Although I guess David Bradley is a highly skilled martial artist, I don't think he was that good in the three "American Ninja"-movies he took part in. "American Ninja 3" was OK, but the 4th and 5th installment of the series were just terrible. This movie is much better. It's an arena-fighting movie, and it's well performed. They managed to throw in a lot of different fighting styles from many places, and it was really interesting. Several of the styles were new to me. Another great thing is the introduction of Marc Dacascos into the world of martial arts movies. He's a great fighter, and here he made a convincing and extremely evil villain. The fight scenes in this movie are good, and they're also extremely brutal (even more brutal than "Shootfighter"). If you like martial arts action, you'll definitely like this movie.
26 Reviews
* * Out Of Five
bronsonskull7216 March 2006
David Bradley stars as Drew, An American samurai who has incured the wrath of his step-brother by earning his father's sword. Of course years later the brother Kenjiro (Mark Dacascos) is a yakuza mob boss and Drew now a journalist, Kenjiro forces Drew back in a to the death weapons tournament in this martial arts actioner which pretty much delivers what you would expect. (Which is to say not much.) The plot is stolen from the Chuck Norris starred dud Octagon and although this is slightly better, American Samurai suffers from Bradley's lack of charisma and Dacascos is far too over the top to take seriously. Some brutal yet satisfying action abound to make this go down easier.
2/5 Matt Bronson Review brought to you courtesy from Spike TV and their midnight airing.
2/5 Matt Bronson Review brought to you courtesy from Spike TV and their midnight airing.
So-So Samurai movie, fast forward to the last 45 minutes.
Svperstar5 November 2001
I have seen MUCH worse Fu/ninja flicks then this but this one isn't very good either.
Kind of a ripoff of American Ninja, white guy learns Japanese style blah blah blah. Unlike the characters in that series of movies, some of the people in this actually do seem to know martial arts. Kind of a cross between a genuine fu flick like a Jet Li movie and typical American crap.
The rest of the plot is......ah who cares, its a samurai movie, doesn't matter. :P
Unlike American Ninja this movie doesn't have 2 guys taking on dozens of "ninja masters" that can be knocked out with one punch, this has more of a realistic one on one style and it is a challenge for the combatants. Much like Blood Sport.
What it does have going for it it the interesting fighters in the last 45 minutes of the movie, the first half of the movie is just filler to make an excuse for all of the fighting at the end so skip it.
The fighters at the end look like they were pulled straight from an early 90's 2D arcade fighting game. That is the high point of this flick.
The low point, and I mean VERY low point is the last fight scene. Both of the "samurai" are wearing the same black and white outfit, no other colors. If you look close during the last fight though you can clearly see red streamers coming from out of the frame, they reused footage from one of the earlier fight scenes to add length to the last fight and it looks SOOOOOOOO cheesy. Also the actors don't know a damn thing about sword fighting, they just clang them together for 5 minutes, that coupled with the reused footage makes it a non-climax.
Since 45 minutes of this movie is solid fighting with fighters that actually do know how to use their weapons, the very last scene isn't as important.
You can do worse then this, any American Ninja above 2 for example.
Not really good or really terrible.
5/10 when compared to other Fu/ninja movies, would score higher if the last fight scene was done well.
Kind of a ripoff of American Ninja, white guy learns Japanese style blah blah blah. Unlike the characters in that series of movies, some of the people in this actually do seem to know martial arts. Kind of a cross between a genuine fu flick like a Jet Li movie and typical American crap.
The rest of the plot is......ah who cares, its a samurai movie, doesn't matter. :P
Unlike American Ninja this movie doesn't have 2 guys taking on dozens of "ninja masters" that can be knocked out with one punch, this has more of a realistic one on one style and it is a challenge for the combatants. Much like Blood Sport.
What it does have going for it it the interesting fighters in the last 45 minutes of the movie, the first half of the movie is just filler to make an excuse for all of the fighting at the end so skip it.
The fighters at the end look like they were pulled straight from an early 90's 2D arcade fighting game. That is the high point of this flick.
The low point, and I mean VERY low point is the last fight scene. Both of the "samurai" are wearing the same black and white outfit, no other colors. If you look close during the last fight though you can clearly see red streamers coming from out of the frame, they reused footage from one of the earlier fight scenes to add length to the last fight and it looks SOOOOOOOO cheesy. Also the actors don't know a damn thing about sword fighting, they just clang them together for 5 minutes, that coupled with the reused footage makes it a non-climax.
Since 45 minutes of this movie is solid fighting with fighters that actually do know how to use their weapons, the very last scene isn't as important.
You can do worse then this, any American Ninja above 2 for example.
Not really good or really terrible.
5/10 when compared to other Fu/ninja movies, would score higher if the last fight scene was done well.
Liked "Bloodsport"? You'll love this!
Alfonse12 August 1999
Simultaneously the best and worst film of all time. More cheesy, cliche-ridden martial-arts mayhem and a very gory film indeed. If you enjoy this kind of film, however, you'll love it for what it is - mindless entertainment, worthy to be ranked with the Van Damme films of the eighties. It also marks the debut of new "Crow" Mark Dacascos. Superb fun - but not to be taken too seriously...
What the @#$% is this?
MovieRat-213 April 1999
The first time I saw this movie, I was much younger than I am today and I thought that it was a decent movie with awesome fight scenes. But when I watched it a few years later I realized something...it's crap. As I watched I came under the realization that the editors had no idea what they were doing. Scenes conflicted with each other. For example, at one time you see this blond fighter get his leg hacked to pieces only to see him with a perfect leg, no scratches or bruises, just a few minutes later (24 hours according to the movie). What was the worst of all was the final fight scene. It is totally obvious that all the makers of this movie did was just take previous scenes and meshed them all together. It wouldn't have been that obvious if it wasn't for the fact that the main character kept changing uniforms every 5 seconds, the guy he kept fighting changed as well, and for the horrible dubbing they did to make the previous scenes fit.
