Good Guys Wear Black

Good Guys Wear Black (1978) was one of Chuck Norris's first starring roles. Norris plays John T. Booker, a C.I.A. who is sent on a mission to rescue American P.O.W.s in Vietnam, but during the mission, he and his men are attacked and find that no Americans were at the Vietnamese camp. After Booker and the remaining soldiers just barely escape, they find out that their team, The Black Tigers, were set up. After a long walk home, the C.I.A.s are turning up dead and John T. Booker is the last one alive, and no one can help him but a lawyer named Margret. This film was made in 1977, but wasn't released until a year or two later. The action is decent, espiecially two scenes, one that takes place at a ski resort, and another at an airport where Chuck Norris fights this Japanese assassin. Overall, a decent 1970's action movie with bad acting and a really bad 70's sounding soundtrack.

Chuck Norris attempts to make himself a leading man in this movie, to show depth that he does not have. Luckily, Norris is such a force of nature that he does not need acting chops.

A complex story about a group of Vietnam vets who are set up on a bad mission gone wrong and years later, whoever sent them is trying to clear up loose ends by killing the rest of the team who survived.

Chuck attempts to put his blonde pornstache to good use as a sexy leading man who develops a relationship with a reporter who wants info on the mission. Chuck gives us a little on screen action with a very simple love making scene. It was short and sweet which is much more than we need form Chuck in this department.

Now that's get to the action we came to see. Chuck puts his karate skills to good use, and makes it all look good on camera with his quick kicks as he's chopping up the bad guys. The fights scenes are short, impressive and satisfying. Plus he does his signature jump kick into the front glass window of a moving car move he's done a few times on Walker Texas Ranger.

It's a good Chuck Norris movie to watch, but not his best.

The story of Good Guys Wear Black(1979) interestingly enough resembles the plot lines of Steven Seagal's early films of Above the Law(1988), Hard to Kill(1990), and Marked for Death(1991). The direction by Ted Post is very good. Good Guys Wear Black(1979) and the Dirty Harry picture, Magnum Force(1973) are the two best films for this average director. Chuck Norris stars in what is one of his better films before he would give up the cinema for television. Anne Archer is good in an early film role before she was a respectable actress. James Franciscus is terrific as the cold blooded and ruthless Politican Conrad Morgan. Has what is probably the best stunt of Chuck Norris's career with the scene where he leaps through the front window of a car and into an assassin for a martial arts kick.

I don't know what it is about this film, but I can never seem to tire of it. The acting is nothing special, the camera work is dated, and the plot is confusing at times. But this doesn't effect the enjoyment I receive every time I put this DVD on and watch it again. In fact, the story grows more intriguing with every viewing. If you are a Chuck Norris fan, this is an especially fantastic find, since he is at rare form from start to finish. The plot has Norris race around the western US trying to stop an assassin gunning for members of his former CIA Vietnam unit. This may be one of the first films to feature truly "extreme" stunts, including snowmobiling, jumping thru a windshield of a moving car, along with other motorcycle, race car, and skiing related action. Luckily, now you can find the DVD in discount stores easily, and I believe it's worth picking up.

This movie is one of my first favorites. Here you have Chuck Norris, a real karate champion, plays John Booker, a war vet who is trying to find out why his comrades are being bumped off. Whoever's doing it is in big trouble. You don't mess with BOOKER! NO NOT EVER!! Many made a big mistake and it cost their own lives in the process. First, one person gets shot during skiing and Booker did the flying side kick to the Booker's assailant's wife. The major assailant put a bomb on the plane that killed his girlfriend after takeoff. And he used that ski pole to attack Booker which was no use to stop him. Then my favorite scene of all is where the same guy whose wife was taken out, gets into the Toyota Celica, and tried to run over Booker. In which he returns delivers the awesome flying dropkick to the windshield killing him. I later found out that the stunt was done by his brother Aaron. Doesn't really matter I enjoyed it all the away. Chuck Norris is the reason I got into the martial arts, and I would like to thank him all the way. He is my idol! 3.5 out of 5 stars.