The Cutter - Il trafficante di diamanti

After a deadly kidnapping rescue gone wrong, a guilt ridden detective (Chuck Norris) goes out on his own to successfully rescue an aged diamond cutter from the hands of a murderous thief. With the kidnapped man's niece Elizabeth aiding in his rescue, Shep learns the diamond cutter perfected his skill during his years as an Auschwitz prisoner. Shep must learn the truth about the cutter's past to unravel the clues and rescue him before it is too late.

Being a fan of old school-style action films I enjoyed this Chuck Norris actioner, his last film before retirement, which could have been released in the 1980's. At 65, Chuck has still got the moves, kicking the bad guys, throwing them out of the window. His showdown with Daniel Bernhardt is quite good. Incidentally, Bernhardt makes a good villain, a chameleon-like character, a master of disguises. The Nazi and diamond-related story makes a change from the usual terrorist storyline, there's some good action, and a fast-paced plot, though the editing can be a bit jumpy and the story a little confusing. The Cutter is not exactly at the level of Code of Silence/Lonewolf McQuade, but it's better than any of late 80's-early 90's Norris films (Hitman, Sidekick, Hellbound etc.)

Chuck Norris plays a private investigator named "John Shepherd" who is investigating the disappearance of an elderly Jewish diamond cutter named "Issac Teller" (Bernie Kopell) who has been kidnapped from his home. What makes this odd to John Shepherd is that no ransom has been demanded and the kidnappers also try to abduct Issac's niece, "Elizabeth Teller" (Joanna Pacula) as well. Now, even though this isn't a bad film and it certainly has some suspense and action, there really isn't anything here to differentiate it from a host of other films in this genre. Chuck Norris is his usual bland self who gives his standard vanilla performance. Likewise, both Joanna Pacula and Daniel Bernhardt (as the the bad guy"Dirk") perform adequately as well. And while Tracy Scoggins ("Alena") is also in this film, her part was limited and this fact adds another reason for the lackluster final product. That said, if a person is looking for an average action film then this is certainly something they should consider.

"The Cutter" is an action movie starring everybody's favorite punchline: Chuck Norris. The movie should be a no-strings-attached action flick and because it doesn't succeed at that, I can't help but be let down by it.

The plot: An old diamond cutter named Isaac (Bernie Kopell) gets kidnapped by Dirk (Daniel Bernhardt) and he is put in a cell to cut a centuries-old diamond. John Shepard (Norris) is the detective who has to save him. The problem with the movie is that it tries too hard. There's some dialogue and situations involving the holocaust that hurt the flow of the movie. It's distracting. The movie's heart is the right place though.

Chuck Norris does a decent job with the material he's given, but basically he's coasting. What Norris does excel at is his "martial arts". I put that in quotes because we all know he's pretty lame, but when you see it, it's still kind of exciting. There are two good fights in the film: The one on the bus and the end fight. The only problem is that the action is cut too fast to see, but you can make out Norris and not a stunt double (most of the time).

The movie in a nutshell: It's a 90 minute "Walker, Texas Ranger" episode with more explosions.

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The Cutter is basically the last action film starring the great Chuck Norris before he decided to retire from Hollywood altogether outside of a rare appearance here and there like in Expendables 2. Now, the movie is a Nu Image produced film, and they are known for mostly producing straight to DVD movies and I am guessing this was a straight to DVD distribution in 2005.

Anyway, right to the point. Definitely a decent to very good action movie for Chuck Norris to end on a high note. He plays a guy coming to the rescue of an aging man who worked cutting jewelry. The Cutter, played by Love Boat great Bernie Koppell is kidnapped and forced to cut two stones into a certain type of stone and here is where Chuck comes into the story and tries to rescue him and, I don't want to spoil it but you know the rest, Chuck always comes through.

The villain in this is Daniel Bernhart, from the awful Bloodsport part 3 - 5 movies. He does a decent job playing the villain and has a damn good final fight scene with our hero Chuck Norris.

It's a simple story, not much meat into this but The Cutter is an enjoyable action film to watch on a boring day. It's main attraction would be that this was the final action film starring one of the icons of the genre in Chuck Norris.

Geeze, with all the negative reviews I see on IMDb for the films of Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Steven Seagal, and Don "The Dragon" Wilson, I have to wonder just what is the point of some of those reviews. Do those reviewers simply want people to stop renting these guys' films so they stop making money and movies altogether? I am on the other end of the spectrum. I want to see these guys star in MORE films (and in continually BETTER films). With that being said, here's a review from one of the "good guys in black".

THE CUTTER is definitely worth a rental. It's a fast-paced little actioner with touches of drama and mystery thrown in.

The film opens with a bang involving a hang-glider, a mummy excavation, and one mean villain played by Daniel Bernhardt. Then Chuck makes his first appearance. He's a private eye out to rescue a hostage being held for ransom. After he dispatches the criminals, an investigating detective asks Chuck, "Did you have to throw him out of the window?" In classic deadpan form, Chuck responds, "I needed some air." Nobody can deliver a line like that as well as Chuck Norris!

The rest of the story involves the kidnapping of an expert jewel cutter (Bernie Kopell, "Doc" from THE LOVE BOAT) and Chuck's attempts to find and rescue him. There are several show-stopping fights including Daniel Bernhardt's confrontation with an unknown grey haired agent whose fighting style resembles Jeff Speakman's kenpo moves, and a great close quarter fight between Bernhardt and Norris inside a passenger bus! Both of those are real doozies that should please any serious martial arts action fan. Overall, the fights in THE CUTTER are a little more reality based in style, and therefore shorter and sloppier than those found in many kung fu films, but hey, that's what real fighting looks like!

To add to the film's charm are a couple of lovely co-stars, Joanna Pacula (GORKY PARK) and Tracy Scoggins (BABYLON 5, DEAD ON). Both ladies are very pleasing on the eyes, and both have excellent chemistry with Mr. Norris.

It's great to see Chuck back in form as the star of a non-Walker movie (Although, I still can't wait for that next Walker reunion flick that will hopefully tie up the loose ends that were left in the last one!), and I hope he continues to make films on a more regular basis. His sons and brothers continue to show interest in working behind the scenes, and are lucky to have a great showcase to work with in their more famous relative. Here's to continued success for and from the Norris family!

Here's a quick list of other must-see Chuck Norris films for new fans: A FORCE OF ONE, CODE OF SILENCE, THE OCTAGON, AN EYE FOR AN EYE, WAY OF THE DRAGON (aka RETURN OF THE DRAGON), and SLAUGHTER IN SAN FRANSISCO.

Oh, and while I'm at it, here are a couple of other fairly recent martial arts movies that are well worth a watch, WAKE OF DEATH (Jean-Claude Van Damme), REDEMPTION, MOVING TARGET (Don "The Dragon" Wilson), UNDER THE GUN (Richard Norton), and INTO THE SUN (Steven Seagal).