American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989) Cannon/Action RT: 89 minutes Rated R (violence) Director: Cedric Sundstrom Screenplay: Cedric Sundstrom Music: George S. Clinton Cinematography: George Bartels Release date: February 24, 1989 (US) Cast: David Bradley, Steve James, Michele Chan, Marjoe Gortner, Yehuda Efroni, Calvin Jung, Ivan J. Klisser, Adrienne Pearce, Grant Preston, Mike Huff, Alan Swerdlow, Thapelo Mofokeng, Eckard Rabe, Stephen Webber. Box Office: $902,152 (US)
Rating: * ½
Cannon was gasping for air when they unleashed American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt on the world. Despite the popularity of the franchise, it wasn’t widely distributed. It definitely didn’t open in Philadelphia; I’d have been all over if it did. For me, Cannon films and Saturday afternoons go together like popcorn and Raisinets. Like so many titles that didn’t make it to my local cinemas, I rented it when it came out on video. All in all, it wasn’t an awful way to spend a late summer weekday afternoon.
It would be inaccurate to say I was disappointed by American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt since I wasn’t expecting much in the first place. That’s mainly because Michael Dudikoff (the OG American Ninja!) isn’t in it. Instead, it stars some guy named David Bradley making his acting debut. It would be pointless to criticize his acting abilities or lack thereof since he isn’t the only martial artist whose fighting skills far outweigh his dramatic capabilities. Let’s just say he makes Dudikoff look like an accomplished thespian. However, terrible acting is a Cannon trademark making the new guy a perfect fit.
He plays Sean Davidson, a young man who, as a child, saw his father murdered by criminals during a robbery. The dad was about to compete in a karate tournament when the creeps show up with guns in order to empty the till. Dad just gets in the way of their escape. A bereaved Sean is taken in by his father’s trainer Izumo (Jung, RoboCop) who just happens to be a ninja. I mean, what are the odds? He spends the next ten years training the boy in the ways of the ninja.
After his training is complete and he’s made a name for himself, Sean is invited to compete in a big martial arts tournament on some tropical island run by a villainous rich guy calling himself Cobra (Gortner, Starcrash). He’s the head bad guy at a shady drug company and is up to no good. He’s created a super-virus, one that will change the face of international terrorism forever. It keeps mutating meaning that finding a cure is virtually impossible. All that’s needed is the perfect test subject, a “superhuman” if you will. Hence, the tournament, which is really a ruse designed to lure the best of the best to Cobra’s island. He immediately sets his sights on our hero, the new American Ninja.
Sean has time to defeat only one opponent before getting distracted by the machinations of the plot. Specifically, he sees his old master being forced into a car by thugs in suits. When he gives chase, he runs right into a gang of ninjas. After a lengthy fight, he makes plans to rescue Izumo with a couple of friends, one of whom I know you know. It’s none other than Steve James returning as sword master Curtis Jackson. Yeah, now we’re talking!
The other friend is this annoying little twerp named Dex (Klisser, Platoon Leader) who might as well have a flashing neon sign reading “EXPENDABLE NINJA BAIT HERE” hanging over his head. This guy is no action hero. He’s more like a character from a cheap teen T&A comedy. You know, one of those hormonal high schoolers who consistently try and fail to score with hot chicks. I think he’s supposed to be comic relief, but isn’t this character type rendered moot in a movie that’s already unintentionally funny?
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anybody over the age of eight that Cobra was behind Sean’s father’s murder. He didn’t pull the trigger himself, but he orchestrated the robbery. The actual killer is General Andreas (Efroni, The Delta Force), a terrorist and fugitive who now acts as governor of the island. His official title is just that, a title. Everybody knows who’s really in charge. ANYWAY, you would think revenge would be a primary motivator for Sean, but it’s not, at least not if you go by the screenplay. Writer-director Cedric Sundstrom (Captive Rage) doesn’t make it a plot point. Sean doesn’t even appear to realize who this fellow is until the very last minute. The general doesn’t even have time to gloat before Sean cuts him down.
Let’s get right to it. American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt is a bad movie. It’s bad by even the low, low standards of Cannon in its end days. It’s flatly directed, poorly written, badly acted and clumsily choreographed. It lacks the energy brought to the first two American Ninjas by Sam Firstenberg. Don’t forget, he was your go-to ninja movie director in the 80s (he also did Revenge of the Ninja and Ninja III: The Domination, both classics of the subgenre). Sundstrom just can’t fill the void left by Sam’s departure from the series.
Like a lot of movies from this era, its badness is what makes American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt so entertaining. This thing is absolutely laughable at times. Where should I start? Some of the dialogue Cedric forces on his actors is beyond dopey. Upon meeting a female ninja (Chan of TV’s Danger Bay), Cobra’s head of security (a team of ninjas, of course), Jackson comments, “Now we got ninjettes.” LOL, only in the pre-woke 80s. I almost died laughing when Cobra orders an underling to mobilize his security team by saying, “Alert the ninja.” In the role, Gortner hams it up a fair amount. He’s a comic book villain all the way.
Acting isn’t a priority in ANY movie involving ninjas. Is there anybody in the world who thinks Sho Kosugi is a great actor? Okay, it could be argued that he’s the Olivier of ninja movies, but let’s not get into it right now. Bradley doesn’t quite cut it in the title role, that’s already been established. The true MVP in American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt is Steve James. He’s more about presence than performance, but that’s an asset in the action genre. The man’s a true and total bad ass. He’s also cool; it oozes from every pore. It’s sad to think he’s no longer with us. SCREW YOU, CANCER!
Despite its many, MANY shortcomings, I had fun with American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt. The underwater karate fight alone is worth the price of a discount admission or a 99-cent rental; that and the bit where Sean meditates the deadly virus out of himself after being injected earlier by Cobra. It’s both silly and stupid, but isn’t that a big part of Cannon’s appeal? Granted, it’s on the lower end of their canon, but it’s still fun to watch even if Dudikoff isn’t around.