Avoid this movie at all cost. I have seen some bad martial arts movies in my time, but they were always enjoyable. This one is just plain bad and should probably only be seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 to be heckled at.
Avoid this movie at all cost. I have seen some bad martial arts movies in my time, but they were always enjoyable. This one is just plain bad and should probably only be seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 to be heckled at.
Good as a purgative
Azzy4 April 1999
Yeah it really is that bad. It certainly made me want to vomit at the stupidity. Especially that scene where David Bradley removed the bullet from his gut to show how tough he was. The fight scenes are semi decent, but the plot, romantic subplot, and overacted characters are extremely stupid, and most unforgivably of all, boring. Avoid at all costs.
The cutter...(Of cheese)
fmarkland327 August 2006
David Bradley stars as Drew Collins a raised Samurai who was given the family sacred sword which ticks off his younger step-brother (Dacascos) who joins the Yakuza and now is the favorite in a weapons circuit, when Dacascos swipes the sword from Bradley, Bradley travels to Turkey to get it back. American Samurai is an interestingly atmospheric attempt at starting a new franchise to which Bradley looked to capture when he couldn't upstage the original American Ninja, Michael Dudikoff. (Not exactly the world's hardest actor to upstage...) so he tried his hand at being an American Samurai and of all ironies this one is only noteworthy as his co-star Mark Dacascos' debut. Bradley would later find minor stardom in the moronic Cyborg Cop movies. American Samurai however suffers from terrible acting and not enough verve in the fight arena. The movie seems edited very poorly as we are missing initial kill shots, perhaps the movie was cut for release, even so the movie is just too stupid to work as even guilty pleasure. American Samurai is a thoroughly dull effort which doesn't have enough plot to back any of it up. The action sequences are lifeless and in the end it just never gels into anything of worth.
*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)
*1/2 out of 4-(Poor)
If you can find the uncut version, check it out
udar5520 February 2012
After a plane crash in the Japanese mountains, a baby named Andrew - the lone survivor - is adopted by a samurai master (John Fujioka). Andrew trains in the ways of the samurai alongside the samurai's own son, Kenjiro. Grown up, Andrew (David Bradley) is bestowed the family sword, an act that angers the now Yakuza Kenjiro (Mark Dacascos). Years later Andrew works as a journalist and the sword is stolen from him. He and his photographer Janet (Valarie Trapp) head to Turkey to investigate a sword killing of a Sheik. Naturally, this means they are kidnapped and Andrew is forced to enter a deadly martial-arts tournament where the reigning champion is Kenjiro. One of the last of the Cannon productions, you can see them grasping at anything to make them money as this is basically a violent remake of their last hit BLOODSPORT (1988). You get all of the same stuff (right down to the bearded American fighter friend), but minus all the "plot" that the Van Damme film had. This is actually the first Bradley film I've seen and he does quite well in the lead. Of course, anyone would look good opposite the bug-eyed performance by Dacascos as the villain. Man, he is hilariously bad. I'm glad he kept working as he is a talented martial artist, but thank goodness someone told him to turn it down in his future roles. Director Sam Firstenberg delivers solid action and if you are going to see the film, make sure to seek out the unrated version as the US version removes a lot of the violence. Yes, there is gore on display (bullet removal, arm severing, beheading) that seems to be more befitting of a horror movie from that era.
Can David Bradley really fight ?
kurt0038 November 2010
Warning: Spoilers
I watched this movie as I thought that this movie would be as good as "American Ninja". But this is one of the worst action movie I have ever seen. In the tournament scene, David Bradley is simply standing,walking,running and waiving the Katana against the opponent like a lame. He has not got the nice martial art moves like other pretty fighters in the movie.
Acting of the entire cast is avoidable. Mellisa Hellman has nothing to do in the movie. The fight scenes of Mark Dacascos is impressive but he lacks acting. Also the story is as usual like this ..... the hero flawlessly defeats the opponents without a scratch on his body. Is David Bradley a really trained Samurai... eh ? I don't think so..
Don't waste your time in watching this crap. Just watch "American Ninja" instead in which fighting scenes of Michael Dudikoff is quite impressive.
Acting of the entire cast is avoidable. Mellisa Hellman has nothing to do in the movie. The fight scenes of Mark Dacascos is impressive but he lacks acting. Also the story is as usual like this ..... the hero flawlessly defeats the opponents without a scratch on his body. Is David Bradley a really trained Samurai... eh ? I don't think so..
Don't waste your time in watching this crap. Just watch "American Ninja" instead in which fighting scenes of Michael Dudikoff is quite impressive.
One Of The Better 90's Tournament Action Films!!
Movie-Misfit19 March 2020
One of Cannon Films last efforts, Sam Firstenberg directs a pretty decent martial arts action thriller in the vain of Bloodsport, starring the second American Ninja, David Bradley, and the gorgeous Mark Dacascos in one of his first major roles!
As with most American martial arts movies around the early 90's, they all featured some sort of underground fighting - usually with barbarian type opponents, or wrestling types, with this one being a prime example. I wasn't expecting much when I first got it almost 30 years ago, but it actually was one of the better American martial arts movies of that era...
Watching it on the very same VHS all these years later gives a great feeling of nostaglia and a nice surprise to see that the film actually holds up well. It jumps straight into it as Bradley's parents are killed in a plane crash leaving him to be brought up by an old Japanese sword master - who's own son (the gorgeous Mark Dacascos) has some major issues and hates his adoptive brother with a passion.
