A Force of One (1979)

Director:

Paul Aaron

Writers:

Pat E. Johnson (story) and
Ernest Tidyman (story) ...

Release Date:

June 1979 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

He hears the silence. He see's the darkness. He's the only one who can stop the killing.

Plot:

A team of undercover narcotics agents is conducting an investigation when things mysteriously begin to go haywire...

Plot Keywords:

Karate | Police | Undercover | Martial Arts | Murder

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Jennifer O'Neill	...	Mandy Rust
Chuck Norris	...	Matt Logan
Clu Gulager	...	Dunne
Ron O'Neal	...	Rollins
Bill Wallace	...	Sparks
Eric Laneuville	...	Charlie Logan
James Whitmore Jr.	...	Moskowitz
Clint Ritchie	...	Melrose
Pepe Serna	...	Orlando
Ray Vitte	...	Newton
Taylor Lacher	...	Bishop
Lisa James	...	Harriett
Chu Chu Malave	...	Rudy
Kevin Geer	...	Johnson
Eugene Butler	...	Murphy

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | USA:PG | Canada:G (Quebec) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

San Diego, California, USA

Company:

American Cinema Productions

Trivia:

All fights were choreographed by Chuck Norris and his younger brother Aaron, who was also stunt co-ordinator on the film.

Goofs:

Continuity: The Skateboard Boy's shirt changes color from green, to blue, and back again while being followed by police.

Quotes:

Dunne: See, it's not that we don't work the streets. It's just someone's working them faster.

Movie Connections:

Featured in How American Cinema Changed Hollywood Forever (2003) (V)

Sort of alright

It has a very definite hokey made-for-TV sort of style to it. In fact, it could be directly plonked onto TV with no problem at all because it's so TV-ish and minus profanity.

IMDb has am release date of June, 1979, but the opening credits show a copyright date of '78 which means the movie was probably made in '77 which makes more sense style-wise with the haircuts and wearing of leisure suits. I remember leisure suits. They were seriously scary. I'm glad they never made a fashion return.

The lighting was a pit patchy. Some scenes would be lit well enough while other scenes suffer a serious lack of fill light. Sometimes this would be a bit annoying for smooth story flow.

I can't say i would actually recommend watching this movie to anyone, but i sort of enjoyed it. Although i probably enjoyed it more for the mid-70's nostalgia than anything else. It was kind of lame for a karate movie.