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.

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

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.

"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)

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.