Jumping years ahead, with Bradley now a reporter living in the US, and Dacascos a big Yakuza leader, the action unfolds rapidly with some great choreography and moves from both stars against each other and many other opponents in the tournament. While typically 90's in its production design, Firstenberg delivers a smoothly directed, beautifully lit and nicely shot, action film with decent performances from its main cast. There is a great nightmare sequence with Bradley which adds a little something different also!
I do like David Bradley. He's a great looking leading man with some fantastic moves and I think American Samurai is one of his best. It obviously seems dated in its story (apparently written by experts according to the video synopsis), style and approach, but overall it is still quite a good movie. Although soft spoken and hardly threatening in any bad guy role, Mark Dacascos is fantastic as the angry brother who pushes Bradley to the ultimate showdown ending a good 30 minutes of endless action in the finale.
Nice to see Hong Kong veterans, Dion Lam and Anthony Szeto pop up for some action...
Overall: One of the better 90's tournament fighting movies, and still quite enjoyable today!
As with most American martial arts movies around the early 90's, they all featured some sort of underground fighting - usually with barbarian type opponents, or wrestling types, with this one being a prime example. I wasn't expecting much when I first got it almost 30 years ago, but it actually was one of the better American martial arts movies of that era...
Watching it on the very same VHS all these years later gives a great feeling of nostaglia and a nice surprise to see that the film actually holds up well. It jumps straight into it as Bradley's parents are killed in a plane crash leaving him to be brought up by an old Japanese sword master - who's own son (the gorgeous Mark Dacascos) has some major issues and hates his adoptive brother with a passion.
Jumping years ahead, with Bradley now a reporter living in the US, and Dacascos a big Yakuza leader, the action unfolds rapidly with some great choreography and moves from both stars against each other and many other opponents in the tournament. While typically 90's in its production design, Firstenberg delivers a smoothly directed, beautifully lit and nicely shot, action film with decent performances from its main cast. There is a great nightmare sequence with Bradley which adds a little something different also!
I do like David Bradley. He's a great looking leading man with some fantastic moves and I think American Samurai is one of his best. It obviously seems dated in its story (apparently written by experts according to the video synopsis), style and approach, but overall it is still quite a good movie. Although soft spoken and hardly threatening in any bad guy role, Mark Dacascos is fantastic as the angry brother who pushes Bradley to the ultimate showdown ending a good 30 minutes of endless action in the finale.
Nice to see Hong Kong veterans, Dion Lam and Anthony Szeto pop up for some action...
Overall: One of the better 90's tournament fighting movies, and still quite enjoyable today!
It's not bad, but could have used a tad bit more originality.
tarbosh2200018 July 2012
Warning: Spoilers
When Drew Collins (Bradley) was just a child, he was in a plane that crashed in Japan. Like what would happen to anyone in that situation, he was then raised in the ways of the Samurai by a Japanese Master, Sanga (Fujoika). After reaching the highest levels of Samurai school, Master Sanga bestows upon him the treasured family sword. However, his son from birth, Kenjiro Sanga (Dacascos) feels anger, betrayal and resentment about that fact. So much so, he joins the Yakuza. Later on, Drew becomes a reporter in L.A. He ends up traveling to Istanbul with Janet (Trapp) for an assignment - at first they don't get along and then they end up in a relationship! - but naturally Drew gets roped into illegal, underground "live blade fighting", and guess who the reigning champ is - none other than Kenjiro. So now the two half-brothers must face off in the ultimate duel to the death: the honor of the Samurai vs. the evil of the Yakuza. Who will slice and dice their way to the truth? In American Ninjas 3, 4, and 5, David Bradley was the American Ninja. Now, he's the American Samurai. We know Cannon recycles plot ideas all the time, but come on. A transparent word change from one well-known aspect of Japanese culture to another is pretty obvious. But what this movie really is, is practically a remake of Bloodsport. Even the back of the DVD touts the fact that "It's Bloodsport with blades!" There's even an amazing facsimile of the Donald Gibb character in Harrison (Ryon). But there are plenty of meatheads with weapons on display, and many of them seem to take on well-known personas. For example, there's a guy who's strongly reminiscent of Conan the Barbarian (1982), and Harrison resembles Indiana Jones (and his name is Harrison...coincidence?). The situation is sort of a cross between Ring of Steel (1994), Best of the Best 2 (1993), and Bloodsport (1988).
Dacascos puts in an energetic performance as the angry brother, and Trapp is decent as your classic reporter who bickers with Collins and then inevitably falls in love with him. She even calls him "Samurai Hunk." Ugh. But a lesser-known fan favorite gets a pretty decent "slice" of the action here - Ron Vreeken, of Hurricane Smith (1992), Rage and Honor II (1993), Deathfight (1994), and Under the Gun (1995) fame. He looks extra-meatheady, and we mean that as a compliment (?), but then again, it's hard not to when you wear a wrestling singlet for the entirety of the movie and you have long blonde hair. But it is nice of the "Arena" captors to provide their fighters with their own weight room.
Sadly, American Samurai is the victim of overly-PC editing. By that we mean, in days gone by, during the death and dismemberment scenes (which are undoubtedly the highlights) they would either show the blood or perhaps gore, or release the movie in two versions: cut or uncut. In the PC 90's, they just released a jaggedly cut version. The Swedish DVD is uncut, but extremely hard to find. It's a real shame. In the DVD era, American fans should be given what they want. There's no excuse for it, and the only "cuts" we should be seeing are the ones administered by David Bradley and Ron Vreeken! Perhaps interestingly, "American Samurai" is an alternate title for Paper Bullets (2000), and "American Samurai 2" is what the Jerry Trimble outing Live By the Fist (1993) is called in Germany. It all gets very confusing, but all you really need to remember is that this American Samurai is yet another underground fighting movie that is okay, not bad, but could have used a tad bit more originality.
