Michael Dudikoff Movies
Though few familiar with buff skull cracker Michael Dudikoff would be shocked to hear that the handsome action star got his start in modeling, the fact that he previously studied child psychology might come as a surprise to those who think brawn overpowers brain. The Redondo Beach, CA, native was born to a Russian father in early October of 1954, and although Dudikoff isn't fluent in his native tongue, his father did teach him to speak a little Russian. Studies in child psychology preceded work as a model for the handsome young hopeful, and in 1978, he got his big break when cast in a supporting role on the wildly popular television drama Dallas. In the years that followed, Dudikoff appeared in both Happy Days and Gimme a Break!, and in 1980 the young rising star made his feature debut in The Black Marble. Small roles in Tron (1982) and Uncommon Valor (1983) found his action chops developing nicely, and after having a wild time in Bachelor Party (1984), Dudikoff had his breakthrough role in the 1985 martial arts action film American Ninja. Though the part was originally intended for film star Chuck Norris, Dudikoff made the role his own, to the delight of action fans worldwide. Though the requisite sequels came fast and furious, it was roles in such small-scale actioners as Platoon Leader (1988, directed by Chuck Norris' brother Aaron) and Midnight Ride (1990) that kept his name alive in the lucrative low-budget action market. Though Dudikoff's 1993 series Cobra would only hold out for one season, his average of two films per year would find him doling out the punches well into the new millennium. The late '90s found Dudikoff teaming with B-movie maestro Fred Olen Ray for a series of small-scale punishers, and in 2002, Dudikoff appeared opposite Treat Williams in Jim Wynorski's Gale Force. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide- 1987
- R
Lieutenant Jeff Knight (Michael Dudikoff) is an idealistic young officer who arrives in Vietnam to lead a group of fighters from the 103rd Airborne division in jungle combat. Sergeant Michael McNamara (Robert F. Lyons) is a combat veteran who helps Jeff after most of the platoon is wiped out. George S. Clinton provides the music for this low-budget war film that features plenty of gratuitous violence. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Robert F. Lyons, (more)
When a military psychiatrist falls for a general's daughter, a dark conspiracy threatens to swallow up everyone involved in this action thriller from American Ninja director Sam Firstenberg. She may be the woman of his dreams, but unfortunately for military psychiatrist Bill Turner (Michael Dudikoff), Marine sergeant Randi Stewart (Brooke Theiss) is also the daughter of General Gordon Stewart (Dan Hedaya). As Dr. Turner's relationship with his new patient begins to reach well beyond the typical doctor/patient bond, he soon discovers that she is involved in a far-stretching political conspiracy but cannot tell if she is the victim or the perpetrator. Despite his reluctance to delve deeper and find the truth about Sergeant Stewart, Turner has already gone too far, and it's only a matter of time before he too is drawn in to a conspiracy and forced to struggle for survival. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff
- 1986
- R
This comedy is set 15 years after the final nuclear holocaust and centers upon two fellows who have been stuck in their fathers' elaborate bomb shelter since the bombs began to fall. They had plenty of food, clothing (from the 1940s), and necessities, but their only entertainment was a huge set of pulp mystery novels by such writers as Dashiel Hammett and Raymond Chandler. By the time the two young men, Phillip and Marlowe finally emerge from the shelter in 2010, they have become "hard-boiled" detectives. They manage to find an old car and head off down the ruined roads looking for action. Along the way, they see beautiful, but hard-as-nails blonde Miles Archer and pick her up. She ends up robbing them and abandoning them. In her haste, she drops a set of keys--the keys to the last nuclear warhead. Whoever holds them, holds the world in their hands and suddenly the young men find themselves pursued by assorted weirdos, including man-eating hippies, looking for the ultimate power. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Stockwell, Michael Dudikoff, (more)
- 1993
- PG13
Rescue Me is an agreeably daffy spoof of adventure films. Nerdy high school camera aficionado (Stephen Dorff) worships teen queen (Ami Dolenz) from afar. He fantasizes about performing some sort of noble act to impress her. But when she's kidnapped before his very eyes, he's too busy taking pictures to do anything. With the help of scuzzy Vietnam veteran (Michael Dudikoff) (who delivers an amiable takeoff of his usual film roles), Dorff goes to the girl's rescue. Engaging supporting appearances by Peter DeLuise and Dee Wallace Stone add to the PG-13 fun. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Stephen Dorff, (more)
