The 70s saw the explosion of martial arts movies and with it the introduction of Chuck Norris. Few remember that he began as a bad guy, a hit-man called in to slay Bruce Lee in "Way of the Dragon." In that flick, a brutish young Norris, looking all muscle and chest hair, met his death at the hands of the invincible Lee. But Norris went on to play the hero - as a cop, martial arts trainer or American soldier - in a string of action movies through the 70s and 80s."Force of One" was one of the best. It features Norris as Matt Logan, a karate champion and trainer, who is called upon by the local police to help them break a drug ring. The ring employs a shadowy assassin who uses martial arts to kill cops that get to close to cracking the case. The movie starts with two undercover cops following a skateboarding kid, suspected of dealing drugs, into an empty store. Within minutes, the cops are ambushed by a silent masked killer who expertly snaps both their necks. The killer first punishes them with kicks so powerful they raise them right off the floor, letting us know early on that this is no average street thug, but rather a highly trained martial artist.The scene cuts to Norris battering an opponent in a kickboxing match. Norris looks like the champ he is with a chiseled fighter's physique and lighting fast moves. Later at his karate school, Lt. Dunne (Clu Gulager) asks him for his help in training cops in martial arts. Though Norris is busy preparing for his upcoming championship fight, he's implored by a beautiful policewoman, played Jennifer O'Neill, and by his adopted teenage son Charlie, himself a junior karate champ, to help stop the flow of drugs to kids.At first the cops themselves are resistant to the training, thinking it's just a gimmick. Moskowitz (James Whitmore, Jr.,) a tough street cop, grumbles "What good does it do me to be able to bust a two by four with my bare hands?" Meanwhile two more cops are seen following the same young skateboarder. It's obvious the kid is just a decoy to lure cops into danger. He does his job well and watches as the assassin gets the drop on the cops and again snuffs each officer with expert karate moves.Chuck's romance with Jennifer O'Neil starts to bloom, while his son Charlie starts some sleuthing on his own. When they all attend a karate match together to check out Chuck's next opponent, we are introduced to Jerry Sparks, played by Bill Wallace. Wallace was a world champion martial artist for real and his ability to win matches with savage kicks gave him the nickname "Superfoot." Superbly muscled, his physical presence makes a perfect foil for the sculpted Norris. When Charlie discovers that Wallace is the mysterious assassin, he tries to fight him, but he's no match for Superfoot's lethal feet. When his body is found, Norris vows revenge and the final showdown between the two warriors is set.Their fight is the highpoint of the movie. Evenly matched, Norris and Wallace duke it out, with Wallace's feet and Chuck's fists front and center. Finally, Chuck turns the tables and delivers a devastating kick of his own. He grabs the stunned Wallace's neck and twists around, hauling him onto his back and "hanging" him. He keeps the hold on long after Superfoot's body has gone limp, exacting a brutal revenge for his slain son. With his execution, the rest of the drug ring is easily rounded up. This fight is the climax of an exciting movie which is worth viewing just to see these two martial arts champions in action.

Chuck Norris exciting vehicle with lots of action , thrills , suspense and spectacular kick-boxing fights . One time the Vietnam war is over , a Karate teacher named Matt Logan (Chuck Norris) keeps a new occupation as trainer , previous life as leader of a Vietnam commando named ¨The Black Tigers¨ (at his former film titled ¨Good guys wear black¨ by Ted Post) . A police lieutenant (Clu Gulager) attempts to resolve why his squad members (Jennifer O'Neill , Pepe Serna, Ron O'Neal, among others) are being mysteriously killed . Then Norris using his skills as fighter to help combat drug trafficking and discover as the undercover narcotic agents are being eliminated one-by-one . This stirring picture is plenty of action-packed , excitement , tense and cheesy sub-plot to boot with wild stunts . The story displays a plethora of martial-arts struggles and especially Thailand fighting . The movie featured three members of the Norris family in acting roles , these were Aaron Norris , Mike Norris and Chuck Norris . Here Norris cleans up the nasty fighters by means of punches , kicks , bounds and leaps with fights certainly slick . Mediocre screenplay in spite of being written by Ernest Tidyman (French Connection , Shaft). It's violent , frenetic and hectic and not particularly literary but worthy entry in Kung-Fu genre , although runs out energy surprisingly early. Average Norris-thriller , exciting and tense at times with fine work from Clint Ritchie, James Withmore Jr and Clu Gulager as a brilliant chief named Dune . And , of course , Karate expert Chuck Norris who saves the day with lots of visceral violence , he's a nice wrestler who possesses incredible strength . The motion picture was regularly directed by Paul Aaron , in his second theatrical feature film and he replaced filmmaker Ted Post . The film belongs Norris's early period , as during the 70s when he made low-average budget as ¨Breaker,Breaker¨, ¨Slaughter in San Francisco ¨, after that , in the 80s and 90s he acted in better movies as ¨Code of silence¨, ¨Delta Force¨ , ¨Silent rage¨ ,¨Octagon¨ ,¨Forced vengeance¨, ¨Delta Force I,II¨ , ¨An eye for an eye¨ among others , with successful box office at cinemas and video-rentals . In the 90s and 2000s with exception of ¨Walker Texas Ranger¨, the Norris star had gone down . Action addicts will give this one a passing grade , all others need not apply . If you're a previous Norris fans , you'll like it but contains enough action and violence for enthusiasts of the Karate genre . This is a must see if you're a die-hard Chuck Norris fan .

Most people know Chuck Norris for his TV show Walker, Texas Ranger, and some of his later films. A Force of One is an early Chuck Norris film.Basically this film is about police officers who are killed by someone who uses martial arts to defeat the officers. The police decided that the officers need martial arts training, which is taught by Matt Logan (Chuck Norris) who is also a pro kickboxer.What makes this more than just average is that Bill "Superfoot" Wallace is in this film. Wallace was the current Middleweight Kickboxing World Champion during the making of this film.The lines are cheesy and some of the acting is a little wooden but the fight scenes are well made. While this is not the best film that has Chuck Norris in it, it is a good film to watch if you are a fan of his early work.

I like a few Norris films and among them A Force of One is my favorite. Chuckie as the role of the USA karate champion like in real life, so it serves us specially to see Norris at his best (fighting performances). A Force of One has nice actors, GREAT martial arts scenes and funny expressions here and there. The flick is low-budget, but Norris' karate skills make us forget the fact and enjoy watching. The plot: Norris is Matt Logan karate champion+expert, who owns a karate school and kick boxes in the ring as well. Logan is asked to train police detectives because a mysterious criminal who is a martial arts expert(Bill Wallace)is killing cops. He makes relationship with a female cop(Jennifer Onniel) and together they try to find and stop that ninja killer. In my opinion it's one of Norris' best.