Ranked: Michael Dudikoff – The Cannon Years

In past editions of Ranked we have ranked the Cannon filmographies of the two cornerstones of that company… Charles Bronson and Chuck Norris.

Now in honor of his birthday, we rank the Cannon films of another major player in the history of Cannon… Michael Dudikoff.

I said “we rank” because once again I have turned to some of my fellow Bulletproof Action contributors, Chad Cruise, Matt Spector and Chris DePetrillo for their input. Plus we have some special guests joining us…

• Keith Rainville – Keith is not only a ninja expert (check out his awesome site VintageNinja.net) he also has a Dudikoff theory that Rescue Me is actually a sequel of Platoon Leader.
• Will Slater – Exploding Helicopter‘s guru is back again to provide his thoughts and analysis on the Cannon career of Michael Dudikoff.
• Matt Poirier: It has been too long since we had the Direct to Video Connoisseur on the site, but there was no way we weren’t going to send him an invite to this Dudi Birthday Bash!
• Saurav Dutt: Saurav is one of the Bulletproof Podcast’s biggest fans, he is a contributor to major media outlets and once again a contributor to a non-major media outlet, Bulletproof Action.
• Austin Trunick: To add one more layer of creditability to this mega-post, we have once again called in the definitive Cannon expert, author or The Cannon Film Guide himself.

Now onto the countdown…

Chris the Brain: Midnight Ride was such a departure from what I had grown to expect from a Michael Dudikoff/Cannon collaboration that I forgot it was even a Cannon film. Midnight Ride is an action thriller about a cop (played by Dudi) and his estranged wife being terrorized by a psychotic drifter played by Mark Hamill.

It has been some time since I have watched Midnight Ride, however one scene that will forever be etched in my memory is when Dudi’s character, Lawson, is strapped to the hood of a taxi cab by Hamill’s Justin McKay and then McKay starts driving around like the mad man that he is. Robert Mitchum adds some star power as the doctor treating McKay… and obviously doing a bang up job.

If you’ve never seen Midnight Ride and you are a Dudikoff loyalist, you owe it to yourself to watch it at least once.. but you’ll probably have little to no desire to ever watch it again.

Chad Cruise: Let me clue you into a little secret; don’t fuck with Dudi’s diabetic brother! It’s a big reason why there was so much instability in the Persian Gulf in the 1990’s and just might be a contributor to that lack of trust everyone seems to have with the U.S. government.

It won’t be known as Dudi’s best film from Cannon by anyone, but The Human Shield isn’t all bad. We do get to see Dudi take on an entire army in the early 90’s Iraq. That wasn’t something you would have thought to have happened even a few years earlier, and while this Dudikoff isn’t round-kicking ninjas through windows, he does rack up an impressive body count as military badass Doug Matthews.

Saurav Dutt: Within a few moments of the Cannon sign flashing up on your screen a foreboding score hits and you know you’re in grownup Dudikoff territory. No time for goofy ninjas, sidekicks and PG-13 fisticuffs, instead we’re treated to a foul mouthed, neck breaking, cigarette smoking, machine gun wielding, ass kicking Special Forces hard nut that ranks among Dudikoff’s more antagonistic protagonists in his Cannon repertoire. 

Interestingly Chain of Command was initially released in 1994 but got a wider Stateside release two years later as Cannon was in its death throes, marking it out as one of their final pictures. It’s not quite the perfect Cannon gumbo but still has a lot going for action aficionados, including Dudikoff at his rugged best, some inspired explosion laden action set pieces, a memorable villain and a typically scene stealing R.Lee Ermey as a duplicitous oil boss who likes to drink Bombay rum with pubic hair. I did not fabricate this last observation.