After the success of shock-jock Howard Stern's Private Parts, shock-TV host Jerry Springer made his own foray into celluloid. Fictionalizing only the name of his television show (what is normally called the The Jerry Springer Show, is now called "The Jerry Show"), Springer plays himself as a man who fronts a chair-throwing, dog-and-pony trash TV strip which gets high ratings in the backwoods, armpit communities of America. The story revolves around two sets of guests coming to Los Angeles to be on the show. First, the Zorzak family has slutty 19-year-old Angel (Jaime Pressly), sleeping with her stepdad (Michael Dudikoff). When her mom (Molly Hagan) finds out, she seeks revenge by sleeping with Angel's fiancé, Willie (Ashley Holbrook). The second group consists of Starletta (Wendy Raquel Robinson), who caught her man, Demond (Michael Jai White), sleeping with her best friend, Vonda (Tangie Ambrose). This makes all of them perfect for stardom on The Jerry Show. As all these guests arrive for their big day on national television, more chaos ensues with Springer getting propositioned by Angel and her mother. Even crew members show their stripes by getting involved in the sexual escapades with the guests. The whole scenario is finally brought to a knockdown, gender-bending finale live on national television -- right where it belongs. ~ Chris Gore, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jerry Springer, Jaime Pressly, (more)
- 1990
- R
This jungle adventure features an extremely complicated plot that involves a megalomaniacal Nazi doctor who continues to perform inhuman experiments in the Amazon jungle and helms the Lost City of the Nazis, a mecca for war criminals and new followers. He is pursued by three vengeful people: a former colleague whom he double-crossed near the end of the war, a young woman who saw him murder her father, and an angry American physician, whose daughter the doctor kidnapped after they came to the jungle to help the ailing Indians who are dying from a mysterious disease. In addition to coping with each other, the searchers must also deal with the usual Amazon dangers, including ferocious cannibals, before they can make it to the hidden city and get their revenge. The plot is an adaptation of an Alistair McLean novel. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Robert Vaughn, (more)
- 1995
- NR
An ex-Marine officer working at a maximum security youth prison returns to Vietnam to search for the kidnapped daughter of an American business tycoon. He is accompanied by a specially trained cadre of his toughest inmates. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, (more)
When terrorists hijack an airborne passenger jet containing the Vice President of the United States and a devastating amount of poison gas, it's up to an expert hostage negotiator to save the day. A veteran of the Gulf War, he has developed numerous skills for dealing with enemies such as these. Highly derivative of such big-league actioners as The Rock, Air Force One and Executive Decision, this low-budget knock-off does have a few well-done action scenes. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Paul Winfield, (more)
- 1981
A young girl's dangerous dance with dieting leads to near disaster in this exceptional made-for-television drama. In one of the earliest treatments of the subject, Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Casey Powell, the quiet daughter of an overbearing mother and milquetoast father. Feeling pressure to be the good girl of the family after her troublesome older sister gets pregnant, Casey retreats into her secretive world of self-starvation. When arguing fails to produce results, her parents (Charles Durning and Eva Marie Saint) send her to a hospital where she meets a spunky fellow patient (Melanie Mayron) and a caring therapist (Jason Miller). Casey's road to recovery is not as simple as merely eating though, and she and her family realize that together they must confront the deeply-rooted familial issues that lay at the heart of Casey's affliction. Jennifer Jason Leigh is utterly compelling in the lead role. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
Adapted for the screen by novelist Joseph Wambaugh himself, The Black Marble stars Robert Foxworth as a burned-out, hard-drinking cop who is teamed with idealistic lady officer Paula Prentiss. These two polar opposites wade their way through a seamy urban world of corruption and hopelessness. The film is peppered with supporting players, of which include Harry Dean Stanton, James Woods, John Hancock and Barbara Babcock. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Foxworth, Paula Prentiss, (more)
