Hollywood westerns taught us that the border between USA and Mexico was a place full of crime and danger. Situation didn’t improve in more modern times, but things could have been much worse without people like the protagonist of Lone Wolf McQuade, protagonist of 1983 action film directed by Steve Carver. Jim “J.J.” McQuade (played by Chuck Norris) is a Texas Ranger with great marksmanship and martial arts skills, which he very effectively uses while rescuing policemen from the vicious gangs of Mexican horse thieves. Although he gets impressive results, McQuade isn’t particularly liked by his superiors because he likes to work alone and this attitude reflects on his private life, which revolves around decrepit house in the middle of nowhere and pet wolf. McQuade used to be married and when his teenage daughter Sally (played by Dana Kimmell) accidentally witnesses hijacking of US Army weapons shipment, he gets further motivated to do his work in order to protect the family. Investigation, in which he reluctantly receives help from young, inexperienced and enthusiastic Deputy Arcadio “Kayo” Ramos (played by Robert Beltran), points towards rich businessman Rawley Wilkes (played by David Carradine), who is also a martial arts enthusiasts and who wouldn’t mind an opportunity to test his skills against McQuade. Before that happens, he also meets Lola Richardson (played by Barbara Carrera), widow of murdered businessman who briefly make him reconsider his hermit-like lifestyle.
Norris is nowadays known as one of the greatest icons of 1980s action cinema, but it took some time for him to become as such. Lone Wolf McQuade, directed by Steve Carver, film maker with an experience in exploitation films, played an important part in that process. Here Norris’ character uses not only fists, but also guns and various other heavy equipment, including bulldozer in the final showdown scene which also features something closest to armoured warfare in these kinds of films. Norris displays limited acting ability, but Carver, thankfully, doesn’t allow script to dwell on emotional scenes for too long, although McQuade gets its share of loved ones who fall victims to Wilkes and later have to be rescued or avenged. Norris does better job than Barbara Carrera, exotic-looking actress whose lack of chemistry with Norris is almost painful, but who nevertheless provides unintentionally funny scene when her character tries to win McQuade by acting as his wife and trying to clean up his messy abode. Other actors are much better, most notably young Beltran (future Chakotay in Star Trek: Voyager) as his sidekick, while Carradine provides another menacing but impressive villain. Carver was finding inspiration for his film in Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns and this is most evident in the musical score by Francesco De Masi, composer who tries a little bit too hard to mimic Morricone’s work in Once Upon a Time in the West. The score elevates the film, but after a while gets too tiresome and played in the wrong scenes. The general impression is, nevertheless, good, at least those who wants good old 1980s action and want to discover how Norris became inspiration for later Internet memes. This film received final homage in The Expendables 2 in which Norris briefly appears as McQuade-like character.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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