A Force of One
Karate champion Matt Logan is enlisted by the police to train officers in self-defense after narcotics agents are killed by an assailant using the martial arts.
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- Cast:
- Chuck Norris , Jennifer O'Neill , Clu Gulager , Ron O'Neal , Bill Wallace , Eric Laneuville , James Whitmore Jr.
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Reviews
Best movie of this year hands down!
To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
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
After he did "Good Guys Wears Black" Chuck Norris, comes back with "A Force of One", which is not the biggest thing on the big screen, but it is very watchable though. Norris plays Matt Logan, a karate instructor in California who helps the police catch a killer who uses martial arts for murder. His target, cops! Anyone in their right mind who kill with martial arts is dishonorable and should be dealt with personally. Jennifer O'Neil plays the cop who works with Logan, and learns a thing or two about discipline. The full-contact scenes were great, it kept my interest in the martial arts alive. It's a shame that Logan's son(Eric Laneuville, before St. Elsewhere) got killed by the men he taught. And now, the fight to the finish is what the movie is about. Very tame, yet entertaining throughout. "A Force of One" isn't supposed to be high action, it's more fusional than most martial arts films. It is a big keeper for Chuck Norris fans! 2.5 out of 5 stars!
Chuck Norris may have had top billing, but it was the debut of Bill Wallace as the psychotic "Sparks" that drew some of us to this one. The first full-contact middleweight karate champion of the world, Wallace was ideal for the part: he had the charisma as well as the genuine physical skills (as his reign as undefeated middleweight champion attests) to pull it off. (Even better than the fight scenes here are the fight scenes with Jackie Chan in THE PROTECTOR.) Wallace also went on to do some of the ringside commentary for the first of the Ultimate Fighting Championships. (The most recent UFC- 91- was a throwback to UFC 1, when there were no weight divisions: the hulking Brock Lesnar- big and strong and fast and mean and unafraid to prove it to a man half his size- hammered sentimental favorite Randy Couture into submission in the second round. Prior to the mismatch, Lesnar had loudly proclaimed himself big and strong, etc., and made a clear delineation between himself and the classier prizefighters of yore. Like Wallace.)
What I found interesting was that Clint Richie was in this film. It was interesting to see Clint, who was a real bad ass, having to play second fiddle to a yuppie wanna be like Chuck Norris. Clint was not only a genuine tough guy, but he was a fast talking guy who would rather talk his way out of fight, than to actually fight. But when he was forced into a fight, he was terrifying. Clint could do it all.. Ride, shoot, fight, and a real ladies man. Not a bad actor either. Most of Clints earlier teenage friends are all dead or in prison.. Which gives you an idea of the kind of background he came from. Tough as nails, but a good friend.