| American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Cedric Sundstrom |
| Screenplay by | Cedric Sundstorm[1] |
| Story by | Gary Conway[1] |
| Produced by | Harry Alan Towers[1] |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | George Bartels[1] |
| Edited by |
|
| Music by | George S. Clinton[1] |
Production company | Breton Film Productions Ltd.[1] |
| Distributed by | Cannon International[1] |
Release date |
|
Running time | 89 minutes[1] |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $5,002,153 (US)[2] $654,454 (West Germany) |
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt is a 1989 American martial arts action film directed by Cedric Sundstrom and starring David Bradley. It is based on a story by Gary Conway.[1] A sequel to American Ninja 2: The Confrontation (1987), it is the third installment in the American Ninja franchise, followed by American Ninja 4: The Annihilation (1991).
The film depicts a cobra-themed terrorist who is experimenting on using viral infections as a method of bioterrorism. When an infected ninja and his allies try to fight against him, they are confronted with a private army consisting of clones.
Plot
[edit]A powerful terrorist known as "The Cobra", has infected Sean Davidson, the American Ninja, with a deadly virus. He uses Sean as a test subject in his biological warfare experiments. Sean and his partners Curtis Jackson and Dexter have no choice but to fight The Cobra and his army of genetically-engineered ninja clones led by the female ninja Chan Lee.
Cast
[edit]- David Bradley as Sean Davidson
- Stephen Webber as Young Sean Davidson
- Steve James as Sergeant Curtis Jackson
- Marjoe Gortner as "The Cobra"
- Michele B. Chan as Chan Lee
- Yehuda Efroni as General Andreas
- Calvin Jung as Izumo
- Evan J. Klisser as Dexter
- Grant Preston as Minister of Interior
- Mike Huff as Dr. Holger
- Alan Swerdlow as Police Captain
- Thapelo Mofokeng as Police Sergeant
- Eckard Rabe as Sean's Father
- John Barrett as Joe Simpson (uncredited)
- Mike Stone as Tournament Arbiter (uncredited)
Production
[edit]Filming
[edit]The film, shot in South Africa (not mentioned on the credits), was the first in the American Ninja series to feature a lead actor other than Michael Dudikoff (playing Joe Armstrong in the first two American Ninja movies as well as in American Ninja 4: The Annihilation together with David Bradley's character Sean Davidson); Bradley was cast after Kurt McKinney turned down the offer.
Release
[edit]Home media
[edit]American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt was released on home video in the United Kingdom by Pathé in September 1989.[citation needed]
Reception
[edit]Critical response
[edit]It was received poorly by critics.[3] "Cart." of Variety described the film as a "cheap-looking pic" and "Even for this level of by-the-numbers action filmmaking, Cedric Sundtrom script is incredibly lame and his staging of chop-socky violence is little better."[4]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt". American Film Institute. Retrieved August 8, 2019.
- ^ American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Willman, Chris (1989-02-28). "'Ninja 3': Bland Leading the Bland". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-04.
- ^ Cart. (1991). Variety's Film Reviews 1989-1990. Vol. 21. R. R. Bowker. There are no page numbers in this book. This entry is found under the header "March 1, 1989". ISBN 0-8352-3089-9.