Lone Wolf McQuade
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Movie Reviews of Lone Wolf McQuade
Movie Review: Can watch this one over and over again
Summary: 5 Stars
Superb theme music and action packed film. Excellent fight scenes. Stunning leading lady.Good fight scene between Chuck Norris an David Carradine.Movie Review: Lone Wolf McQuade
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this for my husband for his birthday. He was so excited that I had found it. He loves this movie.Movie Review: Chucko kills more baddies
Summary: 4 Stars
He's mean, he's lean, and he's not about to do things by the book! Welcome to the world of the action star, that social loner who won't sit idly by when the scum of the earth prey on the human race. While the rest of us live our little lives playing by the rules like the dupes we are, these guys go out and make a difference. They actually like us despite our weaknesses, amazingly enough, and take care of us out of a sense of responsibility similar to what a lord used to feel for his peons. No matter what they do or whom they kill in the process their instincts never fail them. Even when their partner, significant other, child, or anyone else close to them dies horribly as a result of the threat the action star poses to the villains, they never swerve from their core principles. Their superiors recognize the action star's godlike powers and, while complaining publicly about their reckless behavior, put them right back out on the street to kill the bad guys. No investigative committee will stop these right-wing heroes from mopping up the riffraff. Who needs lawyers or a judicial system when we've got Charles Bronson, Sylvester Stallone, or Chuck Norris? Not me.
Enter "Lone Wolf McQuade," an archetype of the loner action star film starring none other than martial artist turned movie star Chuck Norris. In this grim thriller, Norris stars as J.J. McQuade, a loose cannon Texas Ranger with a penchant for getting himself into scrapes that result in extremely high body counts. Witness the introductory scenes where McQuade single handedly slaughters a group of Mexican horse thieves in order to save several fellow officers. He stands on a cliff and refuses to flinch even when the goons throw up a volley of fire. What a guy! Then it is off to a ceremony for Dakota (L.Q. Jones), a fellow tough guy who is retiring after years of civil rights' violations. THEN we see McQuade stand down his boss and refuse to partner up with one of the very same officers he just saved from the banditos, the impressionable Kayo (Robert Beltran). After a few scenes in which we see McQuade wow Kayo with his ability to blow holes in stationary targets, we meet Jim's family. Awwww, he's got an understanding ex-wife and a pretty young daughter who loves to spend time with him! But it isn't surprising McQuade's wife left him: the guy lives like a slob in a shack out in the desert, drinking beer all day and playing with his pet wolf. A pet wolf!
Trial and tribulation looms on the horizon with the emergence of Rawley Wilkes (David Carradine) and his diminutive business partner Falcone (David Frishman). Both men are gunrunners trying to make a buck during a time when selling weapons to third world despots and miscreants was a lucrative way to make a living. Wilkes, when he isn't double crossing clients, likes to appear in public martial arts exhibitions with his beautiful girlfriend Lola Richardson nearby (Barbara Carrera). Predictably, McQuade appears at one of these outings and quickly becomes enmeshed in a fight with several of Wilkes's goons. The two men stare at one another and then retreat to battle another day. It's not too long after this confrontation that McQuade decides to bring down Wilkes's operation, which he proceeds to do with the intermittent help of Kayo and a rat named Snow (William Sanderson). The feds decide to make an appearance too, sending in disgruntled agent Jackson (Leon Isaac Kennedy) to help McQuade bring down the baddies. Off they go to Mexico and a violent, explosion filled showdown with the smirking Rawley Wilkes. Did I mention that Carradine's character likes to wear sweaters out in the desert? Not only is he a bad guy, he was apparently born without sweat glands.
