How the movie "American Ninja" was filmed: shots from the set and 13 interesting facts about the film (12 photos)

This is a film about a young guy Joe Armstrong, who masters the art of ninja, who got into the US Army.





1. The studio "Cannon films" was literally obsessed with films about ninja. In the early 80s, three films of the franchise "Ninja" with Sho Kosugi in the leading role came out from under the wing of this studio.

The studio decided not to stop there, but to make another film about ninja, but in a slightly different vein, namely to make a film about an American ninja, which was supposed to appeal to viewers all over the world.



The producers of the Ninja trilogy, Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan, hired the same director Sam Firstenberg who had shot the previous films, and they took Paul de Milche as the screenwriter. After that, they sat down to develop the plot of the film.

2. The producers came up with the title "American Ninja", but as it turned out, another studio (namely TWE) had already shot a film under this title, and this film was supposed to be released earlier. Because of this, it was decided to rename the film "American Warrior".





But right before the release of the film "American Ninja" from TWE, the studio's producers decided to change the title to "Pray for Death". This situation made Globus and Golan very happy, because now they could return their film to its original title.

3. More than 400 actors came to audition for the main role, from which it was necessary to choose one. But in the end, few were suitable for this role, despite having acting experience and a good level of martial arts.



After reviewing hundreds of candidates, the producers settled on a little-known actor named Michael Dudikoff, who had no experience in martial arts. They justified their choice by saying that Dudikoff looked very much like James Dean.

But Michael deserves credit for working very hard, knowing the responsibility that lay on him. He trained hard in martial arts, devoting the lion's share of his time to them. And on the set, he gave it his all.

4. According to the producers and director, the main villain was supposed to be played by Sho Kosugi, who had previously played the main character in the Ninja trilogy. But shortly before filming began, Kosugi had a falling out with the producers and left to star in another film.



They urgently needed to find a new villain for the film, and in the end this role was offered to Chuck Norris. But he refused the role, because he did not want to hide his face under a mask for almost the entire film.

5. The film's budget was very small, and the script was constantly being changed on the fly. Therefore, there was not much time for rehearsals and filming extra takes. Often, the actors received their script sheets just before filming.



6. During filming, actor Michael Dudikoff felt very unwell. It seemed that everything would soon pass, but the situation only worsened. He decided to see a doctor, and he diagnosed malaria. Fortunately, Dudikoff saw a doctor in time and the treatment was quite quick.7. Filming took place in the Philippines. And it's not at all because it's beautiful there, and not even because this was the director's idea. This choice was made for the purpose of saving money, because filming in the Philippines was cheaper than in other places.



The cheapness was explained by the difficult political and economic situation in the country. Therefore, the filmmakers were immediately warned not to stick their necks out and not to run into conflicts, because next to the hotel where they lived was a very poor area with not the most friendly people.

The director once told in an interview that one day he came to his room and noticed that someone was rummaging through his things.

8. It was decided to take place on an American military base for a reason. The screenwriter decided that in order to show that the ninja is American, the film should take place on a US military base.



9. During the filming of one of the scenes, Michael Dudikoff got hit in the head with an aluminum katana. Yes, the katana was fake, but the blow was so powerful that the actor had to spend two days in the hospital.



10. The funniest thing is the ninja training base. The thing is that the role of this training camp was played by the most ordinary children's playground with trampolines and swings, which was slightly reworked for the film.



11. The characters who attack the car at the very beginning of the film are not actors at all, but local residents. Moreover, these roles were played by real rebels, of which there were a huge number in the Philippines at that time.



12. Remember the bazooka that Jackson shot from? Yes, it's a very ordinary bazooka, but for some reason they decided to attach a slightly modified shopping basket from a supermarket to it.



13. With a budget of 1 million dollars, the film collected 10 million at the box office, which allowed for sequels to be filmed.

A total of 4 parts of the film were released. True, Michael Dudikoff was absent from the third part, which is why it was decided to make a story about another character, played by David Bradley.