Sam Firstenberg Movies

Alexandra (Stephanie Niznik) and Jason (Greg Cromer) are rescued at sea by a passing ship that happens to be the floating laboratory of crazed Dr. Grbac (Richard Moll). This is very bad news for the healthy young couple as the nutty doctor implants spider eggs in the bodies of humans to create giant spiders; Jason is next, unless Alex can defeat Grbac and a horde of escaped spiders. ~ Buzz McClain, Rovi

In this suspense thriller, President Fallbrook (John Beck) is doing poorly in the polls a week before he's up for re-election. To boost his popularity, one of his advisors comes up with a plan -- stage a kidnapping, and when the chief executive is released under seemingly heroic circumstances, he'll be a shoo-in for another term. However, after Fallbrook and several of his wealthy and powerful friends are grabbed from under the eyes of Secret Service agents, the crooks hired to fake the kidnapping decide to make it into the real thing. One of the Secret Service agents (Eric Roberts) now has his work cut out for him as he tries to rescue Fallbrook from the supposed hoax. Also released under the title Agent of Death, The Alternate also stars Michael Madsen, Ice-T, and Bryan Genesse. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

When terrorists steal a biological weapon and its antidote, its up to a crack team of military commandos to get it back. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

This action film is a sequel to 1993's Cyborg Cop. This time officer Jack Ryan, known for his itchy trigger finger, comes up against Jesse Starkraven, the psychopathic brother of a man Ryan killed during the last movie. In the first scene, the two are involved in a shoot-out in a warehouse. After Starkraven is captured, he is hauled off by the ATG (Anti-Terrorist Group), a secret government agency, where they turn him into a cyborg. Unfortunately, the lose control of Starkraven and he leads a cyborg revolt. He wants to destroy the human race. It is up to Ryan and the ATG chief to stop him. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

A former Marine commando organizes a paramilitary group, bent on vigilantism and anarchy. The commando's old comrade-in-arms gets wind of this activity. Invited to join the group, the friend declines. From that moment on, he's a marked man. Some sources credit Sam Firstenberg with the direction of Blood Warriors; other bestow that honor upon Norman Benny. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In this made-for-TV actioner, three rebellious black army officers disobey orders in Vietnam and refuse to destroy a village filled with innocent people. They are sent to Georgia where they undergo a court-martial. The officers know that they are going to be railroaded and so manage to escape. The fugitives end up in Riverbend, hiding in the home of a sympathetic widow. The town is controlled by a brutal, extremely racist sheriff who kills those opposing him and freely takes whatever he wants from the terrified residents. This doesn't set well with one of the officers who, with plans to usurp the sheriff's authority, convinces the others to help him create a secret training camp in the woods. They then begin recruiting the local black men and training them for combat. When they are ready, the angry rebels take over the town, incarcerate the sheriff and all his cohorts and hold the rest of the town hostage in a church until their demands for media attention and an end to racism are met. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi

American Ninja 2: The Confrontation spotlights Michael Dudikoff and Steve James as a pair of combustible U.S. Army Rangers. Dudikoff and James are ordered to find out why so many Marine guards have been disappearing from their posts at the US Embassy in a mythical Carribean country. Turns out that villain Gary Conway has been kidnapping the Marines and forcing an abducted engineer to reprogram the captive Leathernecks so that they'll join Conway's army of zombielike assassins. Naturally, the scientist has a beautiful daughter (Michelle Botes) whom Conway uses as leverage. Battling not only Conway's minions but the corrupt local authorities, martial arts experts Dudikoff and James effectively lay waste to the villain's previously impenetrable stronghold. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

In American Ninja, Michael Dudikoff plays American "GI Joe" who, based in the Philippines, gets hip to a crooked arms racket involving none other than the military itself. There's no end to the rib-cracking opportunities Dudikoff encounters as he knee-knocks his way through a host of bad guys, rescues a lady in distress, and ventures to thwart the thieving arms vendors. ~ Rovi

Breakdancing, hip-hop, rap, and a good time are the main stars of this standard teen movie about youths trying to raise money to save their community club from being razed for a shopping mall. Ozone (Adolfo Quiñones) and Turbo (Michael Chambers) are two master breakdancers who have started a community club to teach other teens how to manage the acrobatics of the dance without literally breaking anything. Their efforts create some choreographed, group breakdancing that is rather innovative. But an evil developer (Peter MacLean) sees their property as ideal for a shopping mall project -- and a crooked politician is willing to back him up for a fee. As the teens do their best to raise money to keep their center, some are also battling with restrictive parents or trying to ease into romantic liaisons that offer their own challenges. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi

In this drama, an ex-con's joy at being released is squashed when he returns home to find that his family has moved away and left no forwarding address. Fortunately, a neighbor lady knows where they are. Unfortunately, she doesn't trust him so he must work hard to show her that he has changed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi