Any moviegoer of a certain age — and probably a certain gender — will tell you about the first time they saw Chuck Norris on the screen. It might have been that unforgettable fight with Bruce Lee in the finale of The Way of the Dragon, the karate champion’s film debut. It may have been “Good Guys Wear Black” that got legions of suburban kids recreating the film’s famous flying kick (though Norris may have outsourced that stunt). Or it could have been one of his many action films from the ’80s that not only filled grindhouses and drive-ins across America, but also made Norris an international star.
Long before Norris, who died Thursday at age 86, was known as Cordell Walker — the quick-witted, word-punching hero of the long-running TV series “Walker, Texas Ranger” — he was a legend of martial arts cinema and a poster boy for a certain kind of He-Man movie with hundreds of punches, millions of bullets and dozens of lines of dialogue. Even when they were cheaply made and filled with the kind of patriotic dialogue that would make even an American Eagle cringe, Norris had the ability to turn these films into guilty pleasures with his stoic charisma and exceptional fighting skills.
In honor of The Octogon star, we’ve selected eight essential Norris films to pay tribute to the late actor. Rest in peace, Chuck.
“The Way of the Dragon” (1972)
Carlos Ray “Chuck” Norris was already an Air Force veteran, martial arts instructor, karate middleweight champion and Black Belt Magazine’s Fighter of the Year when he made his film debut in Bruce Lee’s prequel to Enter the Dragon. And it’s no exaggeration to say that their final showdown in Rome’s Colosseum remains one of the greatest movie fights of all time. Once the hairy-chested Norris cracks his knuckles and both men start to warm up and give a taste of their respective fighting styles — oh, here we go!
The nearly ten-minute sequence is a pure adrenaline rush even before they start exchanging blows, and when Norris wordlessly wags his finger at his opponent after an exchange, it’s like seeing his entire eventual action hero persona in embryonic state. The two actors had previously trained together before Lee went to Hong Kong to start his film career. He later called his old sparring partner and said, as Norris told “Late Night With Conan O’Brien,” “I want to do a fight scene that everyone will remember.” Mission damn accomplished.
“Good Guys Wear Black” (1978)
After “The Way of the Dragon” made him a sensation, Norris landed his first starring role in the truckersploitation classic “Breaker! Breaker!” (1977). But it was only his next film that officially ushered in the era of Chuck Norris: martial arts film icon. He plays Major John T. Booker, the leader of a special forces unit that is nearly wiped out after being sent on a mission into the jungles of Vietnam. Booker and four of his comrades survive and return to the USA.
However, several years later, someone seems determined to eliminate the survivors, and Booker must find out who is behind it before the assassins get to him. (“He was once a spy… now he must die!”) Norris may not have performed the infamous flying kick through a car window himself, but the film is a perfect demonstration of his fighting skills. It made him a star with his name above the film’s title.
“The Octagon” (1980)
“Good Guys Wear Black” and its equally action-packed follow-up “A Force of One” (1979) proved that Norris was a reliable box office success. His first film of the ’80s — a decade that would be hugely successful for his career — paired Norris with Lee Van Cleef of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly fame. And with ninjas. Lots of ninjas. The “silent killers” were hired as a terrorist organization, and the only man who can stop them is, of course, Norris. Ultimately, he must face a variety of opponents in the title’s octagonal arena, including his former best friend and foster brother. Norris! Cleef! Ninjas!!! What more do you need, a map?
“Silent Rage” (1982)
Norris had already begun to evolve from straight martial arts films to crime thrillers that included some karate fighting as a bonus (or perhaps an afterthought), such as in An Eye for an Eye (1981). This film felt like an uncertain test run to expand its genre scope; the following film, however, smoothed over some problems and helped establish Norris as a more well-rounded action hero. He plays a sheriff in a small Texas town who is used to breaking up fights in biker bars.
When one of his prisoners overpowers the local law enforcement and escapes, it turns out that the man was part of a genetic experiment (!) that turned him into an “indestructible human” (!!!). Now it’s up to Norris to stop this out-of-control mutant. If anyone asks you what movies were like in the ’80s, just show them this trailer.
“Lone Wolf McQuade” (1983)
Part Western, part police drama (“He’s a maverick lawman in the Lone Star State!”), and 100 percent pulp, this Norris film casts him as JJ McQuade, a Texas Ranger with an unorthodox style. He’s actually a loner (with, no joke, a real pet wolf) and a bit of an unpredictable character — but he gets the job done! And when his daughter is kidnapped by a drug lord, played by none other than David Carradine, he has to use every trick out of the book to save her.
The fact that Norris is paired with the star of TV’s Kung Fu alone would be enough to make this film stand out, but it’s actually one of his stronger works and establishes him as both a romantic leading man and a classic Maverick hero. If we had to show newcomers why Norris was a bona fide B-movie star during this era, we’d choose “Lone Wolf McQuade.” Bonus: The film later inspired “Walker, Texas Ranger,” the centerpiece of his legacy.
Missing in Action (1984)
Sylvester Stallone may have established the ultimate POW rescuer with “Rambo: First Blood Part II” — but Norris was quicker to market with this story about Colonel James Braddock, a former POW in Vietnam who escaped and returns ten years later to free several still-held soldiers. To be fair, an early script for the First Blood sequel (written by none other than James Cameron) was already circulating in Hollywood, but Norris came first.
Although Stallone’s film became one of the defining blockbusters of the decade, “Missing in Action” remains one of Norris’ best-known and most successful films and founded a real franchise for the former martial arts champion.
“Code of Silence” (1985)
This tale of corrupt cops, mafia murders, and an anti-hero cop who must break rules to exact violent justice originally began as a possible script for a Dirty Harry movie. Eventually the location was moved from San Francisco to Chicago, and after several actors dropped out, the project landed at Norris.
The result is considered by many to be his best film, thanks in part to director Andrew Davis, who later directed The Fugitive. It works as both a classic police drama, a crime thriller and an action film with martial arts elements, and Norris knows exactly how to play the role to maximum effect. A great role for him.
“The Delta Force” (1986)
After making one of the most patriotic films of all time — the low-budget copy of Red Dawn, Invasion USA (1985) — Norris returned with a men-on-a-mission film in which he starred opposite Lee Marvin. The cast reads like a Mad Libs all-star ensemble from the second half of the 20th century (Shelly Winters, Martin Balsam, Joey Bishop, Robert Forster, George Kennedy, Robert Vaughn and, surprisingly, Fassbinder’s muse Hanna Schygulla).
But make no mistake: this is clearly a Chuck Norris film. He plays Major Scott McCoy, the deputy commander of Delta Force under Marvin as Colonel Nick Alexander, and together they must rescue hostages from a plane hijacked by terrorists. It seems as if a classic action hero is passing the baton to a younger one. Like the Missing in Action films, this success spawned a franchise, although Norris only appeared in the sequel.
The star also later directed cheaply produced variants of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1986’s “Firewalker”), “The Karate Kid” (1992’s “Sidekicks”) and “Turner and Hooch” (1995’s “Top Dog”), as well as his long-running TV series. This headline-grabbing thriller is a worthy conclusion to his great cinematic era.
