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American Ninjas...

posted 9 years ago by chanbara
36 replies | jump to latest

After reading this amusing and spot-on article: http://io9.com/10-white-people-who-inexplicably-became-ninjas-1614637484, and hearing Sam Firstenberg inexplicably recount how after "Ninja III: The Domination" Menahem Golan and Cannon wanted to "switch from an Oriental Ninja to an American Ninja" as if this was something new and groundbreaking, which made absolutely no sense since all 3 of Cannon's previous ninja films had "American Ninja" characters in them, I decided to see if I could come up with a full list of all of the "American Ninjas" that have been featured in live-action movies and television.

I'm sure I'm missing some, but here are the 53 that I've been able to ID so far. There were at least 8 american ninjas before the first "American Ninja" film. Also, there hasn't been a lot of diversity as 38 of these fall into the generic "white people" mold of the article mentioned above (33 males and 6 females), but there have also been 3 "African-American Ninjas" (Sonny, Malik Ali, Owen Reynolds), and 5 american ninja characters that were half-Japanese (Kenzo, Frank Johnson, Kenji, Thomas Hoshino, Mike Fukunaga). There were also 5 Mutant Turtles and 1 Mutant Rat.

Anyway, here's the list in chronological order of appearance. If you can think of any that I missed, let me know.

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53 AMERICAN NINJAS and counting...
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Scott James (Chuck Norris) in The Octagon (1980)

Cole (Franco Nero) in Enter the Ninja (1981)

Kenjiro Sakura (Michael Beck) in The Last Ninja (1983)

Braden (Arthur Roberts) in Revenge of the Ninja (1983)

John Peter McAllister (Lee Van Cleef) in The Master (1984)
Allison Grant (Kelly Harmon) in The Master-"Kunoichi (1984)"

Kenzo (Romano Kristoff) in Ninja's Force (1984)

Christie* (Lucinda Dickey) in Ninja III: The Domination (1984)

Joe Armstrong (Michael Dudikoff) in American Ninja (1985), American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987), American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990)

Tyger McPherson (George Nicholas) in USA Ninja (1985)

Steve (Ron Marchini) in Ninja Warriors (1985)
Tom (Romano Kristoff) in Ninja Warriors (1985)

Frank Johnson (Romano Kristoff) in Black Fire (1985)

Mark Quinn (Romano Kristoff) in Double Edge (1986)

Lucifer (George Nicholas) in Ninjas, Condors 13 (1987)

Sonny (Mike Kelly) in Sakura Killers (1987)
Dennis (George Nicholas) in Sakura Killers (1987)

Chris Burton (Arnold Nicholas) in Ultimax Force (1987)
Dick Foster (Jeremy Ladd) in Ultimax Force (1987)
Bill Norton (Patrick Scott) in Ultimax Force (1987)
Mike Dobson (Vincent Giffin) in Ultimax Force (1987)

Willi (Jay Roberts, Jr.) in White Phantom (1987)

Frank Dux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) in Bloodsport (1988)

Chris Mason (Craig Boyett) in Ninja Vengeance (1988)
Stephen K. Hayes (Stephen K. Hayes) in Ninja Vengeance (1988)

Kenji (Douglas Ivan) in Force of the Ninja (1988)

Sean Davidson (David Bradley) in American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989), American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1990)

Raphael (Josh Pais, Kenn Troum, Laurie Faso, Matt Hill, Tim Kelleher, Mitchell A. Lee Yuen, Alan Ritchson) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Michaelangelo (Michelan Sisti, Robbie Rist, David Fraser, Jarred Blancard, Kirby Morrow, Noel Fisher) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Donatello (Leif Tilden, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Corey Feldman, Adam Carl, Jim Raposa, Richard Yee, Jason Gray-Stanford, Jeremy Howard) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Leonardo (David Forman, Brian Tochi, Mark Caso, Gabe Khouth, Michael Dobson, Johnny Knoxville, Pete Ploszek) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Splinter (Kevin Clash, James Murray, Fiona Scott, Stephen Mendel, Tony Shalhoub, Danny Woodburn) in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)

