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American Ninja 4: The Annihilation is a 1990 American martial arts action film starring Michael Dudikoff, David Bradley, and James Booth. A sequel to American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt (1989), it is the fourth installment in the American Ninja franchise, followed by American Ninja V and was directed by Cedric Sundstrom. The film marked Michael Dudikoff's final appearance in the American Ninja franchise.
| American Ninja 4: The Annihilation | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Cedric Sundstrom |
| Written by | David Geeves |
| Produced by | Ovidio G Assonitis |
| Starring |
|
| Music by | Nic. tenBroek |
| Distributed by | Cannon Pictures MGM/UA Home Video Warner Home Video |
Release date |
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Running time | 99 minutes |
| Countries | United States Lesotho[1] |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $358,047 (US) |
Plot
editA Delta Force unit attempts to escape from a pursuing group of ninja in a foreign country but most are killed and the rest are captured. The secret Ninja Army is headed by Colonel Scarf Mulgrew) an ex-British policeman and anti-American who has joined with Shiekh Ali Maksood, a Muslim militant, who plans to bring a suitcase nuke to New York. Mulgrew threatens to burn the commandos alive and use the nuke unless he is paid a ransom of 50 million dollars. Agents Sean Davidson and Carl Brackston are sent on a covert mission to rescue the prisoners and defeat the terrorists.
Sean and Carl parachute in and meet their contact Pango. While gathering information from a local operative named Freddie, they are confronted by Mulgrew and the corrupt local police headed by O'Reilly. Freddie is killed by Mulgrew but Sean, Carl, and Pango escape. Pango takes them to Dr. Sarah a Peace Corps nurse who hides them from the police. Soon after ninjas attack, capturing Sean, Carl and Sarah alive while Pango escapes, and imprisoning them in an old British fort to be tortured by Mulgrew. Mulgrew assaults Sarah and later it is revealed Mulgrew killed her father.
Joe Armstrong, a special forces commando now working as a teacher with the Peace Corps, is finally persuaded to help rescue his friend, Sean, and the others.[2] Joe convinces the local rebel group known as Sulphur Springs, a former penal colony led by Dr. Tamba, to join them and they steal engineering plans to the fort. Joe enters the fort stealthily and rescues Sean, Carl, Sarah and most of the commandos as they are being executed while Sulphur Springs also attacks the fort. Maksood's helicopter carrying the bomb is destroyed by Carl, Mulgrew is killed by Sean, and the Super Ninja is killed by Joe. Joe bids goodbye to Dr. Tamba and to Sean saying he will be at the school before walking away through heaps of dead ninjas and the debris of the destroyed fort.
Cast
edit- Michael Dudikoff as Agent Joe Armstrong
- David Bradley as Agent Sean Davidson
- Dwayne Alexandre as Agent Carl Brackston
- Robin Stille as Dr. Sarah[3]
- Ken Gampu as Dr. Tamba
- James Booth as Colonel Scarf Mulgrew
- Ron Smerczak as Shiekh Ali Maksood
- Frantz Dobrowsky as Captain O'Reilly
- Kely McClung as Super Ninja
- Jody Abrahams as Pango
- Anthony Fridjhon as Freddie / Treddle
- David Sherwood as Gavin
- Sean Kelly as Norris
- Jamie Bartlett as Segal
- John Pasternak as Carlos
- Robin B. Smith as Schultz
- Shane Safi as Little Special School Child
- Rev'd Fr. (Alan Edward) Clement Mullenger SSM Society of the Sacred Mission as Fr. Hallinger (vicar).
Release
editThe film was released on South Africa on August 31, 1990; in the United States, it was released on March 8, 1991.[4]
References
edit- ^ Harry Alan Towers: The Transnational Career of a Cinematic Contrarian. McFarland. October 21, 2014. ISBN 9781476615233.
- ^ Terrorism in American Cinema: An Analytical Filmography, 1960-2008. McFarland. October 21, 2009. ISBN 9780786454426.
- ^ Assault of the Killer B's: Interviews with 20 Cult Film Actresses. McFarland. January 27, 2015. ISBN 9780786480418.
- ^ American Ninja 4: The Annihilation, bluray.com, June 21, 2024