Lone Wolf McQuade *** (1983, Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Barbara Carrera– Classic Movie Review 13,060

The action-packed 1983 contemporary Western film Lone Wolf McQuade stars Chuck Norris, David Carradine and Barbara Carrera. Norris opined: ‘David Carradine is every bit as good a martial artist as I am an actor.’

‘Whether it comes to fighting…or loving…or killing…There’s NO ONE like J.J. McQuade.’

Director Steve Carver’s action-packed 1983 American contemporary Western film Lone Wolf McQuade stars Chuck Norris, David Carradine and Barbara Carrera. Norris opined: ‘David Carradine is every bit as good a martial artist as I am an actor.’

Chuck Norris stars as renegade Texas Ranger Jim ‘J J’ McQuade, a former Marine who likes to work alone and carries a large .44 Magnum revolver, who takes on mob boss/ drug kingpin Rawley Wilkes (David Carradine) over his gun-running ring which has been stealing US Army shipments and selling them to Central American terrorist groups. The two men also engage in a battle over their shared woman, the desirable Lola Richardson (Barbara Carrera).

This capable, gutsily handled Western action thriller is low on plot and high on martial-arts action. Lone Wolf McQuade may be basic action stuff, but the good character playing from an especially tasty support cast (especially Robert Beltran, L Q Jones, R G Armstrong, and Sharon Farrell) and a strong martial arts showdown finale help considerably, and it is above average for the Norris course.

The cast are Chuck Norris as Ranger Jim ‘J J’ McQuade, David Carradine as Rawley Wilkes, Barbara Carrera as Lola Richardson, Robert Beltran as Deputy Arcadio “Kayo” Ramos, Leon Isaac Kennedy as FBI Agent Marcus Jackson, John Anderson as ATF Agent Burnside, L Q Jones as Ranger Dakota Brown, Dana Kimmell as Sally McQuade, R G Armstrong as Captain T Tyler, Tommy Ballard as Colonel Remsing, Oscar Hidalgo as Deputy Oscar Garcia, Jorge Cervera Jr as “Jefe’, Sharon Farrell as Molly McQuade, Anthony Caglia as Intern, Robert Jordan as Bobby Drew Daniel Frischman as Emilio Falcon, Hector Serrano as Cuban, William Sanderson as “Snow’, Aaron Norris as Punk Ray Marker as Soldier, Kale Stokerton as Rude Man in Pub, Kane Hodder as Goon, and David Lee Smith as Pilot.

B J Nelson’s screenplay, from a story by H Kaye Dyal, is entirely serviceable and capable. BJ Nelson wrote all drafts of the script, which was not rewritten.

It cost $5 million and grossed $12 million in the US.

Norris later said the film ‘broke the kung fu mode; for him and helped turn him into a more mainstream action star. He credits the film as a leading inspiration for his hit TV series Walker, Texas Ranger a decade later. The pilot had to be rewritten and the characters’ names changed, but Steve Carver and his production partner Yoram Ben-Ami sued the TV show’s producers of Walker, Texas Rangers for $500 million. Despite the similarities, they lost and Carver and Norris parted ways.

Nevertheless Carver recalled that Norris was ‘easy to work with. Chuck was a little bit stiff in An Eye For An Eye. He became looser in Lone Wolf McQuade. After that he became better with every picture he did.’

Norris and Carradine refused to use stunt doubles for their climactic fight scene. Carradine said Norris wanted to do a fight that matched the one Norris did with Bruce Lee in the Roman Coliseum in Way of the Dragon. Carradine said the fight was shot over four days. ‘All our old injuries came back. We got new injuries, and we were stumbling around like little old men. But I think we accomplished what we set out to do.’

The film was rated R but Norris appealed to the MPAA and got a PG rating.

Carver and Norris previously worked together on A Eye for an Eye (1981).

© Derek Winnert 2024 – Classic Movie Review 13,060

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com