J.D. Makay (David Heavener) in For Hire (1991)

Joe Ford (Ross Kettle) in Lethal Ninja (1992) aka American Ninja 5: The Nostradamus Syndrome

Jonathon Raven (Jeffrey Meek) in Raven (1992)

Samuel 'Rocky' Douglas Jr. (Michael Treanor, Sean Fox, Mathew Botuchis) in 3 Ninjas (1992), 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)
Jeffrey 'Colt' Douglas (Max Elliott Slade, Michael O'Laskey II) in 3 Ninjas (1992), 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)
Michael 'Tum Tum' Douglas (Chad Power, J. Evan Bonifant, James 'JP' Paul Roeske II) in 3 Ninjas (1992), 3 Ninjas Kick Back (1994), 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up (1995), 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain (1998)

Joe Kastle (David Bradley) in American Ninja 5 (1993)

John Deer (Jeff Moldovan) in Extralarge: Ninja Shadow (1993)

Thomas Hoshino (Don Wilson) in Red Sun Rising (1994)

Venus de Milo (Nicole Parker, Lalainia Lindbjerg) in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997)

Douglas Seed (Peter Murnik) in Martial Law-"Bad Seed (1998)"

Malik Ali (Clayton Prince) in The Black Ninja (2003)

Courtney (Trishelle Cannatella) in Ninja Cheerleaders (2008)
April (Ginny Weirick) in Ninja Cheerleaders (2008)
Monica (Maitland McConnell) in Ninja Cheerleaders (2008)

Snake Eyes (Ray Park) in G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), G.I. Joe: Retaliation (2013)

Casey Bowman (Scott Adkins) in Ninja (2009), Ninja: Shadow of a Tear (2013)

Mike Fukunaga (Ryan Potter) in Supah Ninjas (2011)
Owen Reynolds (Carlos Knight) in Supah Ninjas (2011)
Amanda McKay (Gracie Dzienny) in Supah Ninjas (2011)

Randall Bedford (Chris Bruno) in Castle-"The Way of the Ninja (2014)"

[–] bad_habitt 9 years ago

Love your list and I think you're definitely spot on when it comes to the semantics of the equation. I actually can't believe I didn't think of it myself when Firstenberg was discussing the source of the idea for this film.

Is there a difference between those characters in the previous films, and marketing a movie on someone who is straight up an American character? Not sure... Maybe the interviewer should have chimed in and mentioned the fact that Dudikoff would be the 9th character to be an American Ninja not the first. For some reason something obvious as this has slipped all our minds, even though we're fans of the genre!

Signature: To any BluRay/DVD distribution company: please release No Retreat No Surrender sequels on BluRay!

[–] chanbara 9 years ago

I have no idea what Firstenberg was trying to put across with those statements. Perhaps he mis-interpreted what Golan said when he first told him they were doing the film. Certainly, having directed "Revenge of the Ninja" and "Ninja III: The Domination", Firstenberg knew full well that there had been an "American Ninja" in each of those (though Ninja III's Christie was technically not really a ninja, just possesed by one), but maybe because Sho Kosugi is the lead/hero ninja in those films he thought having the American in that position was a first, forgetting that Cannon's first film "Enter the Ninja" had Cole, and before that Chuck Norris in "The Octagon" (not to mention the other 7).

As far as marketing the character/movie differently, there was nothing really new or different about it, except for the implicit title and the American flag on the posters. The 9 others before that were all clearly identified as American. For example, Lee Van Cleef's character in "The Master" is identified via voice-over as "The first Occidental American ever to become a ninja" at the beginning of each episode.

