1993’s The American Ninja 5 is NOT “The American Ninja 5”. It feels a bit weird saying that, but it is what it is. This action film with VERY light comedy elements was originally called “American Dragons” and on some TV broadcasts of this film it’s STILL called “American Dragons”. In fact it was only towards the very end of production that Cannon pictures decided to tweak the script slightly on some reshoot footage, inserting the words “American Ninja” a few times to try and tie it into the American Ninja franchise and changing the name from “American Dragons” to “American Ninja 5” on the promo materials to try and sucker in people who were invested in the “American Ninja” series.

And y’know what? Given the absolute YAWN a thon that “The American Ninja 4” was, given that this film currently sits at around a 2.5 to 3.0 rating on IMDB and given that it LITERALLY has nothing to do with the “American Ninja” movies barring David Bradely appearing in the lead role. I think this is probably one of my favourite “American Ninja” movies.

The film follows David Bradley playing a completely different ninja expert called Joe. Joe owns a gym in town and lives on a boat. He’s a master of Ninjitsu and has an ability to use a form of meditation to cause things to explode, teleport or die. So he’s basically a Scanner. Anyway! After a hard days training Joe finishes up at the gym and heads back to the marina to chill out at home. But when he gets back he finds someone varnishing his boat. This is Lisa, a woman who owns a boat a couple of slots down from him who offered to Varnish his boat for him, Unfortunately; Joe misheard, he didn’t want Lisa to VARNISH the boat. He wanted her to TARNISH the boat! *Laugh track* Because of this blunder, Joes boat is uninhabitable for at least 48 hours. So Lisa offers to let Joe sleep on her boat till its dry and even suggests cooking dinner for him. He’s not happy with the arrangement, but agrees.

Shortly after this; we’re introduced to the main thrust of the movie. As we meet Simon Glock, owner of Glock Chemicals. A bio company that works in pesticides and poisons. Their chief scientist Dr. Strobel has mastered a pesticide called ZB-12 that kills insects and leaves no residue on the plant itself. Making it essentially safe to eat without having to chemically wash the produce. Unfortunately; a side effect of ZB-12 is that, when used in a high enough concentration, it can more or less instantly kill any animal or human. When news hits the lab that Glock wants Strobel to start studying its effects on animals, He storms into a meeting Glock is holding to call the request barbaric. Glock tells Strobel that the reason for testing is with “Honourable Intentions” and when Strobel refuses to comply, Glock restricts the Dr’s movement to his lab.

It turns out that Glock is working with the Venuzualan military to develop a bomb full of ZB-12 that can be concealed in a suitcase. The plan being to sell these bombs on the black market to reap a massive profit. With Strobel not interested in supporting that, Glock makes the decision that he’s going to have to intimidate him into compliance. So! He tells one of his bodyguard,henchmen…people, who goes by the name “Viper”. To go and kidnap Strobel’s daughter to act as a hostage.

Meanwhile; back at the gym Joes really going at it when an old friend and mentor Master Tetsu drops by, Joe had completely forgotten he agreed to housesit for Tetsu while he was vacationing. while running through the list of things to keep an eye on, he casually drops that he also needs Joe to keep an eye on his Grandnephew Hiro. Hiro is an orphan, his mother died during childbirth and his father was killed under mysterious circumstances. Hes an introvert loner gamer weirdo but Tetsu trusts that Joe can take care of him and asks him to maybe even work with him a bit on learning the art of Ninjitsu.

Joe flat out refuses to babysit, but ultiamtely isnt left with much of a choice when Tetsu uses a smoke bomb to just…vanish. So! Joe takes Hiro to go and cancel plans with Lisa, and on the way over to the marina Hiro opens up a bit more…turns out, hes a bit annoying. We’re talking TOTAL Scrappy Doo energy. When the pair arrive at the boat they find that dinners already ready and that Lisa had kinda sorta planned the whole thing because she was REALLY interested in getting to know Joe better. Hiro, being a bit of a twerp helps initiate things further and what WAS supposed to be a cancelled dinner date, ends up being a late night dining and schmoozing session where they all get to know each other quite a bit better.