Before you can say opening credits, we’re into full Die Hard mode as an oil compound is taken over by some nasty terrorists that kidnap the American personnel and slaughter everyone else not realizing Dudikoff has slipped through their hands. We then move towards a slightly overcomplicated plot about oil takeovers, political chicanery and the usual CIA/off the book organization diplomatic wrangling that eats up more screen time than we’d like, giving way too much screen time to an annoying, overweight CIA head with receding hair who unfortunately never gets a bullet through his eye for being an annoying jackass. Throughout it all Dudikoff remains a fugitive from justice, quickly slipping onto the radar of Israeli intelligence while being hunted down by the terrorists, getting involved with some sultry eye candy, and trying to stay one step ahead of the lead villain Todd Curtis who cavorts around with a wig of such horrific proportions that it was probably a reject from This is Spinal Tap, seriously this thing has to be seen to be believed. Curtis does make for a slimy villain who revels in shooting innocent people and raping scantily clad women as you do in films like this. Dudikoff makes sure he gets what he deserves.

There’s more than enough action to go around with Dudikoff throwing down in a knife fight or two, letting his kicks fly, blowing up lots and lots of shit and doing a lot of it with a cigarette dangling from his lips while throwing F bombs to his heart’s content. Joe Armstrong he is not.

You get the feel that it’s an end of a Cannon era as we head towards our climax but Chain of Command gives you enough of what you’re looking for and the climactic showdown with our slimy villain is a highlight reel finish. This one may have slipped under the radar of many a Cannon viewer but it’s worth a watch. Currently available uncut on YouTube if that’s where you get your kicks.

Now for some Bonus Bullet Points:

• If you ever wanted to see Dudikoff emulate Van Damme in a moment where a babe whips off his towel after a hot shower, then this is the movie for you. 
• If you ever wondered why stopping to clean up your room in the middle of a terrorist attack is a bad idea then this is the movie for you
• If you take a drink every time Dudikoff snaps back his Zippo lighter for no apparent reason you may not make it to the end of the movie

Matt Poirier: While Rescue Me is now available to stream on Tubi here in the States, I initially got it courtesy of Mr. Kenner over at Movies in the Attic, who sent me his VHS copy. It’s a very interesting film, in part because it was made in 1992, towards the end of Cannon’s run as a great movie house; but also because as a premise itself, it feels like it came about five years too late–it feels like it belongs in the mid-to-late 80s to me. It’s like we’re watching a movie paradigm that’s battling the calendar, while at the same time Cannon and Golan-Globus had already felt their own wave break and recede on them.

I don’t quite put this with Bloody Birthday as a Dudikoff acting against type, because he still plays something of an action hero, this just isn’t an action film. That being said, Dudikoff is excellent, and handles this part really well. I think lost in the quality of his action films is the actual quality he has as an actor, and he really shows us that here. He’s at his best when he’s playing a really good guy, and, I don’t know, there’s something about him that just exudes really good guy. Like I feel like if I tripped and fell in front of Dudikoff, he’d be genuinely concerned about whether or not I was okay.

Overall, I think Recsue Me is pretty good–though it did dragg in some parts, which is more noticeable in a film like this than say in a big time actioner, and that hurt it a bit. It has action elements, but it’s more of a comedy and coming of age tale in the mold of License to Drive, which is great if you love that kind of thing, but if you’re looking for ass kicking Dudikoff action, maybe not your best bet. I had fun with it though, other than the dragging, it hit all the right spots, and made for a really good time.

Matt Spector: River of Death or as it likes to make sure you are aware of in the opening title, Alistair MacLean’s River of Death. Having the man behind films and novels like The Guns of Navarone and Ice Station Zebra must have sounded pretty good to Cannon, although MacLean’s later work is not really looked favorable upon like is older works. River of Death is a action adventure movie set in the jungles of South America and even if the story is not remarkable there is plenty to like.