Anyway, it's worth noting that when the film was made and up to and including when the trailer was released it was called "American Warrior". This is because another ninja movie, also filmed a few months earlier in the Philippines in 1984, was shot under the working title of "American Ninja". Ironically it featured no "American Ninja" characters, but rather starred Cannon's recently departed ninja superstar Sho Kosugi as the Japanese Ninja counterpart of an elite American anti-terrorist group, and was written and directed by the original director of "Enter the Ninja" Emmett Alston, whom Menahem Golan had fired and replaced when he reportedly didn't like how the dailies looked on that film. Emmett Alston remained and was credited as Second Unit Director on "Enter the Ninja". It's unclear as to how the title switch happened, but before the release of both films in 1985, Alston's "American Ninja" became "9 Deaths of the Ninja" and Cannon's "American Warrior" became "American Ninja".

By the way, the Philippines became for a time the go to place to film ninja movies after "Enter the Ninja". Along with "9 Deaths of the Ninja" and "American Ninja", other ninja movies shot there include "Ninja's Force", "Ninja Warriors", "Double Edge", and "Black Fire".

That reminds me, I've got to check if those last 3 have "American Ninjas" in them. If so, I'll update the list in my original post accordingly.

[–] chanbara 9 years ago

The count is now up to 45 as I just added these 4 to the list on my original post:

Steve (Ron Marchini) in Ninja Warriors (1985)
Tom (Romano Kristoff) in Ninja Warriors (1985)

Frank Johnson (Romano Kristoff) in Black Fire (1985)

Mark Quinn (Romano Kristoff) in Double Edge (1986)

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Actually, your definition of a ninja is flawed if wearing traditional ninja garb is a must. A ninja is one who has studied and practices ninjutsu. It doesn't matter if he wears ninja garb or not (although all except a handful on the list did wear the garb).

Therefore all those listed on my list are ninjas, including Frank Dux (who's training in ninjutsu with ninja master Senzo Tanaka in the flashback scenes, as ridiculous as that may be in real life, is just that and is why as the closing of the film states "Subsequently, Mr. Dux founded the first American Ninjitsu System, Dux-Ryu").

As far as Michael Beck's character Kenjiro Sakura goes, he was, as most of those on the list are, a white American. He was found abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of the home of an imigrant Japanese family living in California. Mako, a ninja master, relunctantly decides to train him in the ways of ninjutsu after his two sons die in the Korean war, and there is no other "heir" (although he also has a daughter). He does wear the traditional ninja grab (not that that should make a difference). This is the absolute best, most serious, and most believable "American Ninja" character (similar in tone to the original "Kung Fu" TV series). It was the pilot for what would have been the first American Ninja TV series. A shame it wasn't picked up by ABC. "The Master" aired a year later on NBC, and in 1992 "Raven", the third TV series about an unlikely "American Ninja" aired on CBS.

The level of popularity and or level of film production has no bearing on whether they were American Ninjas. It only matters that they were all Americans and Ninjas, which all on my list are.

I'm sure there were more than the 45 I've found so far, so the search continues...

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Ok, well even if you were to take a narrow-minded "ninja garb is a must" stance, 38 of the 45 listed so far match that criteria. And of the 7 characters that don't go "full ninja" garb-wise, 5 of them actually wear the "iconic" ninja garb minus the hood:

Scott James - A white American boy trained as a child in ninjutsu by a Japanese ninja master alongside his Japanese "brother" Seikura. Becomes a famous martial arts champion. Kills most of Seikura's ninjas and Seikura himself, using said ninja techniques while wearing black ninja-like clothing (just no hood).

Frank Johnson - Half-American Half-Japanese American soldier trained as a child in ninjutsu by his Japanese grandfather (shown in forgotten memory flashbacks - sound familiar?). As a child he wears the ninja garb (minus the hood).

Frank Dux - A white American boy trained in ninjutsu by his neighbor Senzo Tanaka, a Japanese ninja master. Uses what he learned (not really) to honor his master and become a martial arts champion by winning the Kumite.

Chris Mason and Stephen K. Hayes - American ninjutsu student and master (seen in flashbacks) who both wear the ninja garb (minus the hood).

