American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989)

Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The biggest problem with this movie is it’s a little better than you think it might be, which somehow makes it worse. As in, it takes itself a bit too seriously, which makes most of the movie feel kind of dull.

The American Ninja series has a limited appeal to begin with. But I think it's safe to say most fans of the movies like them because of the special brand of weird charisma Michael Dudikoff brought to the table. You take Dudikoff and his "blue steel" gaze away and you're left with this: a generic martial arts action movie. Even the inclusion of Dudikoff's sidekick Steve James is no help. David Bradley is Dudikoff's replacement and he's just awful. You have to be bad when you're in a movie with Marjoe Gortner and he outclasses you. The whole thing is lifeless and unenjoyable. That there were two more American Ninja sequels after this boggles the mind.

A lot of people will tell you that this film is not that good. I didn't think that this film was that bad. I mean most 80's martial arts films, were not meant to be Oscar winners, it's your standard B movie of the 80's.Basically when Sean was a young kid, he dad was killed, and he learned the ways of the Ninja from Izumo. Sean then becomes a karate champion and goes to a world championship karate tournament at a paradise type island.The film itself has all of the typical things of a B grade martial arts movie from the 80's. Mediocre acting, cheesy one lines, but some good fight scenes.I don't know why a lot of people think that Michele Chan it's not that good looking, I don't think she's unattractive, but that's my opinion.If you like campy acting and cheesy one liners, then you will like this film.

This time we are introduced to a new hero, who was trained as a ninja when his father was killed by an armed robber. Through learning the ways of the ninja he uses it to make the inside cover of karate and compete in championships. However the tournament is a cover for "The cobra" to find the strongest man to use his virus on. Suffice to say our new hero ninja is the man. David Bradley took over for Michael Dudikoff for reasons unknown, however American Ninja 3 is a lifeless bore which features a hero so blank that it's almost quite humorous. If it wasn't so boring. Bradley really registers utterly zero rapport with the audience and it's really only Steve James and the campy antics of televangelist turned actor Marjoe Gortner. Also a big let down was that Dudikoff actually fought a ninja master but here Bradley's one on one is with Marjoe Gortner. Talk about a cheat. The action sequences are badly staged and it's fairly easy to see why people noticed Dudikoff's absence.* out of 4-(Bad)

Don't worry, reading this won't actually spoil anything.I give this movie a one only because laughability isn't a metric for movies. Since this is IMDb, I guess story structure, believability, continuity, production values and special effects are paramount. In each of these areas, American Ninja 3:Blood Hunt, fails. Speaking of Blood Hunt, let's start there.The title of a movie generally focuses on some aspect of the film. While the Ninja is American, I saw no Hunts that were bloody and no blood that was hunted. I guess the title was suppose to make me go...ooooo, a Blood Hunt! I gotta see this.Here's the idea. The American Ninja comes into town and wins some contest for world class ninjas. Then, in broad daylight, someone is kidnapped by fully clothed ninjas in front of at least a few dozen people. From about two blocks away, The American Ninja sees it and decides to chase them.The ninjas scamper, still in full ninja attire, across an open field. Then there's the fighting. (I can't actually find the right words to describe the fight scenes. I think I'll just call it "The Bad") The biggest flaws of the movie, if you can call it a movie, are the ending and special effects. The whole movie, our protagonist, THE American NINJA, is looking for his missing sensei. THE American NINJA discovers that he's probably hidden in some factory. He gets in, kicks everyone's tail and then leaves the place...Did anyone catch that...no one...The plot is completely dropped in the final climax. No one even cares about the sensei. Not to mention after murdering about 2 dozen people, he doesn't even kill the archvillian, just kicks him in the chest. That's it.During his little rampage at the factory, he gets an arrow shot at him, catches it and throws it back at the guy who shot it, killing him instantly.Did anyone catch that...no one...That's what this movie is about. Laughing at it is actually worth seeing it. If you have 80 minutes to kill and this is on, it's worth the laugh. You'll love American ninja in the same way you love a cheesy horror movie. Ninjas running through crowded streets, terrible stunts, even worse acting and an even more miserable plot, this movie fails so terribly on every level, it's difficult not to look at it like the small kid who gets picked last in Kickball. You can't help but think "how cute, they tried to make a movie. Better luck next time."