Lone Wolf McQuade
April. 15,1983 PGThe archetypical renegade Texas Ranger wages war against a drug kingpin with automatic weapons, his wits and martial arts after a gun battle leaves his partner dead. All of this inevitably culminates in a martial arts showdown between the drug lord and the ranger, and involving the woman they both love.
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Reviews
You won't be disappointed!
The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.
The archetypical renegade Texas Ranger wages war against a drug kingpin with automatic weapons, his wits and martial arts after a gun battle leaves his partner dead. All of this inevitably culminates a martial arts showdown between the drug lord and the ranger, and involving the woman they both love. Lone Wolf McQuade is packed with terrific perfomances by both Norris and Carradine and their fight scene was just beautiful, the soundtrack was pure joy to my ears and the action just beautiful looking. Definitely a 80's Spaghetti Western Classic. (A+)
A hugely disappointing and dull action film from Chuck Norris. While it's certainly better-made than most of his and with a higher budget, this is still a highly clichéd film in which you can predict just what's going to happen, right down to the climatic fight between Norris and Carradine. It's also not nearly violent enough, actually receiving a PG rating in America! Why? I thought we could depend on Norris for plenty of high-kicking martial arts mayhem, broken bones and the like, but this just seems like a family-orientated sell-out for him.The film kicks off with a western theme, with Norris taking on a gang of cattle-rustlers in slow motion. Incidentally, this film's music score, by a noted Italian composer, Francesco de Mosi (whose roots go back to those Italian peplum adventures of the early '60s), is the biggest selling point, really old fashioned and highly reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's work. Soon we're treated to a string of scenes, involving Norris bonding with his ex-wife and daughter and falling in love with a woman on the other side. He also beats up a few hicks and gets a new partner. Blah, blah, it all predictably ends with lots of explosions and non-violent gun battles.Norris is as wooden as ever here, his bland face not displaying any emotion for one second. David Carradine is barely seen as the bad guy, but doesn't make much impression, aside from showing us his impressive KUNG FU tricks. Carrera is a boring love interest, and it's only up to the likes of L.Q. Jones, William Sanderson, and R.G. Armstrong to inject some life into their small roles. Oh yeah, and there's an evil dwarf in there too, for some reason or other.There are a handful of cool scenes in this movie which make it kind of fun at times; we get to see Norris buried underground inside his car, dowse himself with a beer and reverse straight out of the ground! He also gets shot in the stomach but the wound has healed enough in a couple of days that he can take the bandage off and have a fight with no ill effect. Or alternatively sit back and watch Norris try some target practice back at his ranch. The climatic fight between Norris and Carradine is well staged, as are the periodic martial arts that Norris uses, but there's not nearly enough. As this is a family-film, Norris also only beats Carradine up, and then lets him die in an explosion - disappointing or what? I would say this is an amusing film for Norris fans, but a real disappointment for somebody expecting some serious violence or action. There just isn't enough, just long scenes of sentimentalising and dialogue in an overlong film.
1983's "Lone Wolf McQuade" is without a doubt Chuck Norris' best movie in every way possible, from the fight scenes to even Chuck's dramatic performance. As you no doubt may know, McQuade is a Texas ranger who does what he has to do to bring the bad guys to justice, no matter what. But when his daughter is injured for being at the wrong place at the wrong time, it gets personnel. It turns out some pretty nasty gun runners are at work, led by Rawley Wilkes who's played with such evil zeal by the late great David Carradine. To make matters more complicated, McQuade and Wilker's wife, Lola (played by the stunning Barbara Carrera) fall in love and begin an affair. In addition to all this, Chuck has to look out for his new partner, Kayo (played innocently but with toughness by Robert Beltran) and his retired mentor Dakota (the understated talented LQ Jones). Rounding at the cast is R.G. Armstrong as McQuade's annoying by the book captain who tries to get him to change his ways (what do you think the chances are of that happening?), Sharon Farrell as McQuade's ex wife, and Dana Kimmell as his daughter. But the one thing that really makes this movie stand out is the amazing music score by Francesco De Masi. Granted, it does borrow heavily from Ennio Morricone's score for "Once Upon a Time in the West" but still manages to stand on its own as one of the best epic scores of any action film. It also helps to have a little bit of cheese to make things more fun, like McQuade's supped up truck that can get him out of any situation (try not to laugh at how he and his truck get of the buried alive dilemma). But its all part of the fun. This is one of those movies that I always have to watch when it comes on TV not only because of all the above reasons but also because there is that indefinable movie magic that always draws me in; I don't know what it is, but whatever it is, this movie has it. So, even if you're not a Chuck Norris film, I highly recommend this one because as far as these types of movies go, they don't get much better than this. 9 out of 10.
This stinker might have worked as a Jackie Chan style action comedy, but played straight it is a total waste of celluloid.Norris can't act. That's not surprising for an "action star", but he's worse than most. Schwarzenegger in "Conan" was more believable than Norris. He is wooden, monotone, and I couldn't tell which emotions he was trying to display, unless it was "angry loner".Carradine -- well he's never been able to act and he doesn't even have the excuse of starting out as an athlete.As is usual for this genre, the plot is absurd and the action ridiculous, but you expect this and are willing to tolerate it in exchange for good performances. Unfortunately, there aren't any good performances of any type in this stinker.