stars ever. The superninjas are supposed to be superhuman, but Dudikoff(and everyone else) seem to have no problem dispatching them like any other action movie thugs. Plus, what better way to show off the power of these new superninjas than to have the head ninja slaughter about thirty of them in front of a bunch of potential investors? Very fun movie. American Ninja 3 only really works coz of James, who's pretty much the star of the film. David Bradly steps in for Dudikoff, and isn't all that impressive. To Bradly's credit, he seems to actually have martial arts knowledge(most likely how he got the role, coz it sure wasn't his acting abilities), but zero of Dudikoff's charm(though Bradly can snatch arrows out of the air too!). I've seen worse action stars, but not many. The plot seems similar to Part 2, with a evil scientist dude messing with viruses. He needs Bradly(alive of course) to carry out his fiendish plan, though it's never said what it really is he's trying to do. The villain here(Marjoe from everyone's favorite giant rat movie, Food Of The Gods) is a little more charismatic than the villains from the two previous films, but that's not saying much. Like most reviewers have said, the money is worth it for AN2. However, Part 3 is cool just for the sake of Steve James and his cool fight scenes. Are you a real man? Yeah? Then you need this dvd.American Ninja 2: The Confrontation/American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
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