For fans of hearty B-Action, it’s especially worth checking out Free TV tonight. Than Tele 5 shows on April 16, 2023 from 8:15 p.m. with “American fighters‘ followed immediately by ‘American Fighter 2 – The Mission‘ (22:10) and ‘American Fighter 3 – The bloody hunt(11:55 PM) – Opportunity to meet Michael Dudikoff and his films!
The only drop of bitterness: Since Cannon night opens during prime time, the first part, which was once indexed but is now unabridged and approved for ages 16 and up, only runs in a slightly watered-down version. The two sequels have been given the green light: they are both running in full length!
This is “American Fighter” aka “American Ninja”
The “American Fighter”, also known internationally as “American Ninja”, represented a turning point in Michael Dudikoff’s career in 1985. The then 30-year-old had already successfully tried modeling and film, but had to be satisfied with small supporting roles alongside Hollywood stars such as Tom Hanks (“Bachelor Party”) and Gene Hackman (“The Daring Seven”). Without any martial arts experience, he only partially lived up to the title of the film and thus his title role, but it didn’t matter: Dudikoff was cool, tough and attractive – and thus conquered the video rental world.
With “American Fighter” he not only broke through as a B-Action star, but more than 35 years later, the martial arts topper is also regarded as the ultimate Dudikoff vehicle par excellence – also because the muscular Californian harmonizes perfectly with his opponents. On the one hand, there is a certain wink in almost every scene of the wonderfully exaggerated scenario, so that the fun factor remains high.
On the other hand, the ensemble also knows how to use the opportunities the script gives them to play out their chemistry with each other again and again and thus provide some highlights outside the action – whether it’s the iconic meeting of Dudikoff’s Joe Armstrong with Jackson (Steve James), who fight before fraternizing forever, or the trick our titular character uses to get on his first date with the daughter of the evil Colonel (Judie Aronson).
It is also Dudikoff and James who, with their humorous interplay of “American Fighter 2”, make an entertaining gangster adventure that also lives from the much groovy staging by director Sam Firstenberg. From the first scene, where we see a group of bikers racing along the coastal road, the sequel picks up speed compared to part 1…
… and so it is not surprising that “American Fighter 3” goes noticeably downhill again. Not only did Cedric Sundström take the place of a new man in the director’s chair, especially the third chapter of the five-part series had to do without star Michael Dudikoff. Successor David Bradley remained relatively pale in his acting debut alongside super-charismatic popular figure Steve James – who sadly also runs through “American Fighter 4” (with Dudikoff) and “American Fighter 5” (without Dudikoff).
At least the first two ‘American Fighter’ films are well worth checking out for fans of old-school action – you’ll search in vain for truly spectacular martial arts choreography like you’ve never seen before. But there are rows and rows of pithy sayings that no one would easily throw out today and plenty of brutal explosions – which flew at the ears of the cast and crew at the time and were not programmed from the comfort of their office chairs on the computer.