American film director Sam Firstenberg During his career he made several films that undoubtedly left their mark on the history of combat cinema. In the 80-90s, when there was a peak in the popularization of Asian martial arts, Förstenberg shot a whole series of films about ninjas and samurai. The first of these films was "Revenge of the ninja" (1983), in which he first showed himself on a large scale Sho Kosugi, who later became an icon of ninja films. He also starred in Furstenberg's next action film, "Ninja 3: Spirit of the Ninja"(1984). A five-film franchise"American Ninja", one might say, built a career Michael Dudikoff, despite the fact that Firstenberg only worked on the first two parts. But today we'll talk about an action movie"American Samurai"(American Samurai) from 1992, which will receive a director's cut 32 years after its premiere.
As it turned out, "American Samurai"was released not in the form that was originally intended by the director. In a number of interviews Sam Firstenberg mentioned that the film was heavily changed by the production staff and lost its authenticity. In particular, here's what he said in a conversation with blogger John M. Gerva:
Filming and editing of "American Samurai" took place in Israel. The reason for this was that the company had a studio complex and editing facilities there, which probably made financial sense. After I finished shooting and editing the film, all the footage was sent to the company headquarters in Los Angeles. I stayed in Israel to direct several episodes of the television series "Sweating Bullets" (also known as "Tropical Heat"), which was produced there. At that time, the company was not involved in the production or preparation of any other film and, apparently, they had no choice but to tinker with American Samurai. Apparently someone with decision-making power didn't like what he saw and wanted to change it, so without my knowledge, they hired an editor, changed the order of the story, and added some new scenes to it. In my opinion, these changes and additions reduce the overall quality, impact, and impression of the film, but in the Hollywood way of filmmaking, the producer is the final authority and can do whatever he or she wants with his film. Although this experience was disappointing, it did not change my approach to directing films, I continued to do what I believe is the most effective way to tell compelling cinematic stories.
As for the plot"American Samurai", Sam added:
In my opinion, a martial arts action game should have an element of mystery and tension, with some unknown parts that are only revealed at the end of the story. This is exactly how the plot of the film was originally structured. It began with a mysterious dream, and only at the end the big secrets of the hero and his enemy were revealed. In the new cut, the plot was changed so that it was completely linear, without mystery and without secrets being revealed at the end, and without the viewer being able to guess and add their own interpretation to everything that happens. This is a rather childish way of storytelling, but fortunately the main fights and action scenes were not affected and remained as they were.
It is worth mentioning that "American Samurai" - a significant project in filmographies David Bradley and especially - Mark Dacascos. By that time, Bradley had already starred in parts 3 and 4 of “American Ninja” and his career was in full swing, but the role of Kenjiro became truly noticeable for the rising star of action cinema and future popularizer of capoeira in "Only the strongest" (1993). The film also features a great supporting cast of martial arts practitioners, including Ron Vreeken, Dion Lam и Anthony Sito.
And now, 32 years later Sam Firstenberg I decided to return the film to its original form. This ad appeared on a FB page created specifically for this case:
Thirty-two years ago, director Sam Furstenberg completed what would become the only film of his career to receive unfair treatment. Due to the intervention of producers, the version of the film that was released was far from what the director intended. New scenes were added and the sequence of existing ones was changed, which affected the plot. Now, thirty-two years later, Sam Furstenberg's American Samurai is being re-edited to include all of the original combat violence, remove scenes that were not part of the original production, and place intended scenes in their proper locations. The order and consistency are straightened out to not only correct major plot continuity issues, but also the flow of climactic showdowns and dramatic moments. Using two different versions of the film, editor Lyle Goodwin works closely with Sam Firstenberg to finally bring to life for audiences and fans the original vision that was not realized at the time.
A release date for the director's cut of American Samurai has not yet been set as Goodman and Furstenberg are still putting the finishing touches on it, but they have released a special trailer which you can watch below.
New trailer for the action movie "American Ninja"
Most likely, the re-release of "American Samurai" will be on Blu-ray, with additional materials. Which is just right our new heading. ;)
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Tags: American Samurai, Ninja III: The Domination, Revenge of the Ninja, Dion Lam, David Bradley, Michael Dudikoff, Mark Dacascos, Sho Kosugi, Sam Firstenberg, Anthony Sito
Tags: American Samurai, Ninja III: The Domination, Revenge of the Ninja, Dion Lam, David Bradley, Michael Dudikoff, Mark Dacascos, Sho Kosugi, Sam Firstenberg, Anthony Sito
Added a video to the publication. I urge everyone who cares to respond to it.
Oh, I don’t trust these remastered versions. It would be better to leave everything as is. The plot, of course, is a cliche, but Dacascos is magnificent. Every time I can’t hold back a stingy male tear at the final episode.
I should watch the movie again so I can compare...