For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com
Dacascos puts in an energetic performance as the angry brother, and Trapp is decent as your classic reporter who bickers with Collins and then inevitably falls in love with him. She even calls him "Samurai Hunk." Ugh. But a lesser-known fan favorite gets a pretty decent "slice" of the action here - Ron Vreeken, of Hurricane Smith (1992), Rage and Honor II (1993), Deathfight (1994), and Under the Gun (1995) fame. He looks extra-meatheady, and we mean that as a compliment (?), but then again, it's hard not to when you wear a wrestling singlet for the entirety of the movie and you have long blonde hair. But it is nice of the "Arena" captors to provide their fighters with their own weight room.
Sadly, American Samurai is the victim of overly-PC editing. By that we mean, in days gone by, during the death and dismemberment scenes (which are undoubtedly the highlights) they would either show the blood or perhaps gore, or release the movie in two versions: cut or uncut. In the PC 90's, they just released a jaggedly cut version. The Swedish DVD is uncut, but extremely hard to find. It's a real shame. In the DVD era, American fans should be given what they want. There's no excuse for it, and the only "cuts" we should be seeing are the ones administered by David Bradley and Ron Vreeken! Perhaps interestingly, "American Samurai" is an alternate title for Paper Bullets (2000), and "American Samurai 2" is what the Jerry Trimble outing Live By the Fist (1993) is called in Germany. It all gets very confusing, but all you really need to remember is that this American Samurai is yet another underground fighting movie that is okay, not bad, but could have used a tad bit more originality.
For more action insanity, please visit: www.comeuppancereviews.com
Underrated martial arts movie!
lukasx18 November 2006
Whilst I understand the lower ratings given by others, and the derogatory comments directed toward this film, I believe it's also important to point out the merits of the film. David Bradley's acting is certainly passable in this film, and his martial arts abilities are obviously very adequate for his role, with some slick fight scenes. Mark Dacascos is a stand out in a film bursting with a rich variety of contrasting fighting styles and weapons. This is "BloodSport" with weapons, and a LOT more blood!!! (it even boasts a cocky large Yankee competitor like Bloodsport!). The action is somewhat brutal, and in the original cut, very little is left to the imagination when it comes to the gory wounding and killing blows (which I feel is as it should be!). Dacascos as Kenshiro in particular brings a restraint and elegance to his role as a Yakuza swordsman, intent on perfecting his craft at the expense of his opponents (and their limbs!) in the arena - only drawing his sword upon his infliction of a lightning fast maiming or killing blow.
Yes, this film does not boast polished storytelling, or compelling characterisation, but it does provide a unique and entertaining addition to the martial arts genre and stands alone as an ultra-violent tournament-style actioner with a talented cast of martial artists.
And for this at least, we should recognise it's value!!!
Yes, this film does not boast polished storytelling, or compelling characterisation, but it does provide a unique and entertaining addition to the martial arts genre and stands alone as an ultra-violent tournament-style actioner with a talented cast of martial artists.
And for this at least, we should recognise it's value!!!
It's a decent arena fighter, but it could have been much better.
hijklmno4521 February 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I remember this film as a kid because it used to come on the TV station USA about 6 times a year from around 94 to 98. Thought about it recently for some random reason and bought a copy pretty cheap online.
American Samurai came out sort of at the tail end of the martial arts arena fighter craze and in my opinion and fallows the usual story line where a martial artist's (insert wife, brother, mother, sister, child, teacher, student, pet dog, pet fish) is seriously injured or killed by some scary psychopathic guy who also is a martial artist either in the ring or out, enters arena combat and then gets revenge. But there's a few twists.
This time however, Doug Bradley is going after a sword stolen by Mark Dacascos' thugs who happens to be the son of his guardian who trained them both to be samurai. The first 30 minutes of the film is the usual bull crap with terrible and seemingly pointless dialogue and is fallowed up on by some really good action sequences. This movie is a lot different than your average arena fighter. The combatants employ the use of blades and the body count is much much higher and it's much darker in my opinion than other movies in the genre like Mortal Kombat and Kickboxer.
On paper it sounds pretty awesome but it's marred by the use of hokey arena fighters (one is dressed up like Conan the Barbarian for example) and bad editing. There was one scene of monologue in the film that featured a combatant that had just been killed 30 seconds earlier. The acting is bad, but it's better than the likes of Bloodsport (im not dissing Bloodsport, just making a valid statement).
The best parts of the film in my personal opinion are Mark Dacascos and the ending itself. Mark does overact, but gives a fine performance for his first film and the ending resolves on a bittersweet and abrupt note that left a lot of loose ends for a sequel that to my knowledge was never made.
After growing up and seeing this movie again I have to say that I still like it. But it's very flawed due to bad directing/ editing and it's definitely dated now. It's worth seeing and I think that a good director could remake this film right and come up with a good product.
American Samurai came out sort of at the tail end of the martial arts arena fighter craze and in my opinion and fallows the usual story line where a martial artist's (insert wife, brother, mother, sister, child, teacher, student, pet dog, pet fish) is seriously injured or killed by some scary psychopathic guy who also is a martial artist either in the ring or out, enters arena combat and then gets revenge. But there's a few twists.
