Product Details

• Actors: David Bradley, Mark Dacascos, Valarie Trapp, Rex Ryon, Melissa Hellman
• Directors: Sam Firstenberg
• Writers: John Corcoran
• Producers: Allan Greenblatt, Karen Arbeeny
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 14, 1995
• Run Time: 94 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302662192
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #380,548 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars No ninja...this time its samurai !!!, September 18, 2005

By 

Lunar Strain "Thrash, don't mind if I do" (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Samurai (DVD)

Since Cannon films pretty much ran the Ninja craze into the ground (especially after the rather dismal American Ninja 5), they decided to exploit another Asian icon, the Samurai. Here we get David Bradley (American Ninja 3-5) playing, oh my gosh, an American Samurai! When he was a baby his parents plane crashlands somewhere in Asia where he is found and raised by a Samurai and in turn is taught the Samurai fighting style. Sounds like American Ninja you say? You betcha! His 'addoptive' father is even the same actor that played Michael Dudikoff's 'addoptive' father in American Ninja! While growing up, his 'step-brother' gets jealous because his father gains more of a liking for Bradley and a blood feud occurs. Sounds like The Octagon you say? You betcha! When Bradley grows up and moves to L.A., a string of bizarre murders in Turkey garner his attention as they feature his brother's signature cut. He travels to turkey with an annoying "photographer" (who his very attractive) to hunt him down. He gets caught and is forced to join in a "fight to the death" tournament. Sounds like Bloodsport you say? You betcha!

As you can tell there isn't much originality in this movie but you shouldn't expect there to be. The story rips off countless other Cannon and Martial Arts pictures. Bradley gives his usual stiff performance and the love scene between him and the women photographer has to be one of the most "awkward" love scenes ever filmed with body doubles. Though the film is silly and cliche, director Sam Firstenberg (American Ninja 1 & 2) makes this an enjoyable Cannon outing that will sure to please fans of such films as American Ninja and Bloodsport.

The DVD, just like the other recent Cannon film releases by Warner Brothers, is as slim as they come. This means NO special features what-so-ever! Not even a chapter selection! The picture is full frame and rather grainy which makes this film hardly worth the $14 price tag. But us fans of cheesy action films such as this are happy to finally see get released!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars In its sort an excellent movie., February 21, 2000

By 

AJ "AJ" (Delaware, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: American Samurai [VHS] (VHS Tape)

This sort of movie is always a bit difficult to review. I mean, the acting is hardly worthy of the word, the story is threadbare, and it is still very enjoyable. As martial arts movies go, this one is top of the bill. The fighting is spectacular, especially the way different fighting styles got mixed. There is even a bit of a plot even if the usual stepbrothers competing for championship has become a little rusty by now and the score is just great. Mark Dacascos as the villainous brother does quite a good job being evil. Fortunately his rediculous overacting doesn't really matter in this sort of movie. David Bradley as the good guy is less convincing, but once the fighting starts he is quite in his element. All in all this is a treat for fans of martial arts. Anybody else will probably wonder if he isn't accidentally watching some sort of Manga.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars "Are you gonna question me all the way to Istanbul?", November 4, 2010

By 

Mike Sehorn "Rezo the Dezo" (APO, AE United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: American Samurai (DVD)

The story: raised in Japan by a samurai master after his parents died in a plane crash, Drew Collins (David Bradley, American Ninja 4 - The Annihilation) is honored by receiving his adopted family's sacred sword - much to the chagrin of his jealous half-brother Kenjiro (Mark Dacascos, Brotherhood of the Wolf), who steals the heirloom and leaves Drew for dead. To regain it, Drew must travel to Turkey to participate in an underground fighting tournament where Kenjiro reigns supreme.

I wish I could note this movie for its action scenes, but all of the karate and swordfighting in "American Samurai" plays second fiddle to the film's immeasurable weirdness factor. In other martial arts B-movies of this era, unintentional onscreen absurdity can become a minor part of the appeal, but here, it's the film's major highlight. It starts out fairly innocently via awkward staging of the plane crash, but within the next 20 minutes, you've got Kenjiro literally hissing like a snake at Drew, a psychedelic dream sequence in which Drew is attacked by a demon fellow, and more unaccounted-for voiceovers than in recent Steven Seagal fare. Even the standard romance between Drew and his reporter colleague Janet (Valarie Trapp) becomes a matter of "WTF?" when they're snarling at eachother one minute and suddenly making out in the street after a trip to the police station the next. This is followed by one of the strangest love scenes ever, featuring 100% body doubles; David Bradley's lay-in doesn't even have the same body type as him!

I could go on about this for the rest of the review, but some words need to be written for the action content. By large, it's tournament-based weapons fighting similar to Shootfighter. I get the impression that others would be more impressed by it than me, but even as a fan of low-budget fight flicks, the eight encounters didn't impress me. Though the fighters and their respective weapons are a varied and interesting-looking bunch - including international action choreographers Dion Lam (Spider-Man 2) and Antony Szeto (Wushu) in rare onscreen roles - only a handful of the battles last longer than a minute and even fewer feature any choreography other than random swinging or slicing. In some instances, it's rare that the two opponents even appear in the same shot. The Mark Dacascos/Antony Szeto showdown is an exception to this, but the final match between Drew and Kenjiro is a shot in the bucket: some of its shots have clearly been recycled from a previous fight. Thankfully, David Bradley gets to do some hand-to-hand stuff earlier in the movie and utilizes some traditional karate throws and holds that aren't often seen onscreen. That's cool, but it doesn't save the picture.

The movie also makes a point of being ambiguous: Kenjiro's supposed status of Yakuza isn't expounded upon, nor is there any attempt made to perpetuate the insinuation that he's dealing drugs; the relationship between Drew and his adopted father is merely touched on via a series of disorienting flashbacks in the beginning, but they obviously have a strong enough connection to communicate telepathically before Drew's showdown; and at one point, out of the blue, Drew starts narrating...for about a minute. The acting would've been largely decent for a B-movie were it not for the usually-reserved Mark Dacascos' demonstration that he too, at one time, could atrociously overact. In light of all of these compromising snafus taking precedence over what could've been some very promising fight scenes, I can't give this movie my blessing, but as far as all aspiring David Bradley fans go, you might as well snatch up everything you can. Dacascos devotees, however, can leave their hero's debut for later; this is far from his best offering.