Jonathon Raven - An American boy being raised in Japan joins the Black Dragon ninja clan after finding out they murdered his parents in order to exact revenge. He never wears the "traditional" grab per se, but his ninja initiation flashback scenes show him (and the other black dragons) wearing black hooded ninja garb (the difference being that the hood is a "hoodie").

Thomas Hoshino Half-American Half-Japanese cop trained as a boy in ninjutsu by his Japanese grandfather (Mako). As an adult he resumes his training and masters the ninja's "death touch" technique in order to defeat the Yakuza's Ninja assassin.

My list is meant to ID all of the characters who were "American Ninjas" in chronological order, no matter how ridiculous the films and/or the characters were.

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

You might have a "dilemma" regarding my list, but I do not. It's very clearly indicated that it's a chronicle of all of the "American Ninjas" in order of appearance on TV and movies (by release date). My focus is not merely on which films came before and/or may have inspired the Cannon film. It's a complete chronicle of all of the screen "American Ninjas", big and small, good and bad.

There's also really no dilemma or question about whether Sam Firstenberg was wrong (or most likely mis-remembered/mis-spoke regarding what Menahem Golan told him regarding Cannon's "American Ninja" film). It was already a well established premise by that point, both in Cannon's own previous films and films/TV shows from others. I think 9 is the pre-Cannon American Ninja film number, but it's possible it's more than that and I just haven't come across them yet.

Anyway, to answer your questions:

"The Ninja Mission" was filmed well before "American Ninja" and the producers actually offered Cannon the distribution rights to the film. They passed and went on to produce "American Ninja". Mason, the lead ninja leading the "ninja mission", is an American and a CIA agent. He and the rest of the other ninjas all wear the black pajamas. ;)

"Ninja's Force" was released on September 7, 1984 (almost a full year to the day before "American Ninja" was released). Also, I believe September 1984 is when Cannon started filming "American Ninja". Anyway, the story and screenplay for "Ninja's Force" was co-written by Ken Watanabe (a Philippines-based Japanese martial artist), who played Sho Kosugi's ninja master in "9 Deaths of the Ninja" filmed earlier that year from May to June. It's likely that this is what inspired Silver Star Pictures (Kinevesa) a Philippines based movie company to start doing their own ninja movies (not the not-yet filmed "American Ninja"), but it could also be that Watanabe got the job on "9 Deaths" because he submitted "Ninja's Force" as something he'd done, meaning it was shot even earlier than that. Kenzo, the "hero" ninja and son of an American man and Japanese woman, grew up in Japan and dresses in the traditional ninja garb.

Regarding your American Ninja site/blog, it's definitely well done and well thought out. I'm not a fan of the franchise/series, so I haven't looked at/read everything. I'm only a fan of the first film (and an even bigger fan of Cannon's previous "Ninja Trilogy" starring Sho Kosugi). Your timeline was particularly interesting, but I noticed something questionable regarding Shinyuki's history:

You state:
1960: Shinyuki leaves his ninja clan and moves to Philippines. Presumibly, Shinyuki’s clan is the most powerful and ancient elite in Japan, the only one to worship the noble Bushido code.

This contradicts what we hear and see on film:
Shinyuki was "hiding in the jungle, in uniform, a Japanese soldier who was unaware for many years that the war was over". The flashback scenes confirm this by clearly showing him still in his WWII uniform. He therefore likely came to the Philippines when the Japanese invaded in 1941 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_history_of_the_Philippines_during_World_War_II). Definitely not in 1960.

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Can I use your infos about The Ninja Mission and Ninja's Force for my site? I will give you full credit (true name?)

Sure, go ahead. No need for a credit. The info about the characters all came from the films themselves. In "Ninja's Force", for example, two women remark how Kenzo doesn't look like a ninja and doesn't look Japanese. Later on he explains that his father was American and met his mother in Japan, etc...