This time however, Doug Bradley is going after a sword stolen by Mark Dacascos' thugs who happens to be the son of his guardian who trained them both to be samurai. The first 30 minutes of the film is the usual bull crap with terrible and seemingly pointless dialogue and is fallowed up on by some really good action sequences. This movie is a lot different than your average arena fighter. The combatants employ the use of blades and the body count is much much higher and it's much darker in my opinion than other movies in the genre like Mortal Kombat and Kickboxer.
On paper it sounds pretty awesome but it's marred by the use of hokey arena fighters (one is dressed up like Conan the Barbarian for example) and bad editing. There was one scene of monologue in the film that featured a combatant that had just been killed 30 seconds earlier. The acting is bad, but it's better than the likes of Bloodsport (im not dissing Bloodsport, just making a valid statement).
The best parts of the film in my personal opinion are Mark Dacascos and the ending itself. Mark does overact, but gives a fine performance for his first film and the ending resolves on a bittersweet and abrupt note that left a lot of loose ends for a sequel that to my knowledge was never made.
After growing up and seeing this movie again I have to say that I still like it. But it's very flawed due to bad directing/ editing and it's definitely dated now. It's worth seeing and I think that a good director could remake this film right and come up with a good product.
So close to a good movie!
nakazul11 March 2023
Sometimes, not often, you come across a movie where you see the good parts and you can clearly see how close they where to making a good movie and wonder why they failed. In my book, this movie is one that could so easy be a 6 or 7, or even a 8 total rating here on imdb. It would still not be a oscar movie, but i truly think that it had a ponetial at one time in production to become a unforgetable classic.
All that needed to have happend was that the story guy got some feedback and adjustments where made to the story a bit. This is a hindsight and mini reimagine view of the movie, read it after you watched the movie to put my thoughts on top of it. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree?
So the issue i have with this movie is that the hard parts is already there. A story good enough in theory, most actors decent enough, with good enough fighting skills thrown in. And lets not forget the focus on the tradotions of a nice sword!
What they do with what they got, is in part thrown away without any cause, and shown down cheap alleys because of ... lazyness?
Now you might say that is the issue right there in the pudding, that it is in parts mostly, just good enough. But i would argue your wrong in that thinking.
All these sections are just ingredients that could have been a great cake with just a tiny little bit more writing/changes in the story arc and more focus on the characters and swords ... and the removal of one person that contributes absolutly nothing to the story but stealing time. The person not even being a particular bad actor here, is just not fitting in to the story at all exept for... mild spoiler.... being a woman wich in it self ages the movie conciderably these days.
If you just watched this movie. Think of my pictures i'm about to make up here on the spot with the production value, as a re-imagine or a view of what could have been. Do you agree or disagree.
They completly removed the female char and let that time be spent seeing the bonding and development AND separation of the two brothers with a loving father trying his best trying to teach them the values of life, tradition, honour and one of the brothers still failing beacause of .. say failiure to accept his limitations and gets blinded by obession (feel free to apply any reason, i just made one up on the spot). I belivie the focus on the brothers, meaning of the sword and bonding to be more important for the movie as a whole. Make the growing up for the brothers a story set in gorgeos scenery with nature to give it and warmth and pacing.
Also with my imaginary setup above, think of changing the dialoge between the brothers throghout the movie where the american brother keeps asking his japanese brother more through the movie of reunion, to honor there father and to be family. Let the sword be the competing reason to honor.
I belive by taking out everyday reality, to make more fiction masculinity-stero-typical and dull female chars, it lost on being humaine wich it would with its funding AND cast potentially could have pull off with spades and made a great movie.
I would like to say that if not clear, i think this movie was so close to being great, and thank you for reading.
All that needed to have happend was that the story guy got some feedback and adjustments where made to the story a bit. This is a hindsight and mini reimagine view of the movie, read it after you watched the movie to put my thoughts on top of it. Maybe you agree, maybe you disagree?
So the issue i have with this movie is that the hard parts is already there. A story good enough in theory, most actors decent enough, with good enough fighting skills thrown in. And lets not forget the focus on the tradotions of a nice sword!
What they do with what they got, is in part thrown away without any cause, and shown down cheap alleys because of ... lazyness?
Now you might say that is the issue right there in the pudding, that it is in parts mostly, just good enough. But i would argue your wrong in that thinking.
All these sections are just ingredients that could have been a great cake with just a tiny little bit more writing/changes in the story arc and more focus on the characters and swords ... and the removal of one person that contributes absolutly nothing to the story but stealing time. The person not even being a particular bad actor here, is just not fitting in to the story at all exept for... mild spoiler.... being a woman wich in it self ages the movie conciderably these days.
If you just watched this movie. Think of my pictures i'm about to make up here on the spot with the production value, as a re-imagine or a view of what could have been. Do you agree or disagree.
They completly removed the female char and let that time be spent seeing the bonding and development AND separation of the two brothers with a loving father trying his best trying to teach them the values of life, tradition, honour and one of the brothers still failing beacause of .. say failiure to accept his limitations and gets blinded by obession (feel free to apply any reason, i just made one up on the spot). I belivie the focus on the brothers, meaning of the sword and bonding to be more important for the movie as a whole. Make the growing up for the brothers a story set in gorgeos scenery with nature to give it and warmth and pacing.
Also with my imaginary setup above, think of changing the dialoge between the brothers throghout the movie where the american brother keeps asking his japanese brother more through the movie of reunion, to honor there father and to be family. Let the sword be the competing reason to honor.
I belive by taking out everyday reality, to make more fiction masculinity-stero-typical and dull female chars, it lost on being humaine wich it would with its funding AND cast potentially could have pull off with spades and made a great movie.
I would like to say that if not clear, i think this movie was so close to being great, and thank you for reading.