First (and probably second through fifth) is Michael Dudikoff as adventurer John Hamilton is just too cool for school. Normally, I find narration a lazy way for a movie to tell a story but listening to John’s inner monolog was just liking having Dudi talk right to me. River of Death also features the top bad guys in history, the Nazi’s with two of them played by Robert Vaughn and Donald Pleasence and they chew so much scenery their jaws were probably sore after filming. Throw in supporting roles with likes of Herbert Lom and L.Q. Jones and you may start to question why this movie isn’t higher on the list. It is not because of the actors or action, but probably because the story is nothing to write home about. More likely it is forgotten because River of Death features one of the worst cabaret performances (I hesitate to call it singing) in movie history.

Will Slater: Released in the same year as the Cannon produced Missing In Action 3, you would be forgiven for dismissing Platoon Leader as just another ‘Namsploitation shoot ‘em up. But, contrary to its appearance, the film turns out to be a surprisingly serious war drama. Michael Dudikoff plays a greenhorn lieutenant posted to a firebase in the thick of the frontline fighting. Once in post, our inexperienced leader must earn the respect of the hard-bitten grunts under his command while learning the true nature of war.

Based on a memoir by a Vietnam veteran, Platoon Leader’s sober and reflective tone has more in keeping with Oliver Stone’s Platoon than with any of Chuck Norris’ POW rescuing antics or Cannon’s other jingoistic exploding hut-ters (see David Carradine’s P.O.W. the Escape).

The material gives Mikey Duds a rare opportunity to flex his thespian muscles as his character turns from a by-the-book ball-breaker to a battle-hardened and respected leader of men. And he is ably backed up by well chosen array of supporting players. Unfortunately, while you cannot fault the intent or aspiration, Platoon Leader falls a little short in the execution. The story has no clear stakes, and its themes have been better explored elsewhere. It is interesting to wonder how this might have turned out with a different director. As a former stuntman, Aaron Norris certainly knows how to shoot a firefight. But as key dramatic moments land leadenly on the screen you long for a subtler hand behind the camera. Still, Platoon Leader is an essential watch for any Michael Dudikoff fan. The film may be worthy but dull, but it does feature a career best turn from everyone’s favourite American Ninja.

Chris the Brain: The novelty of having not one but two American Ninjas in the same movie was the hook for American Ninja 4: The Annihilation… although some would say it takes a bit too long for Dudikoff to show up in the movie. The wait time for Dudi’s Joe Armstrong to show up also spotlights the one glaring omission from the film… where’s Steve James’ Curtis Jackson!?!? Sorry, but the love child of Clarence Gilyard Jr. and Chris Rock could not fill James’ big shoes.

The Dudi wait time and lack of Steve James aside, there’s still plenty to enjoy about American Ninja 4… like all the ninja action, the magnificent heads of hair on both Michael Dudikoff and David Bradley, nobody writes himself a better villainous character than James Booth (even if he used the name David Geeves for this one) and Booth’s Mulgrew is a show stealer, plus Ken Gampu as Dr. Tamba and Kely McLung as the evil Super Ninja!

Keith J. Rainville: Ninja III: The Domination may be beloved now but for this teenage ninja craze fanatic, the departure from the Enter the— and Revenge of the Ninja formula was an ominous vanguard of a future where Cannon and Kosugi divorced and the R-rated exploitation days of the boom prematurely yielded to cartoon turtles. However on a hot August Saturday in 1985 my wannabe-ninja crew was treated to much-needed defibrillation in the form of American Ninja.

The relaunch of Cannon’s ninja efforts (after false starts with both Sho Kosugi and Chuck Norris touted as leads in trade ads) gave us new franchise star Michael Dudikoff, under proven director Sam Firstenberg and the original catalyst of the entire movement Mike Stone staging fights. We were absolutely delirious at the return of Tadashi Yamashita to the ninja game after he absolutely terrified us in The Octagon years previous.

The undulation of good to bad in American Ninja made for a roller coaster of a ride. Right from the get-go we got a textbook execution of Japanese “hojojutsu” as two ninja hog-tied a GI with a chain, and we’re all like ‘Holy sh*t, this is real!’. Consistently nifty martial arts followed, Steve James was absolutely sublime, and we got something at the end the genre previously lacked — a genuine full scale battle. But… there’s also the rainbow ninja training playground and Yamashita trading his sickles for bullets and f’n lazers.

