Nine Days of the Ninja: Day Five!

Now I don't want to scare anyone...but I'm going to give to you straight about Steve Miller. His body was never recovered from the lake after...wait...sorry, no, that's Jason Voorhees...wrong guy...that Friday the 13th triple post is sticking in my head...no, Steve Miller...head honcho of the world of pop culture over at Cinema Steve - he thought up a nine day celebration of those black clad assassins of legend and invited me...so here we are...

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Saturday Night at the Movies! 11/5/11


Who cares what picture we see?


Well, for this Nine Day Ninjitsu-laden Blogfest, it turns out Guich Koock does, and he has made a very special choice -

It's a Special Dusk-to-Dawn Show!

Back in the glorious 80's, Cannon Films seemingly had a new flick in the theaters every couple of weeks. I got to see this one on the Big Screen, which made it all the better. You got Dudikoff, one Cannon's most durable stars; you get bonus star in Steve James (I'm Gonna Get You Sucka); you got John Fujioka (Futureworld) as the ninja mentor; you got Guich Koock from TV's Carter Country and some Andy Sidaris movies as the military authority figure with the hot daughter; and you got Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter's Judie Aronson as the hot daughter. And last but not least Don Stewart (Carnival Magic) as the bad guy! That is an actorly recipe for success right there!




Nip out for some popcorn, then hurry back for feature two:

This sequel also played theaters, and my tush was in a seat opening weekend. And the movie got everything pretty much right - Dudikoff is back, still hanging out with the great Steve James, and John Fujioka pops back in too. Bad guy Gary Conway was once the Teenage Frankenstein, and now he's not only the villain here - he's also the co-writer!

Intermission!

Time for the second half of this dusk-to-dawn show! Glad you all made it back - unfortunately, Michael Dudikoff didn't!

Yeah, Dudikoff hit the road for this one, but thank goodness Steve James came back for continuity! And you get Marjoe Gortner (Starcrash) as the bad guy! I didn't get to see this one in a theater, but I enjoyed it thoroughly on VHS!







Time for a seventh inning stretch!






And let's get our last feature underway! And look who came back!

I love crossovers - even within the same series - so although it doesn't seem to rank high on many review sites, I thoroughly enjoyed this one-shot team-up between the two American Ninjas, even if Steve James took a hike this time. At least there's another fine villain in James Booth (Pray for Death).



So, you may be asking - aren't we screening the movie now known as American Ninja 5, starring David Bradley? Well, frankly, no. That movie was produced as American Dragons, is rated PG or PG-13, and has Bradley playing a different character. It got the American Ninja title slapped on it after the fact in the hopes it would entice the series fans - well, not this one, buddy.


The real American Ninja movies are a lot of fun, and they all reside in the video vault, ready to go at any time - even tonight, should you care to come by. And until next post you Can Poke Me With A Fork, Cause I Am Outta Here!