A Force of One

I saw this when it opened back in '79. I actually saw Bill Wallace fight the week before and Chuck Norris was in his corner. I had just started studying karate about a year earlier so I was psyched about seeing it. I have to disagree with a few people's opinions about this movie. While no one would EVER confuse this with Academy Awards material; for what it is, it's not bad at all. In fact, it can be downright enjoyable! As for the fights, a lot of people have been putting them down, especially the ring fights. I thought that they were, for the most part, outstanding. You have to remember that back when this was filmed, the concept of "fighting the camera" to bring the audience into the fight was a relatively new concept and was very effective for its time. Granted, it's been WAY overused since then, but remember that this was 1979. So just keep in mind it's time and limitations and I think that you can really have a blast with this one. I do.

I wouldn't mind one of those Matt Logan t-shirts you see his people wearing in the movie… well sadly you don't get one with the DVD. Oh well. After the box-office success of "Good Guys Wear Black", Chuck Norris would roll out another then another. "A Force of One" was one of those. These earlier films ("Good Guys Wear Black", "A Force of One" and "The Octagon") backed by American Cinema seemed to have the same style and formula; but while they did have thick, knotty plots (like something out of a crime/cop show), Chuck didn't entirely get much of a work out compared to some of his fun, over-the-top 80s work.

"A Force of One" is a decent, if not particularly igniting old-school Chuck Norris outing where he's confronting drugs with a karate chop/kick. A team of narcotics agents enlist the help of a martial arts expert Matt Logan, when some of their agents end up dead by a serial killer who uses karate. Hesitant to help at first, but soon Logan finds it personal --- revenge and honour.

There's some action; well staged too (like the climatic battle outside the ring), but a lot more time is spent in training (for his championship fight), lessons (for the narcotics agents), being a mentor figure and then trying to connect the dots on who might be the karate serial killer (with little surprise on the reveal). It's rather talky and consisting of the same patterns, but never was I bored. Norris is looking much more comfortable than say in his last role. He comes across genuine in his moods, having a sense of humour and of course delivers on what matters --- amazing martial arts and stunt work. Across from him is a headstrong Jennifer O'Neal. Also the cast features big players like Clu Gulager, Ron O'Neal, James Whitemore Jr. and Charles Cyphers. Paul Aaron's direction is competently tidy, drawing up some striking set-pieces accompanied by Dick Halligan's rhythmic music score of offbeat tempos.

Well made, but standard action/investigative fare.

"A force of one" is more serious than the other Chuck Norris movies, but it's also very dull. The actors are above average, but the fighting sequences does not deliver much to applaud for. Seems more like a criminal than an action-movie. (4 out of 10)

Back when A Force of One was originally released, I viewed Chuck Norris' movies as boring, brainless, and cheap. In the years since, I've changed that original assessment and can see them for what they really are. Now I look at these early Chuck Norris' movies as fun, brainless, and cheap.

The plot is incredibly simple and shows a total lack of creativity. When two cops are killed by someone using Martial Arts, they seek out the one man who might be able to help them - the local karate champion, Matt Logan (Norris). The cops quickly persuade Matt to help them, but when Matt's son turns up dead, he goes from helping to an active participant.

Instead of writing a regular review or pointing out strengths and weaknesses in the movie, I'll just list a few random thoughts I had while watching:

· It's not that the cops are skeptical about how karate can help them, a few act like they can't even pronounce the word. · The needle marks in that girl's arm makes it look like she been using a turkey-baster to shoot-up with. · You would think that after one set of cops is killed that the superior officer would do a better job of keeping track of where and what his men are working on. · Wow, a ninja in the stockroom! You just don't see enough of stuff like that in real life. · If you couldn't guess that Matt's son was going to get into serious trouble when he started his own investigating, you haven't seen enough bad action movies. · The identities of the bad guys are so obvious it's embarrassing. · Why is the police captain wearing a Matt Logan t-shirt under his bath robe?

It may be bad, but there are still several enjoyable moments. One of my favorites is the most obvious - watching Chuck Norris square off against Bill 'Superfoot" Wallace. Two legends of the Martial Arts in a fight to the death - good stuff. It almost makes the whole movie worthwhile.

A pair of Los Angeles narcotics police runs afoul of a group of distributors protected by a masked Kung Fu enforcer who will stop at nothing to ensure the flow of drugs. Enter Matt Logan (Chuck Norris) a Vietnam vet now world famous kick boxer making a run at the title. The police consult Logan and are eventually able to get him to help train the other members of the narc squad in Kung Fu. Logan takes a look into the case and finds out that police corruption and ex-war buddies may some how be involved.

Chuck Norris movies (for the most part) are usually good fun. A good many of Norris' earlier films are good solid action flicks, not necessarily classics but fun nonetheless." A Force of One" is a fun film but is severely dated. However it moves at a good clip and the action scenes are pretty decent. Many of the usual clichés are on display and good olé' Chuck has his way with the bad guys.