Lisa heads below deck to sort a few things out, and almost immediately she’s attacked by Viper who knocks her out, gets her off the boat and into the back of a van that speeds off to the airport. Joe goes to look for Lisa and Hiro spots her being taken off the ship. A crazy car chase ensues with Hiro driving and when the pair arrive at the airport they see Lisa get smuggled onto an aircraft and they immediately try to smuggle themselves on board too…well Joe does, he tells Hiro to head home, but Hiro just sneaks into a crate and gets loaded onto the plane anyway. It turns out the planes heading to south America and when the plane lands, it doesn’t take long for Lisa to get offloaded into another van and for Joe to end up being captured by the Venuzualan police and put in jail. Hiro manages to evade capture, at which point Joe gives him the job of trying to get to the US embassy to tell them about whats gone on.

Back at Glock Chemicals, Lisa and her father are reunited and Strobel tells Lisa that he’s built a prototype of the bomb. His plan is to get Glock and the general all together in the same room and detonate it. Killing himself in the process, but stopping the bomb from making its way to the black market. Lisa is strongly against the plan, but knows there isnt really a lot she can do to stop it. Shes then taken to a hotel where she’s kept in a guarded suite.

Hiro eventually manages to find/steal a bike and after a short while finds out Joe is being moved, after a lenghty chase sequence, he manages to get the transfer truck to crash and when the drivers get out to try and find Him, he steals the transfer truck. What they don’t realise though is that following the transfer truck was a jeep with two of Glocks henchmen in, a guy named “Flathead” and “Generic baddie A”. Anyway!; eventually the transfer van gets rammed off the road. Flathead pumps the truck full of bullets, but when they open the back of the truck to see the mess, Joe swings out (having clung to the roof) and promptly beats the crap out of both of them. But before he’s able to claim a win, Viper turns up and summons a load of ninjas. Some fight Joe, while others kidnap Hiro. Joe quickly dispatches his opponents and chases after the ninjas who took Hiro. a few fights here and there and a stint through, what looks like an obstical course and Hiro is free again and the pair quickly dust themselves off and start heading out to look for clues again.

But the baddies haven’t given up just yet! as another chase ensues that results in Joe jumping off a dock into the sea where Flathead machine guns him. When Joe doesn’t resurface, Flathead declares “I got him!” something Hiro overhears and assumes that Joe is dead. Things look pretty bleak, as Hiro heads back into the nearest town to beg people for directions to the US Embassy. BUT! It turns out Joe ISN’T dead! I have no idea how…the film doesn’t bother to explain. BUT! He’s alive! And using his Ninjitsu skills he’s able to bust his handcuffs off and starts to plan his next moves.

Meanwhile Hiro stumbles on a local street gang who, as soon as they see him basically hold him down and threaten to cut his fingers off. But by SHEER DUMB LUCK, Joe turns up, beats up the gang, rescues Hiro *again* and the pair manage to get away, they have a bit of a heart to heart, when Viper appears AGAIN and sets another army of ninjas on the pair, Joe manages to take the ninjas out, but while fighting Viper manages to hit Hiro in the head, knocking him unconscious. While out cold, he has a flashback where he sees Viper kill his father and take an amulet from him. When Hiro wakes up, Joe continues the heart to heart and, as if by magic, Master Tetsu appears as a force ghost and praises Joe for his work at protecting Hiro. He reveals that Hiro’s dad intensely trained him in the art of Ninjitsu and that, with some minor training and meditation, his abilities and powers will return. He tells Joe that the trauma in Joes past around failing to protect HIS little brother will be absolved if he helps Hiro unlock his full potential.

And so! Cue training montages, a foiled attempt at assassinating the head of a global chemicals company and rainbow ninja outfits galore! As Hiro and Joe head out to rescue Lisa and her father, put a stop to illegal arms dealings and teach Glock and Viper the lesson that, whether young or old, master or student NOONE messes. With the American Ninja…Dragons? American Dragon Ninjas? JUST DON’T MESS WITH DAVID BRADLEY!

