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
Renegade L.A. detective Sam (Treat Williams) takes a role as a cast member in a reality TV show where he leads a quartet trying to find ten million dollars in buried cash. But Jared (Michael Dudikoff) secretly lands his violent militia on the island in an effort to slay the cast and steal the money. And Jared is successful: Thanks to a corrupt producer, the renegade mercenaries find the cache of cash and start off with it, but Sam and his intrepid, unarmed teammates interrupt them before they can depart. An explosion-filled chase across the island winds up with the good guys trapped by the heavily armed bad guys, and it looks like the game is over for the TV show survivors. However, Mother Nature, in the guises of a hurricane and tidal wave, has other ideas. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
Ed Raymond's science fiction disaster film Black Horizon concerns a group of astronauts who become stranded in space when a meteor strikes the space station onto which they have docked. They must escape before the limited amount of oxygen they have left disappears. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Ice-T, (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
Fire captain Jack Thomas (John Bradley) has his hands full when greedy developer Wendell Mays (Tom Arnold) arranges for his industrial refinery near the city to catch fire and explode for the insurance money. Not only are Thomas' firemen overtaxed and his veteran hero (Michael Dudikoff) in grave danger, but the nearby hospital is inadequate to handle the disaster, leaving the head doctor (Amanda Pays) to cope with internal politics as well as internal medicine. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- 1999
- PG13
An ordinary man find out that he's been turned into a weapon in this sci-fi thriller. Robert Dean (Michael Dudikoff) is an engineer with Gencom, a multi-national technology firm. Dean enjoys an ordinary life with his wife and family, until he suddenly begins losing most of his memory. As Dean tries to figure out what is happening to him, he makes the shocking discovery that Gencom has actually been programming him to commit violent crimes for their benefit, and then forget what he's done. Now Dean must find out who is responsible and how to stop them before he can kill again. Directed by cult favorite Fred Olen Ray, The Fugitive Mind also stars Michele Greene, Heather Langenkamp, David Hedison, and Ian Ogilvy. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Heather Langenkamp, (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)
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)
Incompatible fugitive recovery agents, the flighty Jersey Bellini (Michael Dudikoff) and his more serious-minded female partner, B.B. (Lisa Howard), have, for the last time, ticked off mobster Wald (Tony Curtis) by apprehending his rather inept henchmen just as they are about to commit a robbery or kill one of Wald's enemies. That's when Wald turns their fate over to the ruthless Crazy Carlos (Steve Bacic), with the intention of having Bellini and B.B. killed. But the hapless bounty hunters keep having good luck just when they need it most. ~ Buzz McClain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Lisa Howard, (more)
In this high-flying action adventure, courageous American fighter pilots head skyward in hopes of preventing Arab rebels from terrorizing the nation. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Tone-Loc, (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)
- 1998
In this drama, Ben O'Connor (Lee Majors) is a retired Secret Service agent who uses his skills as a poker player to win a fortune in Las Vegas. O'Connor decides to use his newly won wealth to bankroll a nightclub with two of his best friends, and when the son of a fellow Secret Service operative (Michael Dudikoff) comes aboard to help, O'Connor and company soon have one of the most successful nightspots around. However, their success soon attracts the sort of attention they neither want or need, and soon the "musketeers" are doing battle with mobsters who want to turn the club into a gambling den. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Lee Majors, Michael Dudikoff, (more)
In this suspense drama, Michael Dudikoff plays a lawyer who becomes romantically involved with a married woman (Marlee Matlin). When a confrontation turns violent, the lawyer accidentally kills the cuckolded husband in self-defense; the late husband was a millionaire, and now his wife has now taken possession of his fortune. But does she truly love the lawyer, or was he merely being used as part of a clever scheme to get her hands on the money? The supporting cast includes Sophie Lorain and Steven Morgan. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Sophie Lorain, (more)
- 1998
- R
Michael Dudikoff stars in this action thriller in which Syrian sailors hijack a state-of-the-art Russian submarine that features among its arsenal a doomsday weapon that could wipe out half the planet. Can submarine demolitions expert Zach Silver and the crew of the U.S.S. Springfield take back the sub and dismantle this super-powerful weapon before it's too late? ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 1998
Vince Connors (Michael Dudikoff) is an Air Force test pilot who has been helping to perfect the Mach 2 fighting jet, a state-of-the-art weapon which incorporates special stealth technology which makes the plane invisible to both radar and the human eye. However, a band of Libyan terrorists have somehow gotten wind of the new jet, and in a daring raid they steal the Mach 2. Connors and his partner Jannick (Gary Hudson) are quickly sent on a secret emergency mission to recover the Mach 2, where Connors discovers that the terrorists are not his only enemies. Black Thunder also features Frederic Forrest, Nancy Valen, and Richard Norton. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- 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
In this suspenseful actioner, former Navy SEAL James Carter (Michael Dudikoff) is called back to duty when terrorists high-jack an American submarine armed with nuclear weapons and threaten to blow up the U.S. if their demand for $100 million in gold is not met. The deadly situation arose when the sub, USS Ulysses answered a distress call from Yugoslavian refugees stranded in the Atlantic during a terrible storm. Once aboard, the rescued sailors turn out to be highly trained Middle Eastern terrorists. Carter's mission is to somehow secretly board the sub, sabotage it and subdue the hijackers. If he should fail, the Ulysses will be destroyed by another Navy sub. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Frederic Forrest, (more)
- 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)
- 1996
- R
In this fast-paced actioner, Michael Dudikoff plays a bounty hunter whose latest quest for a bail jumper lands him in the middle of war between rival Russian mafia gangs. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, Billy Dee Williams, (more)
In this thriller laced with comedy, Jersey Bellini (Michael Dudikoff) is a bounty hunter who has just been given a new assignment -- capture Izzy (Freddy Andreiuci), a car thief who has jumped bail and is on the run. Bellini tracks down Izzy, only to discover that a fellow bounty hunter from the same agency (and Bellini's former girlfriend), B.B. (Lisa Howard), has found him first. Bellini and B.B. are bringing Izzy in, using the car Izzy just stole, but when the two get into an argument, Izzy uses the opportunity to escape. Before long, they notice a strange noise coming from the trunk, which turns out to be a woman's voice. The car Izzy stole belonged to Deimos (Benjamin Ratner), a mobster who kidnapped the girl when she witnessed a murder he committed. B.B. lets the girl stay at her apartment while they decide what to do, but Deimos' men find Izzy and discover the girl is gone; now they need to find her -- and take care of anyone she's spoken with. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
In this Canadian/Japanese sci-fi actioner, the trouble begins as a boozy ex-cop tries to forget the horrible killing of his partner by the nefarious, white-wigged Nassim. The only job the cop can find now is as a janitor at a high-tech bio-research lab where they have been working on a super deadly virus. One night, Nassim and his cronies break into the high security installation so they can "cyberjack" the virus. They gain an evil edge by abducting the daughter of the head scientist and now only the janitor can save them all. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 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)
In this thriller, an undercover spy attempts to stop terrorists from staging a coup on the government of a country that is a major supplier of the world's oil. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 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)
- 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)
- 1991
- Add American Ninja 4: The Annihilation to QueueAdd American Ninja 4: The Annihilation to top of Queue
The fourth (and final!) entry in this kick-boxing series, sees the return of Michael Dudikoff as the leading foot flinger. Here a scheming sheik trains a bevy of ninja marauders that he's hoping can help him in his plan to hold the world ransom by holding hostage none other than the city of New York. ~ All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Dudikoff, David Bradley, (more)