"Lone Wolf McQuade" goes so far over the top and boasts so many clichés that it is easy to overlook the stylistic elements injected into what is essentially a run of the mill action movie. Director Steve Carver decided to turn this picture into a spaghetti western set in Texas during the modern day, so he hired a composer to mimic Ennio Morricone and shot a lot of scenes where we see extreme close-ups of the characters' faces. Sometimes this technique actually works, but far too often it doesn't. The movie treats us to tons of ridiculous scenes, including a "touching" sequence where McQuade mourns the killing of his pet wolf as well as an outrageously unbelievable scenario in which J.J. drives his rocket equipped truck (!) out of a giant grave. It sounds ridiculous, and it is, but "Lone Wolf McQuade" IS an enjoyable action flick. Lots of stuff blows up, car chases abound, and the body count climbs into the high double digits. Heck, even L.Q. Jones's massive coif inspires more interest than derision (although there is derision, no mistake about it). The film so aggressively indulges in its action sequences that it's relatively easy to ignore the wooden acting from Norris (bad) and from Leon Isaac Kennedy (worse). When I grow up I want to be just like J.J. McQuade.
MGM released "Lone Wolf McQuade" with an anamorphic widescreen transfer (yay!) but only a trailer as an extra. What's up with MGM and these barebones releases for old '80s action films? What, Chucko couldn't take a break from his infomercials to record a commentary track for this film? And what about Carradine? He's got some time on his hands after filming the two "Kill Bill" films, right? Anyway, give this one a shot if you like action films; it's cheesy, frantic, and imminently watchable.
Movie Review: You can't get blood out of a stone, but Chuck Norris can.
Summary: 4 Stars
Lone Wolf McQuade is a movie that has long been on Sid the Elf's "Movies we absolutely must review at some point" list. We knew the possibility for greatness existed because Chuck was involved and he was playing a loner rouge Texas Ranger. If that's not a recipe for success, Sid doesn't know what is. Upon learning that Chuck's co-star in the movie was David Caradine, our level of excitement went up a notch because we knew there would be some terrific B fight scene. So we finally took the oportunity to watch the flick that was a huge inspiration for Walker Texas Ranger. In fact, one-half Sid is seriously considering taking a cue from Ricky Bobby and naming one kid Lone Wolf and another McQuade. Also, to take things up a notch, we had Santa with us watching the flick, and it was so good that he stayed awake for almost the whole thing.
If there has ever been a better begining to a movie, Sid will eat his pointy elf hat. You have a group of Mexican bandits, or banditos, wreaking havoc and causing chaos on their horses even though the film is set in 1983. Anyway, the leader of the gang wore only a black vest, and he had no business not wearing a shirt. The film is set in sunny El Paso, Texas so thankfully, the gang leader's gold tooth glistened in the sun brilliantly. We cannot emphasize this enough, this guy looked like he smelled as bad as anyone has ever smelled. It ends up that these banditos kill a couple of state troopers, but the whole scene is being watched by J.J. McQuade(Norris) from the top of a hill. Obviously, a battle ensuses in which Chuck offs like 5 guys by haphazardly spraying bullets in their general direction while spinning around. Breathtaking. Later, Chuck's captain attemps to pair him up with a young but talented cop named Kayo. We said it even before Norris could, "Chuck works alone." Then we get a glimpse into McQuade's personal life. We see McQuade's shack and his pet wolf. The house is deplorable. It looks like a tornado hit it and the fridge is stocked with nothing but brew. Well done, Chuck. Then we get to see Norris take some target practice on homemade targets. Trust us, this was hilarious. He has an ex-wife and a daughter who is dating a swell guy who thinks McQuade is the tops. McQuades daughter and her boyfriend are not doing anything parked in a car atop a hill when they see an Army cargo convoy being hijacked. Somebody sees them and pushes the car down the hill, killing the boyfriend and injuring the daughter. Bad move, guys. Now McQuade is going to track you down and make you wish you were never born.
McQuade employs the help of Kayo and Federal agent Jackson, played by A.C. Green and his fro/mullett, to track down the hijackers who injured his daughter. McQuade's trail leads him to Rawley Wilkes(Caradine) and Lola Richardson, the woman Wilkes is trying to uncork. However, she takes one look at Chuck and says "Why have hamburger when you can have fillet mignon, I want Chuck and his excessive body hair. I want him to give me a light rash." We've seen that Chuck can kick butt like none other. Now we get to see Caradine put on a martial arts display at a county fair. And it was pretty good. You just know there's a showdown coming. McQuade meets up with Wilkes's sidekick, an elf. That's right, Wilkes's right hand man was a cunning wise-cracking motorized wheelchair-riding brethern of Sid himself. McQuade gets a bit of info about Wilkes' operations and decides to take him down. But, Wilkes is onto McQuade and decides to attack him first. He kidnaps McQuade's daughter and Lola and shoots McQuade's pet wolf. This sends McQuade into a frenzy and he goes with his two helpers to Wilkes's compound. For perhaps the only time in his life, Chuck gets a beatdown by Wilkes' henchmen. They put McQuade in his souped up SUV and bury him alive in the vehicle. McQuade regains consciousness and realizes the situation. Of course he floores the pedal and drives out of the dirt, what else did you expect?