My bar for this movie was pretty much on the floor, im not going to lie. While the American Ninja 4 had a sense of grandness, it frankly wasted SO much time doing the weird split plot line thing and the fights were SO poorly choreographed that frankly, I was done with the franchise by the time the credits rolled. I enjoyed the first two, the third was fine and the forth was a slog that had a couple of good moments sprinkled in throughout. The American Ninja 5 doesnt exactly bring the franchise back to fertile ground. But if we ARE going to treat this movie as an American Ninja sequel (official or otherwise) then what I will say is, it’s not as grand as the previous American Ninja movies. But it does a lot more with a lot less producing something thats arguably the most enjoyable American Ninja movie since part 2.

The script for this is fairly minimalist, gone are the large scale Ninja training compounds, gone are the baddies looking to create super ninjas or aiming to raise a dictatorship. Here it’s as simple as two not unreasonably written characters ending up pulled into rescuing a love interest and inadvertently stumbling on a nefarious arms deal which they try to stop. There were elements of this in “The American Ninja 4” but it was just that, Elements. Parts of a BIGGER picture that ultimately got watered down as a result.

Here, because the script only really has Lisa’s kidnapping and the bomb threat to work with, it’s able to build a greater sense of peril into those elements because thats ALL thats at stake. Its not trying to spin a lot of plates, so it can take its time in making sure that it gets the elements it IS working with just about right. There’s a LOT less characters to worry about when compared to the other films. Which again; only really helps to keep things focussed because, unlike Ninja 4, your spending the whole movie with only 2 or 3 of *roughly* 5 characters which makes it much more coherent when compared to Ninja 4 where you’d spend an UNGODLY amount of time with one character, then an UNGODLY amount of time with another.

Equally; with this entry, the series embraced a light dash of comedy which has really gone a long way to help freshen things up a little bit. It doesn’t HAVE to be all pouty serious moody action. Its ALLOWED to have a little bit of fun with it’s characters and I think this helps MASSIVELY as it takes the pressure OFF trying to deliver something as grand and serious as previous instalments, instead allowing the audience to just relax and be entertained for a spell. When the previous American Ninja movies did comedy it was VERY few and far between and played with a “Cooler than thou” mentality. Here. it feels like the cast are actually having fun, which in turn makes me, the audience member ALSO feel like i’m having fun. And really; that’s all you can ask of a sequel, quality and entertainment.

Now thats not to say this movies amazing, the fact its smaller scale does mean it somewhat fails to really define itself against the other movies in the series or even the genre really. There are MUCH better Ninja action movies out there than this, and just being “okay” can and will work against it with some people. It suffers from padding in places and at times, it feels like some scenes have had their order rearranged post shoot, which has created a bit of instability in the script structure. The best example I can think of is Joe agreeing to help train Hiro after Viper knocks Hiro out, only for Tetsu to turn up and tell Joe he needs to help train Hiro and for Joe to AGAIN agree to help train Hiro. there are a couple of examples of that in this film, where it feels like scenes have been split in half and spread out across the run time to help give the impression that the characters are in the movie more than they actually are, when in reality all it really does is make it look like the characters are a bit forgetful and keep repeating points they made 10-15 minutes prior.

In fact, if we’re talking about the script structure, While it does have a problem in terms of deciding what order to run things in, it does cover the basics pretty decently. It has it’s 3 act structure firmly in place, the pacings all relatively decent, it maybe slows down a little bit in the middle, but only a smidge and I’d put that largely down to padding (examples being Hiro spending a TON of time wandering around looking for the US embassy and scenes throughout where Joe fights some ninjas and kicks their arses, only to IMMEDIATELY walk into the next scene where a load of ninjas appear and Joe has to kick their arses) its by no means the worst i’ve seen for padding and repetition, but it cant go unnoticed.

Throw in some cheesy dialogue that really does sound like its coming from a kids tv show (this movie was PG-13 in the US so you know exactly the tone they’re going for) and depending on your preference for movies that don’t take themselves MASSIVELY seriously, your milage may vary. I could easily see someone who liked the tone and vibe of the American Ninja movies coming to this film and being VERY disappointed that it’s chosen to go down a lighter, less life or death route. But I for one really rather welcomed it, Its a change of pace after 2 movies that felt VERY samey and had similar issues that made them…well…a bit boring in all honesty. This isn’t bogged down with continuity, and, to me? It’s a fun, sturdy enough work that i’m not ashamed to say I got on with.

