“Avenging Force” is an underrated, overlooked, action extravaganza starring Michael Dudikoff and Steve James, which was produced between the first two “American Ninja” films. Released by the legendary, mini-studio, “The Cannon Group,” many die hard action fans consider this to be Michael Dudikoff's onscreen tour de force. Sam Firstenberg agrees, and even believes this is his own best movie out of the 25 films he's directed.
On the surface “Avenging Force” is a typical slam-bang, exploitation action flick, but the social/political themes of white supremacy and systemic racism are sadly much more relevant today than they were in 1986. The villains of the film, “The Pentangle,” are an extremist militant group of powerful elites that will destroy anyone that opposes their vision of what America should be.
“Avenging Force” was originally conceived as a sequel to the Chuck Norris film, “Invasion USA,” and it is a very unique movie that stands out from many other Reagan-era action films of the 1980s. No in-depth study has ever been done on this film before, so we're very privileged and excited to be bringing this feature-length documentary to the fans, and hopefully expose new people to the movie that were unaware of it.
This documentary is the first installment of “In the Trenches with Sam,” a multimedia video docucast series produced by “Retrofiend Radio” with original music by synthwave artist, “The Interceptor.” This “Making Of” series explores the films of Sam Firstenberg and beyond, taking you behind-the-scenes into the world of “Cannon Films” to reveal the amazing stories behind many '80s action classics.
Director Sam Firstenberg has been already interviewed on his first seven films during quarantine, so this is just the beginning! Post-production on “Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo” is currently starting, with other docs on the horizon, featuring stunt/fight choreographer, Steven Lambert, and actor/producer, Tom Stern.
A Patreon Premiere and Special Q&A session with Sam Firstenberg has been organised to celebrate the release of the latest docucast. Please join in HERE Sunday 31 January 2021 @ 11:00 AM PST “In the Trenches Q&A with Sam Firstenberg”. People that sign up on Patreon to watch the premiere will get a Zoom link for the Q&A session.
Come say hi to Sam. The more the merrier!
