I liked Michael Dudikoff in the lead role. But I think if they had gone with Kurt McKinney it might have produced more dynamic fights scenes due to his Martial Arts background.
shareMan, Kurt McKinney kicked butt in No Retreat, No Surrender.
shareI agree!
It seemed not to dawn on the filmmakers at that time that you can't just plonk a non martial artist into a film, give him a few weeks training and expect it to pass off as authentic because it will show, and cross that with the fact that western fight choreography back then really wasn't a patch on oriental productions and it's left a little shallow for hard core martial arts fans.
Still, I can't fault the films for fun!
I actually think M.D. was better for that actual role. Sure, he may not be a martial artist like McKinney, but I don't think Kurt would've done as well with the "loner" character. It's kinda like John Saxon in Enter The Dragon. He was obviously NOT a martial artist (much more obvious than Dudikoff), but he fit the character. Sometimes it's worth the compromise.
"He beat Joe Louis' ass"
Yeah, but if they HAD cast Kurt, they probably wouldn't have had to use Richard Norton to double him, like they did with Dudikoff.
shareThat doesn't really have anything to do with what's better for the "loner" character.
"Cassie, do NOT stare at me with those dead eyes you church bitch!!!!"
Richard Norton doubled for Dudikoff?
I didn't know that. That's awesome.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
Actually John Saxon was at least a "brown belt" at the time of the "Enter the Dragon" was made. So it would be wrong to say that he was less a "martial artist" as Dudikoff who had no such training prior to American Ninja.
Not saying Saxon was an expert or anything but he wasn't exactly a newbie either. He might have appeared to be so, but then again most wouldn't look so good with respect to that skill with the likes of Bruce Lee, Jim Kelly and Bolo Yeung sharing screentime.
I know that it's been written that Mr. Saxon was a brown belt at the time, but I don't know if I really believe that. To make it to brown belt in those days (martial arts schools took much more pride in actually EARNING your rank. Today you can get a new belt every 4-6 weeks if the price is right), he'd have been MUCH closer to expert than newbie and that just did not translate on film in my eyes.
"Give these people Ayuh!"
Arnold- Total Recall
Yeah, but like the poster above said, its hard to shine when you're sharing the screen with the likes of Bruce Lee, Bolo Yeung, and Jim Kelly.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
I loved that guy in No retreat no surrender!
Richard Norton doubled for Dufikoff in this movie? I had no idea!
shareWait, so was McKinney actually offered this film before Dudikoff or is this a hypothetical?
I just finished watching this for the first time in over 20 years and I came away impressed with Dudikoff's physical performance (He's not much of an actor though). He's clearly a good athlete, but his moves are fluid and natural. He's at least as convincing as the guy who plays the Black Star Ninja--who it turns out is an actual martial artist, though I was almost positive he was the guy who played "Chico" on "Chico and the Man".
'Cause there's thunder in your heart... every move is like lightning!
McKinney turned down the lead role in American Ninja 3, so the producers got David Bradley.
shareThat's interesting.
I recall American Ninja 3 being pretty bad, so maybe he made the right choice. Then again, looking at his IMDB page, it looks like other than NRNS most of his career has been spent as a soap opera actor, so AN3 would not have been any worse.
Agreed. He was great in No Retreat, No Surrender.
Poorly Lived and Poorly Died, Poorly Buried and No One Criedshare
No!!!! I can't picture anybody but Michael Dudikoff as the lead
i am fire i am death