The script was written by Gregg Latter, George Saunders and John Bryant, Gregg has 25 writing credits to his name with credits including “Cold Harvest”, “Cyborg Cop” and “Delta Force 3: The Killing Game” His last credit was in 2017. George and John have 5 and 4 writing credits respectively, and both have pretty much worked together on everything they’ve written with the exception of 1 extra credit for George in 1995 and Johns last credit being in 1994. Highlights include: “Scanner Cop” and “Martial Outlaw”. On directing duties we have Bob Bralver, he has 17 directing credits, mainly for TV including “Knight Rider”, “The A-Team” and “Dragnet” he’s really more of a Stuntman in honesty, in that field he has 178 credits with highlights including “Roadhouse” and “Darkman”.

On the direction front…I mean, it tries. It’s hardly the most breathtaking watch i’ve ever sat through, I’ll be completely honest. I suppose the best way I could describe it is, it’s above acceptable, Not exactly showstopping, but it does have the odd flourish in their that makes me think the director was trying to turn out something good with whatever resources he had. While the general scene by scene direction is rather by the numbers, it does have the odd nice moment where it goes above and beyond. The various car chases that happen throughout the film are usually ones that standout in terms of doing things that made me go “Ooh. this is a bit more interesting!” shots set in the hotel near the end when Hiro and Joe go to rescue Lisa also impressed. It’s not groundbreaking stuff. But reasonable with the occasional moment of “great” is, for me at least, always going to trump good but underwhelming. There was nothing here that blew my socks off, but there was enough to keep me on board.

The fight Choreography iiiiis a little underwhelming, BUT! It IS a lot better than how it was handled in American Ninja 4. They go for masked contact and the occasional soft contact blow, and while the choreography itself is a little underwhelming…they’ve made the probably wise decision to go for fast martial artistry rather than anything more intricate which is safe, but ultimately a bit disappointing, they DO at least handle the technicals around masking those contact shots quite well. Ninja 4 was awful at that with shots of actors not even touching each other making it into the final cut. Here at least it looks like the punches and kicks are landing AT LEAST 90% of the time and it feels like theres weight behind the attacks as well. It may not be pushing boundaries. But I always admire solid attempts.

The cine is in a bit of a similar place to the direction, it lacks scale, but its ambitious and I respect that. Sequences are fairly basic, but the cine team behind this do have a nice eye for composition and there’s some decent shots making up these sequences. While there isnt really a lot of experimentation here, I’m more than happy with acceptable cine structured into competent sequences that do occasionally strive to go a bit above and beyond. The cine around the fight scenes is tight and focussed on the action. The chase scenes are edited swiftly with a variety of shots driving emphasis on the fast paced nature of the chase and theres even just the odd nice addition in play too, like establishing shots of the aeroplane Joe and Hiro hop aboard mid flight and shots of the villages surroundings to help really sell us on the locations. I don’t think it’ll exactly blow anyone away. But I cant knock it really all that much because it’s not doing what it does badly…its just trying it’s best to do what it can with what it has…

Performance wise, David Bradley as Joe is pretty solid, with this being an action/comedy he’s playing things with a slightly lighter edge here than when compared to Sean in the other American ninja movies. It’s not his greatest performance, but for this genre of film, I think he does the job just about. I think he comes across as warm when he needs to be and serious when its time to throw hands. So I wont fault him here! I also have to REALLY give some credit to Lee Reyes on this one. I don’t like to comment particularly on child actors. I make it a bit of a rule, but I will say here that Reyes takes a character that COULD have been, in the wrong hands quite insufferable and by the end of the movie has really made him into something I actually thought was pretty decent. Given this was his first full feature credit I find that all the more impressive. I thought he did a good job on this one, and im glad to see he’s still fairly active, with a credit as recent as 2012.

