The first of what would be a series, 1985's American Ninja is a martial-arts thriller. Michael Dudikoff plays Joe, a sullen young GI who turns up at American airbase Fort Sonora and immediately makes himself unpopular. Even when he single-handedly saves the Commanding Officer's daughter (Judie Aronson, whose function is to scream a lot and get her clothes very wet), from a ninja ambush, he's still ostracised. It turns out that Joe is actually a highly skilled ninja warrior, but he's an amnesiac with no idea how he acquired his abilities. Eventually, having bonded with fellow GI Steve James, he helps foil criminal arms-dealer Ortega, whose morals are as dubious as his accent, which veers from French to Hispanic.

American Ninja is essentially an excuse for a series of martial arts set pieces, though these seem a little lumbering by the standards later set by Jackie Chan and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The soundtrack and overall feel is clearly influenced by the classic A-Team. The plot is well signposted at every turn and the dialogue makes you think of an American film that has been badly dubbed. However, the film will work as kitsch, for idle comfort-viewing or for small boys.

On the DVD: The cheapness of the original has been immaculately preserved--however, the only extra is the original trailer.--David Stubbs

At least the 20th screen version of the criminal career of Jesse James, American Outlaws, is also perhaps the least historically accurate, which wouldn't matter as much if it were more spirited and distinctive. Taking its cues from the Young Guns films rather than, say, the more realistic The Long Riders or Ride with the Devil, the movie presents pretty boy stars as larger-than-life, good-hearted outlaws and races through a lot of storyline without making much of an impression.

Colin Farrell, liable to be a huge star in the next five years, is a handsome, devil-may-care Jesse, taking the reins between his teeth and firing with both hands, but he has little material to work with, while Timothy Dalton does a very strange Scotch accent as Allen Pinkerton, the security expert hired by the evil railroad to bring in the James-Younger gang. It has the full complement of brawls, robberies, escapes, battles, train wrecks, explosions and barroom roistering--including the riding-a-horse-through-a-window bit featured in all earlier Jesse James movies--but feels like a cramped TV movie rather than an epic biopic. Attempting to be a crowd-pleaser, it goes for a happy ending rather than the tragic shot-in-the-back finish, but that just means that its high spirits feel forced and unconvincing.

On the DVD: American Outlaws has a nice range of extras for such a minor film, including two deleted scenes, five behind the scenes "featurettes" (one not-very-hidden "hidden feature") and a commentary track by director Les Mayfield, writer John Rogers and editor Michael Tronick that may be a bit too pleased with itself, but offers a lively and entertaining account of the making of the film. --Kim Newman

Anyone who's watched just about any teenage film knows that the greatest evil in this world isn't chemical warfare, ethnic cleansing, or even the nuclear bomb. The worst crime known to man? Why, virginity, of course. As we've learned from countless films--from Summer of '42 to Risky Business--virginity is a criminal burden that one must shed oneself of as quickly as possible. And while many of these films have given the topic a bad name, American Pie quietly sweeps in and gives sex some of its dignity back. Dignity, you may say? How can a film that highlights intercourse with fruit pies, premature ejaculation broadcast across the Internet and the gratuitous "gross-out" shots restore the dignity of a genre that's been encumbered with such heavyweights as Porky's and Losin' It? The plot of American Pie may be typical, with four high-school friends swearing to "score" before the prom, yet the film rises above the muck with its superior cast, successful and sweet humour and some actually rather retro values about the meaning and importance of sex. Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, and Eddie Kaye Thomas make up the odd quartet of pals determined to woo, lie and beg their way to manhood. The young women they pursue are wary girlfriend Vicky (Tara Reid), choir girl Heather (Mena Suvari), band geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) and just about any other female who is willing and able. Natasha Lyonne as Jessica, playing a similar role as in Slums of Beverly Hills, is the general advisor to the crowd (when Vicky tells her "I want it to be the right time, the right place," Jessica responds, "It's not a space shuttle launch, it's sex"). The comedic timing hits the mark--especially in the deliberately awkward scenes between Jim (Biggs) and his father (Eugene Levy). And, of course, lessons are learned in this genuinely funny film, which will probably please the adult crowd even more than it will the teenage one. --Jenny Brown