Force One

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 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)

Matt Logan (Chuck) is a Martial Arts expert who runs a Dojo, teaching children by day and fighting in the ring by night. His life is consumed by Karate, which is exactly why the San Diego police department seek out his expert counsel. It seems that a ruthless assassin is out on the streets, ruthlessly killing cops who get too close to the center of a drug operation.Soon Logan becomes personally involved and is searching for the killer himself.

A Force of One is pretty typical early Chuck: the pace is on the slow side but it does provide plenty of Chuck fights and the movie as a whole isn't bad.Then there's Bill "super foot" Wallace. You kind of know what to expect from someone nicknamed "super foot." Wallace is good at kicking. At acting, not so much.The action is good. Norris designed the fights himself, giving them a more authentic feel.

In all, A Force of One is a decent, harmless, and enjoyable-enough Chuck Norris film.

Overall 7 out of 10

Like my previous Chuck Norris film review, I also saw this one at a local drive in with a couple of neighbors. I can't remember too much of it, but do remember that it was entertaining in regards to a corrupt police investigation of some kind, something involving drugs, and, of course, martial arts.

It was one of Chucks better flicks, and he showed some chops in the acting department, but I can't say that the film stuck with me all that much. Regardless, it was somewhat impressive. Ironically enough the one thing I remember about going to see this film was the preview for "The Villain", a western spoof.

There's not much in the way of plot in this thing, but it has a decent enough emotional story. If you're into martial arts, and want to see Chuck Norris early in his career, give this film a try. Not a bad watch.

Enjoy.

In all fairness, being a Chuck Norris vehicle, this isn't a bad film. It's quite a well made product, devoid of Chuck's sub standard acting, surpassed by the rest of the interestingly chosen cast, Neill exceptionally good as s female cop, and Gulager as a weary lieutenant, who unfortunately we don't see enough off in this. It has a cool start off as we dolly with a skateboarding teen (a drug courier) down the city streets of day, two cops trailing him, on their own accord as they want they collar. Instead they walk straight into death as a faceless karate assassin kills them in pretty painful ways. Bring on Chuckie who again, is not really acting, but can bring heart and reality into this role, like others.... unintentionally, I presume. As you can guess, woman cop Neill falls for him. The batch of Gulager's crew undergo karate training, to take on these powerful forces, but when the faceless villain, messes with Chuckie's teen friend, who's like a son, with great potential for the martial arts, it's now a fight to the death. Although it does lack action in long spaces of time, where it tends to sag here and there, as not living up to Chuckie's action quota, here we actually got a real Chuckie movie, and this is one of his I've always liked. The deadly showdown awaits too.