The Second Best American Japanese Warrior in Cinema!!!
drunk-29 October 2000
American Samurai fits into a genre of cinema that enjoyed far to short lived a success, that being the underground, martial arts death tournament film. Films like this enjoyed a great boom in the eighties and early nineties and arguably were the influences for the modern fighting tournament games such as Street Fighter 2 and the like. Some other films of this genre are "Ring of Steel", "Best of the Best 2", "Blood Fist 2" and perhaps one of the last of these magnificent creatures to appear in theater; John Claude VanDam's "The Quest"... unless of course you count the more recent "Fight Club", which you shouldn't because it's not about underground martial arts guys that fight but just normal guys and that isn't the main plot of the film anyway really. As evident from the title this film also belongs to the school of sticking the word American in front of stuff IE: American Ninja's 1 through 4, American Ronin and American Cyborg. this usually means you have an instant classic on your hands. Anyway what really makes the film shine is the cast of characters. American Samurai offers more weird fighters than any other film of the genre that I have yet seen. If nothing else it would make a great video game. I will attempt to catalogue the assortment of fighters in the style of a badly translated Nintendo instruction booklet.
I know there wear a few guys I've forgotten too. Oh yeah this film also features John Fujioka playing the Japanese martial arts master who raises and trains our hero upon finding him stranded in his infancy. This is the exact same role he played in American Ninja. "I only play old Japanese Guys that find American babies and raise them to be martial arts masters". Now that's over specific type casting if you ask me. Anyway the film is also peppered with blindfolded swordsman training sequences, lots of crazy fighting and flash backs to really bad wise old sensei advice. In short this movie rocks. There should be more films like this. I'd comment on the film's success at creating one of the most awkward romantic subplots ever but I think I've run out of space. See it yourself.
- The American Samurai: A warrior of much honor though American, trained by master Samurai in Mountains of Japan. Master of Sword and peaceful of heart but strong to win. Entered tournament to reclaim family sword from evil brother.
- His Yakuza Samurai Brother: Adoptive brother of American Samurai and son of Master Samurai. Strong fighter but gangster with no honor or mercy too.
- The Bowie Knife Cowboy: American fighter, fast with knife although quite stupid. Fights in tournament for much cash prizes and honor.
- African Master of the Quarter Staff: Not much known about this fighter. likes to strike poses with his staff weapon.
- Pirate Swordsman: A much feared prate from the coast of far off lands. Wears eye patch but is still dangerous.
- The Deadly Braid: Much like fighter in "Best of the Best 2" he fights with sharp implement tied to his long braid of hair. Born in China he possess much fighting spirit.
- Chinese Axe Spear Guy: Second warrior from china and master of martial arts axe spear technique. Fast warrior but uses much energy in attacks.
- Conan the Barbarian Guy: Former stunt man of lame 80's European sword and sorcery/caveman movie genre gone renegade. Now looks for new career wielding broadsword for money and glory in tournament.
- Nordic, Viking, Berserker Type: Crazy Horned warrior from Sweden. Attacks fierce with axe.
- Weird-ass, Klingon Sword Looking Thing Wielding Guy: Warrior killed by Evil Yakuza Brother. Fought with weird-ass star trek, alien weapon things.
I know there wear a few guys I've forgotten too. Oh yeah this film also features John Fujioka playing the Japanese martial arts master who raises and trains our hero upon finding him stranded in his infancy. This is the exact same role he played in American Ninja. "I only play old Japanese Guys that find American babies and raise them to be martial arts masters". Now that's over specific type casting if you ask me. Anyway the film is also peppered with blindfolded swordsman training sequences, lots of crazy fighting and flash backs to really bad wise old sensei advice. In short this movie rocks. There should be more films like this. I'd comment on the film's success at creating one of the most awkward romantic subplots ever but I think I've run out of space. See it yourself.
Not the best from dacascos
azzer24 July 2002
David Bradley must retrieve a sword which was stolen from him, and is forced to enter an illegal tournament to fight to the death. there he meaes up with his step-brother. Some of the scenes are laughable. fight scenes were ok i guess but not much flair really. But hey, at least Dacascos is good!
Near deranged
BandSAboutMovies9 August 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Seriously, of all the Cannon movies I've watched in the second Cannon month, this has to be my favorite. It takes the Enter the Dragon template and then goes absolutely insane with it. All hail Sam Firstenberg, the director of not just this, but Revenge of the Ninja, Ninja III: The Domination, Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo, American Ninja, Avenging Force and American Ninja 2: The Confrontation, all of which are worth your time.
Actually, this movie takes a lot of inspiration from American Ninja. Andrew Collins (David Bradley, who took over in the American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt) is the only survivor of a plane crash in the Japanese mountains, which is how he gets raised by samurai master Tatsuya Sanga (John Fujiyoka, who fulfills the same role as Shinyuki in American Ninja). Along with Tatsuya's son Kenjiro (Mark Dacascos, who beyond being the American Chairman on Iron Chef is amazing in everything he has done), he studies the fighting skills of the samurai and surpasses his new stepbrother. He's given the family sword and that leads Kenjiro to renounce the samurai and joins the Yakuza and swears that one day, he will destroy Andrew.
Ten years later, Andrew is a journalist on the trail of opium smuggling in Turkey. I mean, it becomes personal when someone breaks in and steals his sword, then goons shoot him in the stomach necessitating him reaching into his own belly to pull out the bullet! - but when he gets there, they kidnap Janet Ward (Valarie Trapp) his photographer - and girlfriend, I guess, but he always negs on her so their romance is one of my least favorite things in this - which means Andrew must enter a weapons-based martial-arts tournament that is totally Kumite, but has weapons in it, which makes it so much better. Of course, the champion ends up being Kenjiro and that means that the once brothers must battle one another.
