Lone Wolf McQuade was heralded as a cinematic event back in 1983. David Carradine was still fresh in memories as Caine, from the very popular Kung Fu television show. Chuck Norris was the new reigning king of martial arts action movies.
Norris reportedly wished to shed his chopsocky image and become more mainstream. This was before his very successful Cannon Pictures war movies. I'm talking Rambo-inspired stuff like Delta Force, Missing in Action, and Invasion USA. All prime slices of great, cheesy 80's action.
Still, Norris was reluctant to give up his wholesome, ass-kicking image to play a grizzled, beer-guzzling, rough-and-ready Texas Ranger. He took the role anyway.
Lone Wolf McQuade is better than a lot of similar films of the era. It's a modern western, and the filmmakers deliberately emulated Sergio Leone pictures. Veteran Italian film composer Francesco De Masi (New York Ripper, The Inglorious Bastards, and dozens of others) did the evocative score.
Steve Carver, a good director who did Big Bad Mama, Ben Gazzara as Capone, and too-few other movies, was brought on to the project. He had previously worked with Norris on An Eye For An Eye.
And then there is the supporting cast. You can't go wrong with R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, William Sanderson, Leon Isaac Kennedy, and eaten Raoul, Robert Beltran. Barbara Carrera is the love interest.
If all that isn't enough, Carver felt that the screenplay needed work, and his friend John Milius did an uncredited rewrite.
As for the movie itself, well, it is pretty typical in regard to plot. It wasn't hard to predict that Norris's cute daughter would be kidnapped. If he enters a bar, you can rest assured a fight will ensue. There is a big final confrontation between Norris and Carradine. It's no spoiler to say that Iron Chuck is the victor. Carradine was on his way down in popularity, and Norris's star was rising. Plus David's villain character was ridiculously stereotypical. He did everything but twirl his mustache and tie a lass to a railroad track.
Still, Lone Wolf McQuade is well shot, the performers are all good, and the fight scenes are spectacular. The obligatory comic relief almost even works.
Lone Wolf McQuade seems to have been eclipsed in Chuck Norris's legacy by other movies, and that's a shame. It's definitely one of the better ones. He modeled his character, Walker: Texas Ranger, after J.J. McQuade. Fans of this sort of thing, and you know who you are, ought to seek it out.
Written by Mark Sieber
Norris reportedly wished to shed his chopsocky image and become more mainstream. This was before his very successful Cannon Pictures war movies. I'm talking Rambo-inspired stuff like Delta Force, Missing in Action, and Invasion USA. All prime slices of great, cheesy 80's action.
Still, Norris was reluctant to give up his wholesome, ass-kicking image to play a grizzled, beer-guzzling, rough-and-ready Texas Ranger. He took the role anyway.
Lone Wolf McQuade is better than a lot of similar films of the era. It's a modern western, and the filmmakers deliberately emulated Sergio Leone pictures. Veteran Italian film composer Francesco De Masi (New York Ripper, The Inglorious Bastards, and dozens of others) did the evocative score.
Steve Carver, a good director who did Big Bad Mama, Ben Gazzara as Capone, and too-few other movies, was brought on to the project. He had previously worked with Norris on An Eye For An Eye.
And then there is the supporting cast. You can't go wrong with R.G. Armstrong, L.Q. Jones, William Sanderson, Leon Isaac Kennedy, and eaten Raoul, Robert Beltran. Barbara Carrera is the love interest.
If all that isn't enough, Carver felt that the screenplay needed work, and his friend John Milius did an uncredited rewrite.
As for the movie itself, well, it is pretty typical in regard to plot. It wasn't hard to predict that Norris's cute daughter would be kidnapped. If he enters a bar, you can rest assured a fight will ensue. There is a big final confrontation between Norris and Carradine. It's no spoiler to say that Iron Chuck is the victor. Carradine was on his way down in popularity, and Norris's star was rising. Plus David's villain character was ridiculously stereotypical. He did everything but twirl his mustache and tie a lass to a railroad track.
Still, Lone Wolf McQuade is well shot, the performers are all good, and the fight scenes are spectacular. The obligatory comic relief almost even works.
Lone Wolf McQuade seems to have been eclipsed in Chuck Norris's legacy by other movies, and that's a shame. It's definitely one of the better ones. He modeled his character, Walker: Texas Ranger, after J.J. McQuade. Fans of this sort of thing, and you know who you are, ought to seek it out.
Written by Mark Sieber
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