5/5 Keel Ze American Ninja
  by BAMF
This is a review of American Ninja 2.

OK. So this movie isn't going to win any major awards. The plot is supposed to suck and the acting is supposed to be terrible. However, anybody who has watched and appreciated this movie knows differently.

The plot can't be that bad. Why are there popular movies today that seem to have borrowed ideas from American Ninja 2? A guy who has amnesia but has special fighting skills (Bourne Identity)? Cloning / genetic research (Jurasic Park)? On a side note, I am pretty sure the idea of cloning ninjas back then was a bunch of bull, but look at where the technology is today.

The acting may not be what this movie is remembered for, but Dudikoff is convincing as the American Ninja. He doensn't say too much, but he knows what's going on and he definitely seems to know how to kill ninjas. Steve James convinces you that he's actually having a good time killing ninjas. The bad guys convince you that they are indeed bad. What more can you possibly need?

Overall, this movie is jam packed with action and cool fighting sequences. There are a coupla cheesy scenes (jumping from the cliff onto the jet boat, and Steve James wrestling with like 15 guys), but that is what makes the movie funny. Its a shame that more movies today can't pull off this type of deliberate unprofessionalism once in awhile. Anyways, American Ninja 2 is a favoritie of mine (although I wouldn't really admit this outside of Amazon).

Couple of minor gripes:

1) Why go through all the trouble of a high speed truck chase, jumping out of the truck at full speed, crashing the truck, and blowing up the truck into the side of building... all to get rid of ONE stinking ninja who is barely hanging on. Couldn't Dudikoff just stop the truck, get out, and then beat up the ninja?

2) Since when do ninja masters start packing sawed off shotguns?

Although American Ninja 3 is included on the other side of the DVD, consider it as a bonus. American Ninja 2 is worth the price alone.

5/5 Perhaps the best deal in DVD history
  by Wheelchair Assassin (The Great Concavity)
Putting the second and third installments of the "American Ninja" series on one specially-priced DVD just may have been the best idea that humanity has had since the wheel. These two movies, along with the original "American Ninja" film, represent everything that bad, low-budget action movies should be: negligible plotting, lame dialogue, wooding acting, and plenty of semi-believable martial-arts action. Here, in one sentence, is the plot of both movies: an American martial-arts whiz (played by Michael Dudikoff in the first two movies, and some other guy in the third one), with help from his well-muscled friend Jackson, takes on a sinister tycoon's private army of ninjas. Not that plot really matters, since it's interrupted about every five minutes for a fight scene. Dudikoff and the other guy can't really act, but they can fight, and that's all that really matters. No self-respecting fan of bad action should be without this DVD.

5/5 Ninjas, ninjas, and then......more ninjas!!
  by Sinthetik Devil (Garden Grove, CA)
This DVD is one of the best buys in town. 2 classic movies for the price of one? Unheard of! I picked this one up as soon as it was released and I was not disappointed.

American Ninja 2 was one of my childhood favorites, and watching it in DVD format brought tears to my eyes. Dudikoff is the quiet hero, accompanied by Jackson, his muscle bound friend who says awesome one liners that bring a dash of comedy into the mix. Together they battle an army of super ninjas led by an evil ninja master, who in turn is commanded by a rich drug dealer. Same plot as the first film, and just as enjoyable.

American Ninja 3 doesn't have Dudikoff, but is still a great B action flick. The plot is exactly the same as the previous two films, but the action choreography is a little better than its predecessors. Steve James is even more brilliant as Jackson in this film because he gets more of the spotlight than he did in the first two films, and he makes the most of it. The only thing that puzzled me is Jackson's martial arts knowledge...when did he learn to wield double swords?

Both films have predictable plots, corny dialogue, sub-par acting and fighting, but none of that matters with films like this. These elements just make it that much better. These films are meant to be devoid of intellect. It's just purely entertainment, nothing more.

Perhaps it's just nostalgia that is clouding my judgement, but show these films to your kids and they will be ninja kicking you every day for a month. What can beat that?

5/5 Ninjas Ninjas Everywhere!
  by Stanley Runk (Camp North Pines)
Dudikoff and James come back for another heapin' helpin' of ninja hellraisin'. This time they're after a drug lord. Now if you were a multibillionaire drug lord with a top bio-engineer on staff, how would you protect your investment? Naturally you'd do the logical thing and create an army of Superninjas. That's exactly what this villain does too! Dudikoff and James catch on to this and there's major butt kickin' in store. Dudikoff is still likeable as he snatches arrows out of mid-air, woos a scientists chick and looks like a prettyboy. Steve James is pretty much a scene stealer with his one liners and cool fight scenes. In fact, James is the true highlight of these films coz his fighting style is so cool, and some great facial expressions. Definitely one of the most underrated action stars ever. The superninjas are supposed to be superhuman, but Dudikoff(and everyone else) seem to have no problem dispatching them like any other action movie thugs. Plus, what better way to show off the power of these new superninjas than to have the head ninja slaughter about thirty of them in front of a bunch of potential investors? Very fun movie. American Ninja 3 only really works coz of James, who's pretty much the star of the film. David Bradly steps in for Dudikoff, and isn't all that impressive. To Bradly's credit, he seems to actually have martial arts knowledge(most likely how he got the role, coz it sure wasn't his acting abilities), but zero of Dudikoff's charm(though Bradly can snatch arrows out of the air too!). I've seen worse action stars, but not many. The plot seems similar to Part 2, with a evil scientist dude messing with viruses. He needs Bradly(alive of course) to carry out his fiendish plan, though it's never said what it really is he's trying to do. The villain here(Marjoe from everyone's favorite giant rat movie, Food Of The Gods) is a little more charismatic than the villains from the two previous films, but that's not saying much. Like most reviewers have said, the money is worth it for AN2. However, Part 3 is cool just for the sake of Steve James and his cool fight scenes. Are you a real man? Yeah? Then you need this dvd.

5/5 Hilarious start to finish
  by MR M BOWMAN (UK)
American Ninja 2 has to be the one film i can watch endlessly and constantly crack up in hysterics every time.
Unintentionally funny, the "storyline" has a drug baron running some sort of "Super Ninja" program (yes they are actually called Super Ninja)off an island(called Blackbeard Island lol). The two heroes, Dudikoff and Steve James, get into all sorts of unnessecary fights along the way to stopping the baron.
There is at least one giggle in every scene, and so many times i end up laughing out loud, tears streaming.
The acting is woeful from everyone, the dialouge pathetic, and the fight scenes are just amazingly bad. The music just adds to the goofiness of this film.
Its BRILLIANT!!
So many scenes like i said to look out for, but here are my personal favs that i can remember:

1. The fight scenes near the start at the island on some rocks is awfully cherographed. One ninja gets killed having a stick thrown at his chest!

2.Practically all the dialouge is cheesey and goofy.

3.A scene in a bar where a mass brawl erupts. Much hilarity.

4. Every character is brilliantly woeful.

Amercian Ninja 3 is even worse! This one replaced Dudikoff with some muppet called David Bradley who looks like a football player named Gianfranco Zola, a midget italian who used to play for Chelsea.
One classic scene near the end has him doing an almost Incredible Hulk changeover where he gains inner strength, and yes it is meant to be serious.
This Bradley guy is awful, and it makes the film even more funnier.
Plotwise, its a repeat of the second film, but with acting and dialouge like this, you dont need plot.

If you like having a laugh over bad films, you will be hard pushed to find anything more hysterical then American Ninja 2 and 3.