What takes this movie to the levels of insanity that I demand is that the other fighters in this seem like they came from other eras of time, like Eternal Champions or even WMAC Masters, but this is filled with tons of gore. I mean, there's a guy named Conan who pretty much fights like Conan (Rocky McDonald, who has done stunts in tons of movies like Dead-End Drive-In all the way up to Mad Max: Fury Road), the singlet-wearing spear-using McKinney (Ron Vreeken), a big dumb American dude with a knife who is totally not Donald Gibb, a pirate, a Viking and so much more. Even better, people are killed and one scene and totally come back in the next, making me think that yes, this is very much a video game world.
This is the only movie that John Corcoran ever wrote - the Pittsburgh native was an editor of several magazines (Black Belt, Professional Karate, Inside Kung Fu, KICK Illustrated, Martial Arts Professional, The Fighter International and Martial Arts Success), was the first-ever PKA events coordinator and co-founded the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings with Paul Maslak - but man, he did it. Please check this one out. More people need to be talking about this.
Actually, this movie takes a lot of inspiration from American Ninja. Andrew Collins (David Bradley, who took over in the American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt) is the only survivor of a plane crash in the Japanese mountains, which is how he gets raised by samurai master Tatsuya Sanga (John Fujiyoka, who fulfills the same role as Shinyuki in American Ninja). Along with Tatsuya's son Kenjiro (Mark Dacascos, who beyond being the American Chairman on Iron Chef is amazing in everything he has done), he studies the fighting skills of the samurai and surpasses his new stepbrother. He's given the family sword and that leads Kenjiro to renounce the samurai and joins the Yakuza and swears that one day, he will destroy Andrew.
Ten years later, Andrew is a journalist on the trail of opium smuggling in Turkey. I mean, it becomes personal when someone breaks in and steals his sword, then goons shoot him in the stomach necessitating him reaching into his own belly to pull out the bullet! - but when he gets there, they kidnap Janet Ward (Valarie Trapp) his photographer - and girlfriend, I guess, but he always negs on her so their romance is one of my least favorite things in this - which means Andrew must enter a weapons-based martial-arts tournament that is totally Kumite, but has weapons in it, which makes it so much better. Of course, the champion ends up being Kenjiro and that means that the once brothers must battle one another.
What takes this movie to the levels of insanity that I demand is that the other fighters in this seem like they came from other eras of time, like Eternal Champions or even WMAC Masters, but this is filled with tons of gore. I mean, there's a guy named Conan who pretty much fights like Conan (Rocky McDonald, who has done stunts in tons of movies like Dead-End Drive-In all the way up to Mad Max: Fury Road), the singlet-wearing spear-using McKinney (Ron Vreeken), a big dumb American dude with a knife who is totally not Donald Gibb, a pirate, a Viking and so much more. Even better, people are killed and one scene and totally come back in the next, making me think that yes, this is very much a video game world.
This is the only movie that John Corcoran ever wrote - the Pittsburgh native was an editor of several magazines (Black Belt, Professional Karate, Inside Kung Fu, KICK Illustrated, Martial Arts Professional, The Fighter International and Martial Arts Success), was the first-ever PKA events coordinator and co-founded the STAR System World Kickboxing Ratings with Paul Maslak - but man, he did it. Please check this one out. More people need to be talking about this.
A classic martial arts film from the nineties
nvillesanti12 June 2007
I first saw this movie when I was in 8th grade. A friend invited me and a couple of friends to his house after school to see American Samurai on video. The movie lacked of some elements like acting, and editing but we all agree on one thing, the movie had impressive sword fighting scenes. The movie was release by the time the fighting Games where at there higher point. It follows a sequence of low budget films related to competition fighting in the eighties and early nineties like; Bloodsport, Kickboxing, Shootfighter, and American Ninja. The story begins when an American couple and there son are traveling on a privet plane, that crashes nearby an isolated part of Japan. An old Japanese swords man finds the boy that is the only survivor and takes him as his own, and trains him in the Samurai ways. A few years later his other son Kenjiro (played by Mark Dacascos) joins the Yakuza mafia and is disowned by his father. Kenjiro steals the family Katana so he can use it in gladiatorial fights that take place in a Turkish arena. Andrew Collins (played by David Bradley) is set to find the sword of his adopted father. On his way he meets with Janet (played by Valarie Trapp) and falls in love with her. Janet is kidnapped by Kenjiro and forces Andrew to fight in the arena. Soon Andrew is faced against fearless fighters from around the world, and that the fights are to the death. The only way to survive is by using his Samurai techniques. Mark Dacascos performance as the villain is great, and the fighting scenes are phenomenal. The concept of armed combat is what really made this film unique at the time. So if you want to see a classic martial arts movie, this you will definitely enjoy.
Very good movie.
DemijanOmeragic28 November 2004
This is an excellent movie in my opinion. Good plot, amazing fighting scenes, and great effects. David Bradley does a great job, and so does Mark Dacascos. However, if you really want to enjoy this movie, don't get the US VHS version, because it is heavily cut. The UK VHS, although it is PAL, has only 1 second missing, and it's a part where a man pulls out a knife in a disco. The reason they cut this out is to prevent kids from imitating this (yeah I know it sounds funny). However, EVERYTHING else has been left intact. Since it is PAL, you would have to convert it to NTSC, but it is much much better than watching the heavily edited US tape.
The French DVD titled "American Samourai" is completely uncut, and also has the one second missing from the UK tape. The bad thing is that this french DVD does not have English sound, only french.
Anyway, this movie is an excellent martial arts movie!
The French DVD titled "American Samourai" is completely uncut, and also has the one second missing from the UK tape. The bad thing is that this french DVD does not have English sound, only french.
