Watch Lone Wolf McQuade For Free

Waste of time

Best movie ever!

Blistering performances.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

A hugely disappointing and dull action film from Chuck Norris. While it's certainly better-made than most of his and with a higher budget, this is still a highly clichéd film in which you can predict just what's going to happen, right down to the climatic fight between Norris and Carradine. It's also not nearly violent enough, actually receiving a PG rating in America! Why? I thought we could depend on Norris for plenty of high-kicking martial arts mayhem, broken bones and the like, but this just seems like a family-orientated sell-out for him.The film kicks off with a western theme, with Norris taking on a gang of cattle-rustlers in slow motion. Incidentally, this film's music score, by a noted Italian composer, Francesco de Mosi (whose roots go back to those Italian peplum adventures of the early '60s), is the biggest selling point, really old fashioned and highly reminiscent of Ennio Morricone's work. Soon we're treated to a string of scenes, involving Norris bonding with his ex-wife and daughter and falling in love with a woman on the other side. He also beats up a few hicks and gets a new partner. Blah, blah, it all predictably ends with lots of explosions and non-violent gun battles.Norris is as wooden as ever here, his bland face not displaying any emotion for one second. David Carradine is barely seen as the bad guy, but doesn't make much impression, aside from showing us his impressive KUNG FU tricks. Carrera is a boring love interest, and it's only up to the likes of L.Q. Jones, William Sanderson, and R.G. Armstrong to inject some life into their small roles. Oh yeah, and there's an evil dwarf in there too, for some reason or other.There are a handful of cool scenes in this movie which make it kind of fun at times; we get to see Norris buried underground inside his car, dowse himself with a beer and reverse straight out of the ground! He also gets shot in the stomach but the wound has healed enough in a couple of days that he can take the bandage off and have a fight with no ill effect. Or alternatively sit back and watch Norris try some target practice back at his ranch. The climatic fight between Norris and Carradine is well staged, as are the periodic martial arts that Norris uses, but there's not nearly enough. As this is a family-film, Norris also only beats Carradine up, and then lets him die in an explosion - disappointing or what? I would say this is an amusing film for Norris fans, but a real disappointment for somebody expecting some serious violence or action. There just isn't enough, just long scenes of sentimentalising and dialogue in an overlong film.

Chuck Norris does a spaghetti western....sort of. Chuck plays a Texas Ranger (not named Walker) who plays by his own rules. He's a lone wolf and likes it that way. I felt more manly just watching him. Anyway, Chuck is annoyed by quite a few things in this film, including the new partner forced upon him and his new girlfriend who cleans his house without asking. But those minor annoyances don't matter compared to the trouble bad guy David Carradine causes for him. The two eventually square off in a fight scene that ranks among the best of Chuck's long career. Lone Wolf McQuade is a fun movie that any Chuck Norris fan will enjoy. It has some elements of the earlier Chuck-Fu years but it's definitely moving into the Cannon era, with Chuck shooting as much (if not more) than he kicks in this one. This would be the last film he did before he signed with Cannon and went on to make many great '80s actioners. Chuck's good in the role, which obviously requires very little. David Carradine is fun as the villain. The supporting cast is fine, with Barbara Carrera as Chuck's girlfriend with a tie to the villain, Dana Kimmell as Chuck's annoyingly perky daughter, and vet L.Q. Jones as Chuck's buddy. The action scenes are well-done and the direction is solid. As for my opening statement about this being "sort of" a spaghetti western. Well, that's because of Francesco De Masi's score, which is heavily influenced by Ennio Morricone. Take away that music and you wouldn't think there was anything remotely like a spaghetti western here. But the score is a large part of the film's style and really helps make this work. Not my favorite Chuck movie from his glory days but it's one of his best pre-Cannon efforts.

Chuck Norris isn't much of an actor. Basically, he plays the same character in every movie. Most of those films qualify as predictable pabulum, but "Lone Wolf McQuade" ranks as his best actioneer. This violent shoot'em up with kung fu never wears out its welcome and it boasts a terrific orchestra soundtrack from Spaghetti western composer Francesco De Masi who scored "I Am Sartana, Trade Your Guns for a Coffin," "Any Gun Can Play," and "Seven Pistols for a Massacre." David Carradine provides Norris with one of his most worthwhile adversaries, and they have a great fight before fade out. "Big Bad Mama" director Steve Carver stages several exciting shoot outs and "Lone Wolf McQuade" never runs out of steam. The best scene occurs about 80 minutes into the action after the villainous Carradine takes Norris prisoner and buries him alive in his Dodge truck at Carradine's remote airfield somewhere in the desert. Earlier, Norris and female co-star Barbara Carrera wallow in each other's arms in the front yard of his house with a water hose between them spouting water. Talk about sexually charged tension! The supporting cast is far above-average with Leon Isaac Kennedy, L. Q. Jones, R. G. Armstrong, Robert Beltran, Sharon Farrell, William Sanderson, and a bunch of scruffy looking dastards that are either swapping lead or fists with our hero. Clearly, "Lone Wolf McQuade" served as a prototype for his television alter-ego "Walker, Texas Ranger."

This was my first Chuck Norris film so I came to it with an open mind, although I knew pretty well what to expect: lots of macho action and don't worry about credibility (why don't the horse thieves just blow McQuade away five minutes in, instead of messing around spraying a cliff with a machine gun?).So how did it measure up? Well, the action is there with plenty of gun-play and some martial arts thrown in (which look far more realistic than Jackie Chan's gravity defying gymnastics - these guys really hurt each other, although they should kill each other in minutes). We have very satisfactory eye-candy from Barbara Carrera (pity she had to get killed but there has to be a way for Chuck to get back with his estranged wife and daughter). There is also the old mentor who gets killed and has to be avenged, the rookie who learns how to get down and dirty and do some *real* crime fighting, the by-the-book guy who finally joins McQuade's crusade (and he's black), and the exasperated superior. I could go on but you can fill the blanks in yourself. Just to remind us the film is *really* a Western, we have an Ennio Morricone-type score as well (and very good it is).We also have affirmation that the USA has the right to invade another country and impose its will on the inhabitants - and the Mexicans here really are a dirty, helpless bunch, a nasty bit of stereotyping.I found myself comparing this film, featuring a maverick Texas Ranger on the Mexican border, with Extreme Prejudice, the Walter Hill film from 1987 which is much better directed and acted, has just as good a level of action, and shares some plot elements (old mentor, unofficial invasion of Mexico) - perhaps because John Milius made an uncredited contribution to the McQuade screenplay. Lone Wolf McQuade pales in comparison to the later film It is a good enough time-passer but no classic.