As for the info about how the producers of "The Ninja Mission" wanted Cannon to distribute the film, that's something I'd heard a long time ago and it's also part of the film's trivia on IMDB here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087806/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

What about Mason ?????

What about him? You mean his background? We don't learn much about him in the film, except that he's an American CIA agent. Some more info on the film can be found on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ninja_Mission

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

CORRECTION!

I decided to check out "The Ninja Mission" to see if maybe more was said about Mason than I remembered, and made a surprising discovery...

A little over 9 minutes into the film, Nadia says to Mason:
"I always believed the CIA were Americans."

To which Mason replies:
"You obviously haven't read many thrillers."

Then, a few seconds later, after telling her his name, he says:
"Call us mercenaries if you like. We work for whoever pays the highest."

So it looks like he's working for the CIA, but he isn't an American.

He's therefore technically off the "American Ninjas" list, but he still matches the criteria of the other item that started me on this odd quest (the "10 White People Who Inexplicably Became Ninjas" article).

I think I'm going to have to create a separate list entitled "Other Gaijin Ninjas", because there were a lot of those too in films like "Mexican Ninja", "Russian Ninja", "Norwegian Ninja", etc...

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Mason is not American.
Kenzo is just half American.

This makes my list correct. I just forgot about Braden from REVENGE and did not know about Michael Beck, which seems to me a 100% American Ninja.

I'm still undecided about James from Octagon.

That sounds like you only consider white guys to be Americans and therefore the criteria to be "100% American Ninjas". Well, that and a hood over their face.

"Half American"... "100% American Ninja"...

That sounds pretty racist.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Ok, glad to hear it.

[–] chanbara 9 years ago

I'm just tracking down Joe Armstrong's TRUE precursors.

Well, Scott James and "The Octagon" were definitely pre-cursors to Joe Armstrong and "American Ninja":

- Both characters were adopted and trained by a Japanese ninja master (same actor, John Fujioka, no less)
- Both films feature Tadashi Yamashita as the rival "evil" ninja
- Both films feature Richard Norton
- Both films would've starred Chuck Norris (if he hadn't decided not to do "American Ninja")
- Both films feature a ninja training camp as a centerpiece

There's probably more commonality that I'm forgetting...

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Does he address himself as a Ninja during the movie?

Lol! That question is too silly to answer. "Hello, my name is Scott and I'm a ninja". Lol!

Any specific ninja technique he uses?

I'm sure you can find a copy of the film to watch it and see for yourself, but he uses a sword to defeat Seikura's ninja enforcer Kyo and then defeat Seikura himself. He's every bit the ninja that his brother Seikura is in the film, and is just as believeable and not believable as a ninja as Joe and any other "American Ninja" are.

How did I get into this silly debate?

"American Ninja" borrowed more from "The Octagon" than probably any other ninja film that preceeded it and the only reason/way Scott James is believable in his defeat of so many ninja in the film is because he's a ninja who was trained alongside his brother Seikura (it's why they filmed/showed it). It couldn't be any clearer.

By the way, this is my latest version of the list:

http://americanninjasaga.blogspot.it/p/the-others.html

Looks good.

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

LOL, sometimes life is just good fun. Why so serious, my friend?

On the contrary, I found the whole thing quite humorous. I couldn't believe it was even a matter of debate and that I was debating it. :)

By the way, here's a bit of trivia that you might find interesting:

Kevin Brando, the boy who played Scott James at age 8 in "The Octagon" also played the young Kenjiro Sakura in "The Last Ninja". Not sure who this kid was, but it's rather interesting that he played 2 young American ninja characters like that. My guess is that when the producers of "The Last Ninja" started researching the subject and casting and putting the crew together for the pilot movie, they probably watched the only 2 American ninja movies available at that time: "The Octagon" and "Enter the Ninja". They got the kid from "The Octagon" to play their young ninja, and American martial artists Mike Stone and Doug Ivan from "Enter The Ninja" to do the martial arts choreography, double the ninja (that's Doug Ivan as the ninja silhouette during the credits), and also appear as members of the terrorist group.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

What is Ken Sakura's backstory?