So now it's time for the inevitable McQuade-Wilkes showdown. Lets look at the tale of the tape: McQuade just drove out of being buried alive and energized himslef with a beer, Wilkes just kidnapped two women and shot a pet wolf. Advantage McQuade. McQuade is wearing a sleeveless Army vest with no shirt unerneath, Wilkes is wearing a completely queer white Argyll sweater. Huge advantage McQuade. That's really all you need to know. After getting his butt kicked for a couple minutes, McQuade rallied and whooped Wilkes to a pulp. Chuck never has and never will lose a fight. That's the rule.
We couldn't imagine a better result from a spur of the moment choice to watch Lone Wolf McQuade. It has everything we could ask for. A Santa viewing with tons of borderline disturbing commentary absolutely not suitable for print, Norris and his obscene ammount of chest/shoulder hair, a hot chick, a great villain, a gang of banditos with a perfect leader, a crossbow, and most importantly an elf with a prominent role. The only reason this film got only 4 stars from us is the lag in the middle of the film. Despite this, we can't recomend this film strongly enough. It is an absolute must for Chuck fans, and for those who appreciate a true B Action.
Movie Review: Brilliant by Norris standards
Summary: 4 Stars
While Chuck Norris has certainly appeared in some regrettable films during his lengthy career (can you say "The Hitman"?), I must say that "Lone Wolf McQuade" is one mightily entertaining movie. It perfectly plays to Norris's strengths, letting him to a little talking and a lot of butt-kicking as J.J. McQuade, a monosyllabic rebel who's earned legendary status as a Texas Ranger. McQuade delivers plenty of steely glares along with punches, kicks, and bullets, and has little respect for proper procedure, but he always get his man, as exemplified by an implausible opening scene in which he takes out about a dozen Mexican border criminals by himself. Yes, his character may be a cliche and a stereotype, but Norris plays him with admirable conviction, which is really all you can ask from him. Perhaps more importantly, Norris actually gets a suitable foil in the form of "Kung Fu" legend David Carradine. Carradine fills the villain role very well as Rawley Wilkes (cool name), a smirking, smarmy, cigar-chewing gun-runner whose martial-arts expertise is matched by his fondness for argyle sweaters. Even if his first appearance in the movie didn't make it obvious, you'd be able to tell from one look at Rawley that he's pure evil. Even better, Carradine is joined in his crimes by an equally amoral partner who just happens to be a dwarf in an electric wheelchair. I'm not sure why, but that's just one of those inspired ideas that make a huge difference in movies.
The plot is rather minimal, but the makers of "Lone Wolf McQuade" were smart enough to give Norris fans what they want: action, action, and more action. After all, if we wanted substance, we could watch something else. Joined by a Mestizo partner and a renegade black FBI agent with a classic jheri curl, McQuade plows his way through a small army of inbred-looking thugs on his way to the inevitable showdown with Rawley at the end of the movie. Naturally, the bad guys have to make things personal by kidnapping McQuade's daughter, but all that does is raise the stakes when he finally does face Rawley. And while their fight scene may not quite match the legendary battle between Norris and Bruce Lee in "Way of the Dragon," there's still plenty of impressive brutality and technique for the martial-arts buff.
While the camp factor in "Lone Wolf McQuade" is still pretty high, that's certainly to be expected from a Norris movie. Yes, it's a bit dated, but those looking for some great pure action will not come away disappointed. If you're a fan of action movies in general or Norris movies in particular, you can do a lot worse. This is a prime entry in the "redneck action" subgenre.