American Fighter 2 - Der Auftrag

It's cheesy as all hell, but I actually prefer AMERICAN NINJA 2 to the original. The story moves quicker and there's more action. Dudikoff and Steve James return as karate-kicking Army soldiers, this time investigating a mysterious Caribbean island where soldiers have been disappearing. The bad guy there is creating genetically-enhanced super Ninjas or something like that, using the work of a kidnapped doctor, who's daughter informs Dudikoff about his abduction and imprisonment on the island. There's a wild truck chase and a fun bar fight, and an all-out action-packed climax on the island between an army of Ninja and the Army. Another typical "chop socky" flick, but a slight improvement over first, and my favorite of the series.

American Ninja 2: The Confrontation was a fairly good B film. The action was non-stop but far-fetched and the choreography was sometimes quite unrealistic. Michael Dudkioff and Steve James played pretty good roles and their acting was substantial. One cool aspect of the film was where the fightings took place,for example, at the beach and in the bar. The ring scene was also interesting but the choreography somewhat ruined these scenes. The choreography was only good in about the first-half of the film. The plot was also very plain which also brings the film status down a little bit. Basically the fight scenes were unrealistic for the fact that the Ninjas were just plain stupid. Also in the bar scene,Steve James has about twelve or thirteen guys on top of him and he throws them all off with one single burst of power. In my opinion this movie is worth watching even though some of it was a little phony. The acting was fair and the fight scenes for the most part were pretty good. On a scale of 1-10 I would rank this film about a 5 just for the effort. As for my advice I would rent this film whenever you get the chance because you just might enjoy it. Thank you.

This violent art-martial film is the second entry about our heroes, the Rangers duo, Sergeant Armstrong(Michel Dudikoff)along with his proficient sidekick, Sergeant Jackson(Steve James) who are assigned a difficult mission at Caribbean Island( at the original film was Philipines). Five marines have disappeared and must investigate their location, being helped by marines captain(Jeff Weston). The prime suspect is a villain, drugs dealer named Lion(Gary Conway, also screenwriter), he has abducted a scientific who manufactures mass-produced an army of violent Ninjas by means of genetic engineering. The super-Nijas dressed in black, hooded, a blade on the back and using Shinkaisen, a metallized star they throw. Our protagonist go to Barbarroja island where take on the heinous nasty, the biggest heroin dealer of the planet. There they'll wipe out a passel of violent Ninjas.

This is plenty of action,adventures, fights,suspense in a comic book style. Dudikoff who is beefy as ever plays a two-fisted ranger utilizing efficiently his deadly skills. The movie is co-starred by Steve James(1952-1993), a corpulent fighter, he usually acted partner to tough stars, Michael Dudikoff(three times), Chuck Norris and David Carradine, but sadly he early deceased.Besides appear a flashbacks scenes with John Fujioka, the coach who trained Dudikoff on the art-martial world. Atmospheric musical score composed by synthesizer is made by George S Clinton. As always the film is produced in middling budget by Yoran Globus and Menahem Golan, Cannon Productions.The film is professionally directed by Sam Firstemberg, he's a low-grade expert about art-martial and Ninjas sub-genre and in Delta Force rip-offs. Followed by several sequels, starred by Dudikoff substituted by David Bradley and Steve James and mostly directed by Firstemberg and Cedric Sundstrom; such as ¨American Ninja 3 Blood Hunt¨, 'American Ninja: Annihilation¨ and American Ninja V.

This 1987 sequel to the 1985 "American Ninja" movie is essentially the same as the first movie, just with a different villain and location. But the rest of the story and movie was pretty much the same.

So is that a good thing or a bad thing? Well, that depends on if you liked the first movie or not. If you did like it, then you will like part two as well. And if you didn't like part one, then you will not like part two either.

Again, you got all the campy ingredients; cheesy storyline, generic characters, stereotypical villain, worthless henchmen, wonderful dialogue (you see the irony here, right?), action, martial arts, explosions and, of course, ninjas! Lots and lots of ninjas.

The acting was every bit as strained and wooden as in part one, but isn't that just part of the charm of these movies? One of my favorite things in "American Ninja 2: The Confrontation" was this particular piece of dialogue delivered by the commanding officer who requested the help of the US rangers: "I don't know who you are, what you are, or why you are here". Wait, what? Didn't he himself request the help?

Story-wise, well with little deviation from part one, it is about American ninja Joe Armstrong who is on a Caribbean island to solve the mysterious disappearances of US marine personnel, when he is confronted by a ninja syndicate.

While not a masterpiece, "American Ninja 2: The Confrontation" is as enjoyable as the previous movie. Equally campy, cheesy and requires little brain activity from the audience.

Steve James originally didn't want to appear in this first sequel, since it was to be shot in South Africa (which was still under apartheid). He later admitted that he had a lot of fun making the movie, which is evident onscreen. Like the first movie, James steals the show from Dudikoff, both in his martial arts skills and with a bouncy performance that makes him a treat to watch. The best that can be said about Dudikoff's performance is that he seems to be a lot more comfortable in front of the camera than he was the first time around. He's still very unemotional, has almost no dialogue, and it's still clear he knows little to nothing about martial arts, seeing how he does pretty simple moves (when not being doubled.)

Despite the movie being weighed down by Dudikoff's presence, it's still a fun movie, certainly better than the first movie. The locations are eye-catching, giving the movie a nice backdrop. The pace is quicker, giving us little chance to be bored between the action sequences. And there's certainly plenty of action, with dozens of ninjas popping up everywhere at any time. Yes, there is a cheesiness to the entire enterprise, from George Clinton's synthesizer score to the ludicrous scheme of the villain... but hey, it's a *fun* kind of cheese, one that makes you smile instead of grit your teeth. Sometimes a little silliness is what the doctor ordered, and it's also a nostalgic blast for those into '80s actioners.