Force 5

The only thing "Force: Five" proves is that the chances of finding a good American martial-arts film are about as many as those of finding a good Hong Kong Western. Yes, the film stars real martial artists who obviously know their stuff, but keep in mind that:

a) most of them can't act (Richard Norton is excepted)

b) most of the time they're fighting useless morons who stand around like sitting ducks, waiting to be kicked.

And how about the fact that the doors of the rooms where the "bad guys" keep their drugs-and-guns-for-sale and the dead bodies of their victims are unlocked and unguarded?

Cheap and stupid. But the actors sure know how to kick high. (*1/2)

Broadly speaking, the plot is just about as standard as it gets for action flicks: a group upheld as antagonists, a person in their midst, a contingent of heroes that are tasked with the retrieval of that person. The leader of those heroes handpicks his friends for their particular skills, and - well, you don't want spoilers, but you've also seen this movie before. And that's okay! Sometimes a silly little nothing, that we can enjoy without actively engaging with, is exactly what one needs, and formula and familiarity fits neatly within that aim. And so we have 'Force: five' (the colon is very important), made by acclaimed filmmaker Robert Clouse ('China O'Brien!' Oh, and 'Enter the dragon.'), and starring martial artists, action heroes, & recognizable faces like Joe Lewis, Richard Norton, Benny Urquidez, and Bob Schott. Yes, it's a silly romp. It's also fun!

Despite sober underpinnings in the plot and some unexpectedly strong violence, 'Force: five' doesn't take itself all that seriously. That's for the best, given the premise, and furthermore in light of some over the top sequences and acting (the introduction of Norton's character is a total blast for just these reasons, not even taking into account his blonde hair). The only significant surprise here is the diversity in the assembled team, for otherwise the feature is pretty much exactly what one might assume (including, for the record, outdated ableist or racist language, gratuitous nudity, and an underhanded "blonde joke"). Even at that, though, this is duly well made. The story and scene writing may be a little common, and mostly just a vehicle for the action, but they're quite suitable and written well such as they are (though some bits are better or worse than others), with light humor at times. Those stunts, fights, and otherwise action sequences look great and are choreographed well, and I would certainly expect no less from something Clouse is involved with. Sets and filming locations alike are pretty fantastic, as well as any effects that are employed.

There's nothing super remarkable about facets like Clouse's direction, the hair and makeup work, or William Goldstein's music, but all these are fairly solid, too. Anyway, maybe all this assessment is a tad beyond the point. 'Force: five' only wants to have a good time, and it achieves that - with the caveat that anyone who isn't receptive to second-tier martial arts flicks won't find anything here to change their mind. It's reasonably well done, but no must-see by any means, and even those who are fans of such fare may find the end result unremarkable. Both the active intrigue and the action come and go, for example, and in a more general sense, there's just not anything major to stand out. Still, it's a sufficient diversion for a lazy day, and sometimes that's all a film needs to be. Don't go out of your way for this, but if you happen to come across it, there are far worse ways to spend 100 minutes of your time.

This seemingly low-budget film is among my favorite martial-arts films of all time even though the plot is a shameless copy of "Enter the Dragon"----minus Dragon's production values. You have the leader of a cult on his own island leading hundreds of followers. At the island, the daughter of a senator is among the followers and Joe Lewis is recruited to get her out. To do that, he enlists the help of five colleagues.

I think what makes this movie stand above most martial arts films is that you have a charismatic group of martial artists working as a team when they infiltrate the bad guy's island. Director Robert Clouse, who also directed Enter the Dragon, really played up the "team" factor and I think that's the element that makes the film work.

The actors aren't anything extraordinary, but anyone looking for Brandos or Oliviers here deserve what they get. I was surprised this was only one of two movies Joe Lewis ever made. I certainly thought he had the look and personality to carry a few more martial-arts films, but hey.

Richard Norton, who played Ezekial, went on to great success in the straight-to-video world. A charismatic performer, he made a few pretty entertaining martial arts films over the years, some with fellow martial-artist Cynthia Rothrock.

My favorite of the team was Sonny Barnes, who plays the cheesily named "Lockjaw". Barnes never really did much else after this, except for a Michael Jackson & Paul McCartney music video, which is a shame because I really enjoyed him in this.

You can tell the budget went to the famous martial-artists in its cast because the locales and everything else in the film looks cheap.

Aside from Lewis and Norton, you also have Benny "The Jet" Urquidez in the cast, and Master Bong Soo Han, who played the villain. Some martial-arts fans will recognize Han as Billy Jack's partner in "Trial of Billy Jack" during the climatic fight scene.

As for the fight scenes, many of them are really good. Clouse takes full advantage of the fact he has an A-Team of martial-artists as stars and shows off their skills many times throughout the film, (even though most of the time they are fighting what are obviously a bunch of wannabe extras). Some of the stunts work, others bomb, but in the end, I really liked the movie. I also really liked the catchy title theme by William Goldstein. Some of my buddies think it's cheesy as hell, but I get a kick out of it.

I wonder if Quentin Tarantino had this film in mind when wrote dialogue for "Pulp Fiction". In that film, Uma Thurman's character, Mia, said she starred in a pilot called, "Fox Force Five".

Anyway, this is enjoyable for fans of the genre. The team factor makes all the difference, and there seemed to be potential here for sequels since I really enjoyed watching the cast work together.

Make no mistake, this is an "Enter the Dragon" rip-off.(Yes, same director as well), if you don't believe me, watch them back to back.

One thing that stands out is that Robert Clouse certainly knows how to direct fight action and that is the movie's highlight. One master shot following every kick and spin, unlike the convoluted and choppy modern day cuts catering to mask the actors lack of skill.

I have to admit that I first saw this as a kid back in the 80's and it is still Sensei Benny and Richard Norton that come out on top as performers even with their minimal presence in the movie. Its easy to see why Sammo and Jackie worked with them several times.

(1981) Force: Five ACTION ADVENTURE

Co-written and directed by Robert Clouse, it has a senator employing the services of an agent, Jim Martin (Joe Lewis) to save his daughter, Cindy (Amanda Wyss) away from a cult-like leader, Reverend Rhee (Bong Soo Han) and his disciples along with his bulky sidekick, Carl (Bob Schott) confined on an island. Jim does this by assembling his own group pf fighters, such as his former flame, Laurie (Pam Huntington), Lockjaw (Sonny Barnes), Ezekiel (Richard Norton), Billy Ortega (Benny "the Jet " Urquidez) and a guy who was supposed to be confined in a Central American prison named Willard (Ron Hayden) , also called "Force: Five".

It is one of those movies in which if users do "not" know who some of the characters are, then the overall experience may have sucked. But because I was already aware or familiar with professional kick boxers with the likes of Joe Lewis and Benny "The Jet" Urquidez along with Linda Rondstadt's former bodyguard by the name of Richard Norton whose martial arts filmography is vast, who worked for the likes of Chuck Norris to Jackie Chan makes this movie watchable. You just might say, there actual fighting experiences, particularly for Benny "the Jet" Urquidez (on his very first acting gig) and Richard Norton led them to bigger and better movies. Benny "the Jet" was part of one of the all time best on screen fights of all time called "Wheels on Meals" and "Dragons Forever" who sparred with Jackie Chan, while Richard Norton did fight choreography for "The Octagon" and was memorable with his fights on "Magical Crystals", "City Hunter", "Mr Nice Guy" and "Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars".