Lone Wolf McQuade

Last week the world had to say goodbye to Chuck Norris. Chuck Norris became famous after his role in The Way of the Dragon and the fight scene between Chuck Norris and Bruce Lee in the colosseum in Rome must be among the most famous and widely known movie fight scenes. In my mind this scene is the movie equivalent of the Boss fight in many video games. Chuck Norris was actually a martial artist and six times karate world champion. He was not a great actor but some of his action movies are quite enjoyable. One of the best known is probably Lone Wolf McQuade. He plays a Texas Ranger with a reputation for violence. Bad guys are shot without a second thought. In the opening sequence of the movie he rids the world of a whole gang of horse thieves, only the leader is spared. Don’t expect a lot of nuance but much action and Chuck Norris shining in fight scenes. His adversary in the movie is played by David Carradine who became a superstar after his role in the early seventies the series Kung Fu. In this movie his character has a karate back ground and this leads to another boss fight between Norris and Carradine at the end of the movie with everying included : slow motion replays of impact, extreme close ups and church like dramatic music. Completely over the top but all in all the movie is enjoyable because of the fight scenes and the performances of Chuck Norris, David Carradine and Barbara Carrera. I had seen it before but decided to watch it again in tribute of the passing of Chuck Norris. For fans only and maybe for movie fans in general who want to know why Chuck Norris was a star in the martial arts movie scene. Because of his karate world titles and, compared to Bruce Lee, sober fighting style he brought some credibility to his movies. Some, as it doesn’t account for his infallible aim and the countless bullets wizzing past him.