BPS 269: The Godfather of Ninja and Cannon Films with Sam Firstenberg

You are in for a treat today. We have legendary 80's action
director Sam Firstenberg.

At a young age Sam began to "create" movies to entertain his
friends. Horrifying his mother, he would cut up books, stringing
together the pictures and rolling them up. He would then put the
roll into a box with a cut out window, shine a flashlight from
behind, and manually pull the roll, revealing the pictures through
the window in sequence.

Sometimes he would plan a special show in which his sister narrated
the "film" based on a script Sam would concoct, and his father
would accompany on the violin. As he grew up he found a hobby in
photography and by high school had turned his bedroom into a
darkroom where he would earn pocket money by developing pictures
for his friends.After serving three years in the Israeli army, Sam
came to the US in 1971, began to study and work in films, and
culminated his studies with “One More Chance," the graduate film
thesis which turned into a feature-length film."After Golan bailed
us out, our film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981,
then went on to become the official US entry at the prestigious
Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, and won a Silver Plaque at
the 17th Annual Chicago Film Festival. This film became my calling
card, and launched my career." recalls Sam.

By then Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus had acquired Cannon Films.
They hired Sam to direct “Revenge of the Ninja." Sam knew nothing
about martial arts, but learned quickly and the film, which starred
Sho Kosugi, was shot in Salt Lake City, Utah. Distributed by MGM to
a great box-office bonanza, it set the stage for Sam's next
directing assignment, “Ninja III - The Domination," also starring
Kosugi. The film was shot in Phoenix, Arizona and was also
tremendously successful.

Both Ninja films directed by Sam were sequels to the highly
successful “Enter the Ninja” directed by Golan. "Then came a
pleasant opportunity," Sam smiles."Golan wanted me to direct '
Breakin 2 - Electric Boogaloo," another sequel, which then made me
the king of sequels, but also gave me a break from directing Ninja
action films."In fact, each of the sequels directed by Firstenberg
resulted in better reviews and box office draws than the originals.
“Breakin 2 - Electric Boogaloo " was a musical that featured major
dance production numbers, filmed in Los Angeles. Distributed by
TRI-STAR it was critically acclaimed; and a box office success, one
of the reviews hailed it as"The most exuberant musical of the
decade."

Soon after the release of " Breakin 2 - Electric Boogaloo " Sam was
on his way to the Philippines to direct "American Ninja" a major
action picture starring Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, who would
team up with Sam for two additional motion pictures, "Avenging
Force," shot in New Orleans and the swamps of Louisiana, and
"American Ninja II"’Avenging Force’ was one of the most physically
grueling productions I ever worked on,"comments Sam."

We spent days and nights in water, mud up to our waists, with
snakes crawling between our legs."The film opened to rave reviews.
The LA Times called Firstenberg"... a rockin' young action director
who's pulled off a series of rave up pictures for Cannon including
' American Ninja ' and ' Electric Boogaloo,' and now in ' Avenging
Force ' shows off his savvy style, which combines a keen sense of
pacing with brawny punch...it marks the emergence of a truly gifted
movie talent."

The next picture for Sam was “Riverbend”, a controversial drama
with Steve James and Margaret Avery from "The Color Purple." The
picture explored race relations in 1966 Georgia, and was an
opportunity for Firstenberg to work with strong dramatic material.
In sharp contrast, Sam's next picture was an all-out comedy, “The
Day We Met,” which proved to him that his directorial talents were
easily extended."Delta Force III” came next, a military action
picture with Nick Cassavettes, Eric Douglas, Mike Norris, and
Matthew Penn, and was followed with a breakthrough approach to
martial arts in “American Samurai” introducing hot young martial
artists David Bradley and Marc Dacascos. Firstenberg then got his
first taste of TV work with a nighttime crime show for CBS,
directing six episodes of “Sweating Bullets"

With the creation of Nu Image, principles Avi Lerner and Danny
Dimbort recruited Firstenberg to direct their first production,
"Cyborg Cop," and then the sequel, "Cyborg Soldier," both sci-fi
action flicks with David Bradley. In addition, Firstenberg
completed with Bradley and Frank Zagarino the action picture "Blood
Warrior." Next came “Operation Delta Force” a military style action
/ adventure with Ernie Hudson, Jeff Fahey, Joe Lara, Frank
Zagarino, and Hall Halbrok.1997 brought Firstenberg to explore new
directorial areas; “McCinsey’s Island” is a comedy for children, a
treasure hunt movie with Hulk Hogan, Robert Vaughn, and Grace
Jones, and “Motel Blue” with Sean Young, Soleil Moon Frye, and
Seymour Cassel, is a psychological thriller with two women in the
lead.

Sam and I had an amazing conversation about all things Cannon
Films, Ninjas, Break Dancing, and 80's action films. Enjoy!

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