Thanks to boredom and the viral nature of the internet, Chuck Norris has become something of a pop-culture icon, the butt of a million jokes poking fun at his carefully cultivated image as a conservative, screen-fighting tough guy. More recently, he even became a highly visible political mascot for former Republican presidential nominee Mike Huckabee. But in 1979, he was still fresh from his six-time karate championship status and just beginning to establish his action film career when he starred in his second feature for American Cinema Productions and only his third starring role.
A FORCE OF ONE is exactly the kind of film title and film role that has contributed to the infamous popularity of Norris, especially among a younger generation who did not grow up with his movies and we can even say at this point, who may have missed his popular WALKER, TEXAS RANGER series which aired from 1993 to 2001.
The film is a highly flawed action thriller, boasting a director with little experience and no understanding of film action, an amateur script bursting with generalities and unbelievable genre stereotypes, wooden acting, and limited martial arts action choreographed like a karate instructional video. Welcome to the world of Chuck Norris. He’s a guy with a lot of heart and great technique who I respect in real life but struggle to accept as a credible martial arts movie star, even nearly 40 years after trading blows with Bruce Lee in his first onscreen performance in WAY OF THE DRAGON. Norris is actually a lot like his idol, John Wayne, with the sizable difference in that he never had a director with the skill of John Ford to bring out his full potential.
Interestingly, the script to A FORCE OF ONE was initially penned by Ernest Tidyman, best known as the creator of SHAFT and for scripting the action thriller classic THE FRENCH CONNECTION. I’m not sure how it ended up in the hands of ACP producer Alan Belkin but he handed it to Paul Aaron who had more experience at the time directing stage productions than movies. Originally, tasked only with adapting the script for Norris, he eventually became the director. Aaron’s penchant for stage directing comes out in a surprising number of continuous dialogue scenes that last for several minutes. Today, where film scenes that last 30 second are rare, this is a refreshing element.
The film sees Norris comfortably playing a prize karate fighter and instructor tapped by a local police captain (Clu Gulager) to help him train his vice squad following the mysterious murders of two of their police officers. It seems that a karate-trained assassin with the ability to kill with his hands is stopping cold anyone caught snooping around a large narcotics operation. Although reluctant to help, Norris is convinced by an attractive female officer, played by Jennifer O’Neill. When the killer eventually gets to Norris’ adopted son (Eric Laneuville), he vows to get revenge and in the process discovers that the culprit is right under his nose, or rather within kicking range.
If Aaron had not been so absorbed in rehashing ’70s-era cop genre conventions and had instead accelerated the pace and quality of action, A FORCE OF ONE could have actually stood the test of time. The film was a big box office hit when released but I suspect it had more to do with what was then cutting-edge marketing by American Cinema. They sent Norris on a nationwide tour and blanketed late-night TV wherever the film was scheduled to play. This film, along with the previously release GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK basically put the independent studio on the map and gave Norris the kick he needed to outlive the studio’s quick fall and go on to star in seminal B-movie classics like LONE WOLF MCQUADE, INVASION U.S.A and THE DELTA FORCE.
I don’t know where to begin in detailing what’s wrong with A FORCE OF ONE. There’s so much to shoot down. I can live with the bad acting and bad police procedure depictions. The main disappointment is the action. There isn’t enough and it looks awful. Chuck and his younger brother Aaron, who has a small role, choreographed the karate fight sequences. The thing is, Norris comes from a real martial arts background. He’s good, very good. This is why Lee picked him as his main opponent in WAY OF THE DRAGON and why Steve McQueen was his student. Yet he still didn’t know squat about modern screen fighting. Norris’ form is excellent but the set ups are ridiculously stagy and points of impact are extremely weak. The poor action direction and editing doesn’t help either. Compare the action in this film to what Jackie Chan or Yasuaki Kurata were doing in 1979 and Norris looks like he’s stuck back in the days when John Wayne was bar-room brawling in serialized westerns directed at children. It’s not his fault really since he had no support in Hollywood for the kind of action that Hong Kong was dishing out. In a way, his fighting style seems to match his onscreen personality. Both are stiff and formal.
The following paragraph contains a plot spoiler.
Of special note is the presence of karate and kickboxing legend Bill “Superfoot” Wallace, making his feature film debut. He only appeared in a few movies since and it’s a real shame. This guy is one of the best kickers I have ever seen. In this film he dishes out some incredibly fluid and fast kicking that potentially rivals anything screen boot masters like Dorian Tan, John Liu and Hwang Jang-lee were capable of. Not surprisingly, he ends up squared off against Norris in a fight that begins in the ring and ends on a back road in the country. I am willing to bet that with the right direction and marketing, Wallace could have been a huge martial arts film star.
Even with its many drawbacks, I could think of worse ways to spend 90 minutes than watching A FORCE OF ONE. American Cinema Productions got good mileage out of this film with adequate production standards and what I’ll admit is a commendable attempt to craft a well-rounded film. It never rises above B-movie standards, yet that’s a place Norris has been comfortable operating through his whole film career and for many of his fans, that’s good enough.
by Mark PollardRelated Topics:
Chuck Norris • karate • Kickboxing • narcotics • police • vice squad
- Kevin27