Anyway, this movie is an excellent martial arts movie!
The Uncut Version is Great
jmigoya22 June 2016
Warning: Spoilers
this one might be a little tricky because it only shows a run time of 94 minutes and no other version so I'm not sure if that is the uncut version or if there is a shorter or longer version, in any case I've personally seen 2 versions of this movie, one is a great underground hostel type battle to the death gory hack and slash movie and the other is so watered down that it becomes a cheesy Bloodsport clone with death battles in it but with barely any blood and no gore, this movie is a perfect example of what some good old fashioned latex gore effects can do to increase the overall value of the film, it's a movie that could very easily been done as a PG-13 and yet, they knew what they had was a sub product that was limited by it's budget from the opening bell so they invested well where it could distinguish itself from all those American Ninja Crap movies, don't even get me started on those, to this day I've never understood why there was so many sequels of American Ninja, those and the Madea (A Big Dude In Drag) movies are a real head scratch-er, they were all bad and just got keep getting worse, anyways back to American Samurai uncut, it had really good fight scenes, the acting was good enough for what this is, and the Gore was superb, it's not the kind of Gore that you wouldn't normally see in a rated R movie back then, it's more of the Hard R variety or Unrated equivalent back in 1992 so I can see why there is a cut version of the movie but that version royally sucks, the uncut is really good, you'll know right off the bat what version you are watching with the graphic extraction of a bullet near the beginning, do yourself a favor and watch this gory little gem, it's what Mortal Kombat should be gore wise
It doesn't suck as bad as these others think...
jacqueline-k23 January 2000
Seriously, this movie isn't quite as bad as people think it is. I mean yes of course it does have the CHEESY as hell love scenes and the whole meshing scenes together thing...but this was the EARLY 90s folks. We didn't have the crap they have now...on top of it do you really think this movie would have made it big in the boxoffice if it were done by Speilberg?! NO! I loved this movie for a few reasons...and I will admit to it's bad production...but lets be serious for a moment here...this is a small time movie...for actors JUST beginning their careers. You don't pile on the scenes and acting if someone is just beginning their career. A lot of people are shallow...this movie had great parts in it. Especially the gorrish blood and guts. I loved it. Technology HAS gotten better people, grow up!
One of Cannon's final efforts
Wizard-85 June 2004
Having all but exhausted the exploitation of ninjas, what was Cannon to do? Right - exploit samurais instead! As well as recycle elements from their past hit BLOODSPORT, including a big burly guy with a beard as one of the contestants! It's clear the movie was cut for an "R" rating, given how some wounds and killings are not shown as clearly as you would think, but the editing also shows signs of production problems. One lengthy scene seems to have been cut in half, with the subsequent half played much later in the movie. There is also awkward narration and a very long sex scene where you never see the faces of the lovers, furthering the suspicion of frantic efforts to patch together the movie. The production values are pretty good, and Firstenberg does deliver the goods with the fight sequences, which are expertly choreographed. He doesn't do well with the actors however, having Dacascos overact at times and Bradley giving yet another uncharismatic performance.
I only watched the movie for Mark Dacascos.
jaymers6412 August 2001
In the movie the best part of the movie was Mark Dacascos as Kenjiro. I found the movie's lead actor to be very stiff and boring. Mark Dacascos was the only young actor that was worth watching. I only watched when he was on the screen. I think that he was great.
Good fighting scenes,but nothing more.
martymaster28 September 2001
This movie is all about cage fighting. Cage fighting is two martial arts experts being locked in a cage and fight to one of them is dead.(sometimes they use weapons like swords,spears etc)
You dont watch a movie like this for nothing else than cool fighting scenes,because it has almost no plot and the acting sucks. But in this movie the fighting scenes is especially good,and it shows of many different fighting styles.
The movie contains some really strong scenes of violence and gore,what did you expect,it is about men who kill each other.
If you like martial arts movies for the fighting scenes,then you will love this one.
You dont watch a movie like this for nothing else than cool fighting scenes,because it has almost no plot and the acting sucks. But in this movie the fighting scenes is especially good,and it shows of many different fighting styles.
The movie contains some really strong scenes of violence and gore,what did you expect,it is about men who kill each other.
If you like martial arts movies for the fighting scenes,then you will love this one.
Great in Context
wingtam10 October 2002
Okay, so it was never going to get an Oscar, but consider this movie's merits for what it is ¡V a low budget film trying to ride out on the ¡§fame¡¨ of a B grade star with Ninja hype. Take that away and what you have is an innovative late 80s early 90s martial arts flick that managed to repackage the ¡§Blood Sports¡¨ idea using (some) extremely talented actors. I watched this video as part of my research on a new director, Tony Szeto. I was amazed by the fight scenes that involved Mark Dacascos (Kenjiro) and Tony Szeto (Phan-Xu). Even with the dismal fight between Dacascos and a hopeless Bradely (Drew), the close-ups reveal a telling red flag ¡V obviously the close-ups of the previous fight between Dacascos and Szeto. Realize that, barring the slow motion, all fighting was done in real time. That is, there was no motion speed-up as often used in Hong Kong kung-fu films. I don't know about the rumors that they used actual weapons (blunted of course), but I have an article from an Israeli newspaper that says one of the actors were injured by a weapon while shooting one of the fight scenes. With ¡§Brotherhood of the Wolf (2002)¡¨, it is surely only a matter of time before Dacascos hits the A-list in Hollywood. But with the knowledge that much of the martial arts choreography was done by Tony Szeto, I'm looking forward to seeing his directorial debut in ¡§DragonBlade (2003)¡¨, which apparently will be packed full of martial arts weaponry.
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