- 1992
- R
Ted Post directed this account of a former government agent (Michael Dudikoff) who must rescue his brother, a diabetic, from his Iraqi abductors. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Tommy Hinkley, (more)
- 1997
- R
A wandering gunfighter finds himself unwelcome in a frontier town terrorized and controlled by a group of bandits in this Western directed by Fred Olen Ray. Atherton (Michael Dudikoff), a Civil War hero who fought on behalf of the Union, enters town and promptly saves a prostitute from a brutal beating from one of the aforementioned bandits by killing the bad guy. This course of action does not sit well with the rest of the bandits, and they quickly set out to make Atherton pay for his deeds. Atherton, on the other hand, doesn't plan to let the bandits have an easy time with him and sets out to free the town from their tyranny. ~ Ryan Shriver, All Movie Guide
- 1996
US Marshal Mickey Dane is sent back to his native Prague to investigate the assassination of a Cuban UN ambassador. The prime suspect is professional hit woman Simone Rosset, the lesbian co-owner of a posh restaurant there. The other owner is Simone's girl friend. Mickey catches Simone, but then she escapes. He and his partner CIA-agent Alex Reed, catch her again and take her into the countryside until they can sneak her back into the States. As time passes, Mickey begins suspecting that she is innocent of the crime. Simone swears that she has retired and hasn't left the Czech Republic in over five years. Finally convinced, he and she head back for Prague only to find themselves even more deeply entangled in a complex conspiracy, treachery and violence. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Randy Travis, (more)
- 1999
- R
Michael Dudikoff, Gabrielle Miller, and Brennan Elliott star in this thriller about a federal agent who is assigned to get the inside scoop on a dangerous terrorist group. In order to blend into their ranks, he's forced to fake his own death and make friends with the group's deadly but charismatic leader. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Brennan Elliott, (more)
- 1991
She sure did. Susan Lucci brings her daytime-drama flailing gestures to the prime time TV-movie scene in this melodramatic farrago. She plays a married woman who for the first and only time in her life succumbs to the charms of another man. Accused of murder, Lucci's only alibi is her adulterous liaison. Trouble is, she can provide no proof that the affair--or her lover--ever existed. The publicity people did their best to suggest that The Woman Who Sinned was reminiscent of Fatal Attraction, simply because both films involved a clandestine love affair and a psycho killer. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Susan Lucci, Tim Matheson, (more)
One of the earliest feature films to reflect the video-game craze of the 1980s, Disney's Tron stars Jeff Bridges as computer programmer Kevin Flynn, who becomes part of the very game that he's programming. Flynn's principal antagonist is his glory-grabbing boss, Ed Dillinger (David Warner), who likewise metamorphoses into a video-game character. The title character, a computer-generated superhero, is played by Bruce Boxleitner. Though antiquated by 1990s standards, Tron represented the last word in special effects back in 1982. Surprisingly, despite its long-range influence on the movie industry, the film was a box-office disappointment when first released. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, (more)
Ted Kotcheff continues his First Blood fervor with Uncommon Valor. Gene Hackman stars as Cal Rhodes, a former Marine Colonel who has been getting the run-around for ten years from the government concerning the disappearance of his son and his buddies - all Marines who enlisted years prior and served in Vietnam. Rhodes' son was last seen in Laos, where he was fighting in the war and captured as a POW. When word gets back to Rhodes that the men may still be alive and held in prison camps, but the government still has the men listed as missing in action, Rhodes decides to take matters into his own hands. Contacting an old friend, oil baron MacGregor (Robert Stack), Rhodes is granted financial backing to form his own incursion force. He assembles a crack team of men, puts them through an intensive period of training. and heads back with them into the Laotian jungles to search for the MIAs. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gene Hackman, Robert Stack, (more)