I already covered that in a previous post. Here it is again:

As far as Michael Beck's character Kenjiro Sakura goes, he was, as most of those on the list are, a white American. He was found abandoned as a baby on the doorstep of the home of an imigrant Japanese family living in California. Mako, a ninja master, relunctantly decides to train him in the ways of ninjutsu after his two sons die in the Korean war, and there is no other "heir" (although he also has a daughter). He does wear the traditional ninja grab (not that that should make a difference). This is the absolute best, most serious, and most believable "American Ninja" character (similar in tone to the original "Kung Fu" TV series). It was the pilot for what would have been the first American Ninja TV series. A shame it wasn't picked up by ABC. "The Master" aired a year later on NBC, and in 1992 "Raven", the third TV series about an unlikely "American Ninja" aired on CBS.

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

It's a travesty that "The Last Ninja" was never released on VHS during the height of the ninja craze in the 1980s. It's also never been released on DVD or Blu ray.

Luckily, you can watch the film on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cyryHSPia4

Enjoy!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

I try not to think of those stupid mutant turtles. That being said, I suppose they should be included on the list, since it probably isn't any more ridiculous a premise than the creation of ninja clones in American Ninja 2: The Confrontation.

[–] bad_habitt 9 years ago

Any news on the Region 1 BluRay? OR was Dudikoff wearing the same clothes as in the Region 2 BluRay disc when he posted the recent pic of the American Ninja 1 commentary, meaning that he was actually referring to his work on the Region 2 disc.

Signature: To any BluRay/DVD distribution company: please release No Retreat No Surrender sequels on BluRay!

[–] chanbara 9 years ago

The count is now up to 51 with the addition of these 7 characters (1 human and 6 mutant animals):

Tyger McPherson (George Nicholas) in USA Ninja (1985)

Raphael (Josh Pais, Kenn Troum, Laurie Faso, Matt Hill, Tim Kelleher, Mitchell A. Lee Yuen, Alan Ritchson)in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016)
Michaelangelo (Michelan Sisti, Robbie Rist, David Fraser, Jarred Blancard, Kirby Morrow, Noel Fisher)in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016)
Donatello (Leif Tilden, Ernie Reyes, Jr., Corey Feldman, Adam Carl, Jim Raposa, Richard Yee, Jason Gray-Stanford, Jeremy Howard)in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016)
Leonardo (David Forman, Brian Tochi, Mark Caso, Gabe Khouth, Michael Dobson, Johnny Knoxville, Pete Ploszek)in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016)
Splinter (Kevin Clash, James Murray, Fiona Scott, Stephen Mendel, Tony Shalhoub, Danny Woodburn)in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993), Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 (2016)
Venus de Milo (Nicole Parker, Lalainia Lindbjerg) in Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation (1997)

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] chanbara 9 years ago

Make that 52 and counting...

Lucifer (George Nicholas) in Ninjas, Condors 13 (1987)

This makes 3 different "American Ninjas" for George Nicholas, just one less than Romano Kristoff, who has the most with 4.

His character in "Ninja Condors" is almost identical to the one in "USA Ninja" (or more accurately "Ninja in the U.S.A." - the title on the print I saw).

And speaking of "Ninja in the U.S.A.", the film's exact release date is unknown, but they borrowed some things from "American Ninja", so that means it came after it. Tyger McPherson is a crime lord who has a ninja training compound and he gives his fellow bad guys a guided tour of it (sound familiar?). Tyger had been a special ops soldier during the Vietnam War and rescued two Vietnamese boys. One of them grew up to be a cop named Ronnie Kwun, while the other became a ninja named Jerry Wong (Alexander LO Rei - the star/hero of the film). As these things go the film ends with a ninja vs ninja duel between Jerry (dressed in a dark camo ninja costume) and Tyger (dressed in a white ninja costume).

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] 9 years ago

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