Dudikoff, however, was never the problem. He took on a lot in this movie, quietly assuming the mantle of both a Cannon franchise and the hottest martial arts/pop media fad since Bruce Lee. With few lines of dialog, he sold it all with a James Dean-ish presence and a steely squint aspirational of Lee Van Cleef. He conveyed both a social awkwardness us dorky teenagers could relate to and the no-hesitation heroism we all wished we possessed inside.American Ninja was the hypo of adrenalin we extreme ninj-ites needed — it was absolutely Cannon A.F., had great music, helped sell a ton of mail order weapons to kids trying to poke their eyes out, and alongside the same year’s Pray for Death sustained the weakened heartbeat of the 80s ninja boom a couple more much-welcomed years.

Austin Trunick: Chuck Norris passed on this proposed sequel to Invasion USA and Dudi-konnoisseurs around the world should be grateful that he did, because it resulted in the best non-ninja vehicle of Dudikoff’s fast-paced Cannon career. In Avenging Force, Dudikoff takes over the role of special agent Matt Hunter—and unless you tilt your head, squint your eyes, and down a couple tall glasses of grain alcohol, the hero’s name is about as far as this movie’s connection to Invasion USA goes.

This time around Hunter finds himself in the Big Easy, paying a visit to his old military buddy, Larry Richards (played by the peerless Steve James), now a Senatorial candidate. When would-be assassins ambush Larry during the chaos of Mardi Gras, Hunter traces the attack back to a mysterious organization of white supremacists known as Pentangle who get their rocks off by playing a most dangerous game with their enemies deep in the bayous of Louisiana.

I said this in my book and I’ll say it again here: there are few things more satisfying than watching Michael Dudikoff and Steve James beat the crap out of racists. Those two were already arguably the most dynamic duos in ‘80s action, but director Sam Firstenberg surrounded them with an irresistible rogues’ gallery that includes John P. Ryan, perpetually wide-eyed and his intensity dialed to eleven, as mega-racist supreme Elliott Glastenbury, and James Booth—who also wrote the film, and endearingly set himself up to be the big bad in a sequel that sadly never happened. Mix in several great action scenes that make excellent use of New Orleans and its surrounding swampland, and a quartet of bad guys who wear unforgettably flamboyant disguises, and you’ve got a movie that sits in the top tier with both of Dudikoff & James’ ninja flicks. Here’s a little tip, too: if you want to make a full night out of Southern-fried actioners about humans being hunted for sport by eccentric millionaires, Avenging Force pairs quite well with Hard Target as a double feature.

Chris DePetrillo: Collectively, we here at Bulletproof Action have reviewed hundreds of movies. Some we’ve loved, some we’ve loathed, others fell somewhere in the middle. Yet if you were to tell us that we’d have to agree on one movie to put on a loop for 24 hours straight, this is the one we’d choose.

I know how much I love this movie, and part of what endeared me to this site and enabled me to become a part of it is that that love is shared by the others here. And what’s not to love? We’ve got Michael Dudikoff and Steve James reunited as Joe Armstrong and Curtis Jackson, once again running afoul of ninjas. We’ve got secret islands where experiments are being conducted, beachfront battles where ninjas are being tossed off of giant rocks, and of course, the Blind Beggar bar fight, arguably the greatest scene that Our Pal Dudi has ever been a part of. Throw in the comedic relief of supporting players Jeff Weston and Larry Poindexter, and you’ve got the recipe for a film that succeeds in being more entertaining than its predecessor, and one of the high points in Dudikoff’s career.

Although Avenging Force edges this one out every so slightly to earn the #1 spot on my personal Top 10 List, this is what I consider not just the best film in the American Ninja series, but one of the best films that Cannon ever put out.