I think where this film falls down really is with it’s handling of the villains. With James Lew and Clement von Frankenstein (seriously…thats his ACTUAL name.) as Viper and Glock respectively just being…a little too generic for my taste. I dunno. I just…didnt really get anything distinct off them, they didnt really set themselves up as unique or interesting characters…they were pretty much just generic martial arts and business men style “baddies”. It would have maybe been nice to have a bit more depth, complexity or points of interest with our antagonists beyond, one killed Hiros dad and the other wants to sell bioweapons to south american arms dealers…they work with what they have well enough. I just wanted a bit more from them honestly…

The rest of the cast are alright. They do a decent turn in this, but, as has been the story throughout this thing I feel like they do good enough to give them some praise, but not good enough to really take things to the next level where i’m enthusiastically endorsing what they’ve done here. They all work with the dialogue as best they can, they all use the set space as best they can and I think, with the director working as a stuntman, he’s had enough experience working with directors to be able to help steer the cast towards giving a decent turn. I cant say fairer than “They did the job and just about hit the spot.”

And finally; the soundtrack and it’s Pan pipe fever! Seriously this whole thing is rocky and poppy numbers just DRENCHED in pan pipes. Its wall to wall pan pipes, SO MANY PAN PIPES. It’s fine. I’d have liked a little bit more range personally as after a while it all does start to sound a bit samey…but it’s just about fine. It does have that early 90s cheap and cheerful edge to it, which does help set the mood. But doesnt really help to kick this thing into high gear. Especially when it really needed something distinct and actioney to help tie the cine, direction and performances all together. It’s passable.

American Ninja 5 was released in the UK on VHS in 1993 by Cannons own distribution and…In a move thats STILL got my jaw on the floor *sigh* I have to bring the BBFC into this. Y’see; this movie came out at a point in time where the BBFC were still all in on banning anything to do with ninjas or ninja weaponry because they were scared that kids would see it and immediately all go out and become ninjas. Seriously. Stop laughing. ANYWAY. American Ninja 5 was initially refused certification in the UK uncut and the BBFC requested 1 MINUTE and 11 SECONDS of cuts IN ORDER TO SECURE AN 18 RATING IN THE UK. Bearing in mind ladies and gents that this got released in the US UNCUT as a PG-13.

Do you know whats even more wild? A year earlier in 1992 Zombie flesh eaters was resubmitted for classification after being banned for 8 years from being shown in the UK and they passed it with an 18 certificate with 1 minute and 46 seconds of cuts. Meaning that; in one of the most bizarre turns i’ve seen. The BBFC thought a PG-13 action comedy about 2 people beating up ninjas with no blood or gore. Was only SLIGHTLY better than a full on GRAPHIC ZOMBIE MOVIE THAT WAS BANNED FOR 8 YEARS AND REGISTERED AS A VIDEO NASTY WITH BLOOD, GORE, MUTILATION, EYE GOUGING AND FULL FRONTAL NUDITY. Jesus christ… As far as I can see it didn’t receive a DVD release in the UK, but it did get multiple releases across Europe between 2002 and 2004 (some cut, some uncut) but…outside of that, that’s it. No bluray release that I can find and It’s not on any streaming services I can see either…so if you live in the UK it’s a cut VHS or bust im afraid…

Had the American Ninja 5 been an *official* entry in the series. I’d have actually been pretty comfortable with things ending here. While previous entries were grand, bombastic and full on. This entry kind of pulls things back to what I want from a series like this, a decent amount of fighting, a basic but engaging and somewhat charismatic plot and a lively cast who bring the script alive. While I absolutely HAVE to say it could have done MILES better in almost every regard, with it at times really bordering on becoming a generic action movie with a hint of comedy gaffa taped to it. Given where we’ve come from. I was happy to just have a stable end product that didn’t put me to sleep, made me smile a couple of times and gave the cast a decent opportunity to work on some good character development. American Ninja 5 probably wont win many peoples hearts. But i’d say, if you’ve enjoyed previous American Ninja movies, but felt 4 kind of left things a bit flat. This might just be the do over you needed.

source https://letterboxd.com/tytdreviews/film/american-ninja-5/