A Force of One (1979)

"Whoever did this... they're as good as dead.", 6 August 2005

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:

1. 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.
2. The needle marks in that girl's arm makes it look like she been using a turkey-baster to shoot-up with.
3. 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.
4. Wow, a ninja in the stockroom! You just don't see enough of stuff like that in real life.
5. 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.
6. The identities of the bad guys are so obvious it's embarrassing.

7. 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.

4/10