Today we're going to take a look at the 1986 Cannon Films movie,
'Avenging
Force,' starring 80s B-movie action star Michael Dudikoff. This year marks the 30th anniversary of this cool action film set in the swamps of Louisiana.
When I was in high school, the Canon Film Group put out some of the most spectacular low-budget action films ever made.
They produced a lot of the Chuck Norris movies, Michael Dudikoff Movies and films of Jean-Claude Van Damme.
Cannon meant action. Cannon meant guy flick.
I was a Cannon Film fan and a Michael Dudikoff fan. I had first discovered him in another Cannon Film called 'American Ninja' which went on to spawn 4 sequels (unless you lived in Israel, then you got 5 sequels... I'll explain this in a minute.)
Michael Dudikoff was Cannon's rising star and if Cannon didn't go under I believe he would have become a superstar... like we think of Chuck Norris and Van Damme.
Michael has had a long B-movie action film career in films like 'Platoon Leader' 'River of Death' 'The Human Shield' 'Chain of Command' and 'Cyberjack.' He even starred in a TV series in the '90s called "Cobra" that lasted one season. He is still working in the low-budget action genre, most recently 'Navy Seals vs. Zombies' and the upcoming 'Hard Target 2.'
check out the trailer below for 'Avenging Force' (1986)
In 'Avenging Force' Dudikoff stars as Matt Hunter, a former secret agent who must take down an extreme right-winged vigilante group called Pentagle who hunt and kill men in the swamps of Louisiana as a sport and for their political gain. (Their form of assassination.)
The film was directed by Sam Firstenberg (Revenge of the Ninja, American Ninja, Breakin' 2) and co-starred Steve James and James Booth. Booth was the writer.
'Avenging Force' once again teamed Dudikoff with actor Steve James. They co-starred in a few of the American Ninja films together. This might be the reasoning for Israel having 5 American Ninja sequels.
What happened was when 'Avenging Force' came out in foreign countries the title was changed... in some countries it was released as 'American Warrior 2' because 'American Ninja' was released in those countries as 'American Warrior.' And because this was another martial arts action flick starring Dudikoff and James they called it a sequel to 'American Warrior.'
Well, in Israel the film was released as 'American Ninja 2.' Again, because it starred the same two guys from 'American Ninja.' I guess Cannon marketed it as a sequel in foreign countries because 'American Ninja' was very successful and they wanted to target the same audience.
Now, when Cannon made the real sequel to 'American Ninja' and titled it 'American Ninja 2' there was a problem.
 |
| Michael Dudikoff and Steve James |
They already had an 'American Ninja 2' overseas (which was actually 'Avenging Force.') So, they released the real 'American Ninja 2' in Israel as 'American Ninja 3.' Confused yet? This means that in the U.S. we have 5 American Ninja films but in Israel there are 6 American Ninja films. If you ever get to talking movies with an Israeli just remember that your American Ninja 5 is his American Ninja 6. Your conversations could be very confusing.
Here's some more trivia for you...
When the script to 'Avenging Force' was written, it was Cannon's intention to have it star Chuck Norris and it was going to be a sequel to Norris' 1985 film 'Invasion USA.'
Norris didn't care for the script and passed on the project. The script was then rewritten to fit a younger actor and Dudikoff was given the role. The character name remained the same. Matt Hunter is the main character in both 'Invasion USA' and 'Avenging Force.'
Let me talk a little directly about the movie 'Avenging Force.'
I loved the scenes set at a New Orleans Mardi Gras parade. They were pretty spectacular... and to see Dudikoff scaling the wall of a New Orleans balcony apartment and fighting on the roof... it was all super cool. As in most of Cannon's films there were plenty of explosions, gunfights, and martial arts combat. 'Avenging Force' doesn't disappoint in these areas.
I loved all the hunting scenes in the swamp where Dudikoff takes on the hunters one by one. Some of the scenes reminded me of the fight at the end of Swamp Thing.
A lot of people feel that this was Dudikoff's best film. I personally think 'Americn Ninja' was, but that's just a matter of opinion. They were both pretty good.
To me, the only thing missing from this film set in Louisiana was an alligator or two. Dudikoff spends plenty of time sludging around in the swamps and bayous but you never see a single gator. I wanted to see a few.
This was a fun film to watch and is definitely one of my favorite Cannon films.
The film was available on VHS but for some reason never got a DVD release until recently when a Blu-ray/DVD combo was released.
The Blu-ray has a very nice intro by director Sam Firstenberg and some good commentary. I highly recommend getting the Blu-ray.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time...
- Patrick Shawn Bennett
Movies by the Slice: with extra cheese.
