It is easy to confuse nostalgia over critical thinking. "A Force of One" was the first Chuck Norris flick I ever saw in theaters and I was about 7 or 8 at the time when I saw it. My father took me to see it because he wanted me to learn karate and become a Black Belt. This movie did not inspire me but I was more than taken by Bill "Superfoot" Wallace's high kicks and spinning back kick. He stood out from the rest of the film's largely unmemorable characters. So I went to karate school and I failed miserably - I couldn't deliver a kick nor could I jump over a wooden pole. Let's just say that "A Force of One" and "Enter the Dragon" inspired my father's interest in karate (who was already a major Bruce Lee fan) more than me.
Just the other day I decided to watch "A Force of One" for the first time in 40 plus years. My reaction: it is a standard-issue karate thriller with little to no imagination. The serial killer known as the "Karate Killer" is killing undercover cops who are getting to close to the truth regarding the sale of angel dust. Most of the movie seems like a TV police thriller with the focus on Jennifer O'Neill as one of the cops and there are reliable pros like Clu Culager and Ron O'Neal (who may be a dirty cop) but the thinner-than-loose-leaf plot is, for its time, right out of an episode of "Adam-12." Chuck Norris is not too wooden in his role but he had improved his choice of roles with later films like "Code of Silence" and "Lone Wolf McQuade." The fight scenes are adequate though there is a reliance on slow-motion during the epic fight between Bill Wallace and Chuck Norris that looks a mite silly.
"A Force of One" is adequate enough though often boring during the police procedural segments. It is an uneven blend of karate and police thriller genres and Jennifer O'Neal and good old Chucky have little to no fireworks between them. Actually there are sparks (no pun intended) between Bill's character "Sparky" and Jennifer in one short scene. Looking back, the movie is nothing special but it holds a place in my heart for introducing me to Chuck Norris, so I can thank my father for that and for introducing my young self to karate. The karate didn't work out yet like this movie, we both tried.
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