As he died in 93 and this was released in 91
These are 3 possible reasons why Steve James wasn't in this picture:
1. He was offered to appear on this one but he declined to partake in any more Ninja movies.
2. The plot was made specifically to showcase Dudikoff's and Bradley's characters so they left Curtis Jackson out of the picture.
3. He was ill from pancreatic cancer and by the time this movie was in production (circa 1990 for a March '91 release) his condition was growing worse, he died in 1993 so for him to have died when he did, he must have started to feel sick around late '89 (American Ninja 3 was filmed in 1988) or early '90.
Or he was busy shooting McBain...
I'm a fan of the first two American Ninja movies but the only thing AN 4 has going for it, was that it's slightly better than American Ninja 3. (Come to think of it, it's better than 5 as well.) Plus there was some unintentional amusement.
I don't think it was the cancer that kept Steve James out of this film. He was in the 1994 pilot episode of the MANTIS TV show which was filmed in 1993. In that episode he does gymnastics and it wasn't a body double. He looked to be in top shape (like he did second ninja movie) and looked better than he did in the American Ninja 3 film. He died in December 1993 so the cancer obviously must have worked quickly because he was in good shape earlier that year.
Maybe he opted out of this film because he felt he was not getting a good deal and was underused. James was the true star of this series from the beginning. Honestly he alone made the series enjoyable but he had to take a back seat to the boring and robotic actors (if you can call them actors)Dudicoff and Bradley.
I'm guessing race played a role there and they wanted to keep the "All American Ninja" White. When Dudicoff opted out of the third film Steve James should have been the top star period. Instead he had to play sidekick to the less talented new face Bradley. Look at the IMDB reviews for the first three movies and Steve James gets almost all the praise.
I don't blame him. Steve made this series. RIP Steve James.
Yes I have to agree with you on that on what you said. It is a shame that he dd not appear in this fourth installment to American Ninja 4. I would have loved it if he had but I understand due to him having pancreatic cancer might have also made the decision for him to opt out of the movie or like you have said they only wanted a black male to do a small part in this movie and he wanted a major role in this movie.
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I'm pretty sure he simply declined being in the film because there may not have been anything for James' character to do and he obviously was gonna play sidekick to Dudikoff and Bradley once again. I think that the Brackston character (played by Dwayne Alexandre) was a fill-in for Curtis Jackson. The original plot may have been that Bradley and Jackson were the CIA agents that were captured by Mulgrew with Armstrong saving them both. At the same time, once Armstrong saved them, all 3 fight for their lives in a martial-arts extravaganza. That was probably the original plan from the beginning, to have them all 3.
shareIt sucked that he did not return,I Wish Steve got a chance to be the lead in some Martial Arts movies
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