Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) Orion/Action RT: 107 minutes Rated PG (language, violence, mild sexual content, lots of beer drinking) Director: Steve Carver Screenplay: H. Kaye Dyal and B.J. Nelson Music: Francesco De Masi Cinematography: Roger Shearman Release date: April 15, 1983 (US) Cast: Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Barbara Carrera, Leon Isaac Kennedy, Robert Beltran, L.Q. Jones, Dana Kimmell, R.G. Armstrong, Jorge Cervera Jr., Sharon Farrell, Daniel Frishman, William Sanderson, John Anderson. Box Office: $12.2M (US)
Rating: *** ½
If you’re a fan of the Clint Eastwood/Sergio Leone “Man with No Name” spaghetti westerns, you’re really going to appreciate Lone Wolf McQuade because it follows the same basic story formula with a score heavily influenced by Ennio Morricone. Only instead of a horse, taciturn hero J.J. McQuade (Norris, Missing in Action) gets around in a supercharged pickup truck. Instead of a six-shooter, he solves his problems with martial arts. He sweats a lot as he traverses the deserts and dusty roads of El Paso taking down equally sweaty, dirty bad guys. Did I forget to mention he’s a Texas Ranger?
McQuade is the archetypical lone wolf cop who plays by his own rules, number one being he always works alone. Naturally, he drives his by-the-book commander (Armstrong, Predator) up the wall with his attitude. Although divorced (for the usual reasons), he’s still close to his ex-wife (Farrell, Night of the Comet) and teenage daughter (Kimmell, Friday the 13th Part 3). His troubles begin when his daughter is seriously injured after her boyfriend witnesses the hijacking of an Army convoy transporting a large supply of automatic weapons. Although ordered to stay away from the case because the feds are on it, he presses on with his investigation.
The baddie behind the hijacking is one Rawley Wilkes (Carradine, Kung Fu), an illegal arms dealer and karate master who challenges McQuade within hours of meeting him. He’s an evil, sadistic sort who rivals Lee Van Cleef of The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in pure ruthlessness. He’s so mean; you can’t wait until he gets his.
Directed by Steve Carver (An Eye for an Eye), Lone Wolf McQuade is one of Norris’ best, second only to Code of Silence. It marks the first time he turns in an actual performance. His character McQuade has an actual personality. He’s a total cowboy in appearance and demeanor. He definitely channels Eastwood with his sunburned skin and scraggly beard. He drinks a lot of beer, lives in a messy rundown house and has a pet wolf. He doesn’t say a lot. He doesn’t have to; a simple angry glare says more than words. When that fails, his fists and feet take over. He’s also handy with a gun. There’s a soft side to him too. Between the shooting and fighting, he finds time for romance with Lola (Carrera, Never Say Never Again) who leaves Wilkes to be with the lawman.
One of the best things about Lone Wolf McQuade is that the hero is surrounded by interesting supporting characters like the partner his boss assigns him, young state trooper Kayo (Beltran, Eating Raoul). He’s a polite, clean-cut Latino-American with a mile-long streak of tenacity. He’s determined to get McQuade to let him work with him. McQuade’s best friend is retired Ranger Dakota (Jones, The Wild Bunch), a rough, grizzled type with a knack for interrogating suspects. He finds an ally in a former nemesis, FBI agent Jackson (Kennedy, Penitentiary 1-3). There’s also a diminutive baddie in a wheelchair, rival arms dealer Falcon (Frishman, Lust in the Dust), who tries to cut a side deal with McQuade.
There’s always that one scene in action movies that define the hero. In Lone Wolf McQuade, it’s a real doozy! At one point, Wilkes orders his men to bury him in his pickup after he’s been beaten and shot. What does our hero do next? He opens a beer, takes a sip and pours the rest over head before hitting the accelerator and driving that sucker out of his own grave. For lack of a better exclamation, it’s COOL! Of course, the main attraction of Lone Wolf McQuade is pitting two extraordinary martial artists like Norris and Carradine against each other. Who doesn’t want to see that fight? Never mind that we already know the outcome.
There’s a lot of action in Lone Wolf McQuade. The opening scene where McQuade single-handedly deals with a gang of Mexican horse thieves is right out of a spaghetti western. Naturally, he emerges from the fracas uninjured. Carver never lets Lone Wolf McQuade slow down too much. He restricts most of the dialogue to tough guy lines. He puts all the right parts in all the right places. He gives us a likable bad ass hero, a vile villain and a story that doesn’t get too complicated. Much like the genre that inspires it, the plot is fairly straightforward. The score by Francesco De Masi sets exactly the right mood. The fight choreography is right on-point. It delivers exactly what action fans want. For my part, I wish I had opted to see Lone Wolf McQuade instead of Treasure of the Four Crowns that regrettable Saturday afternoon in April ’83. If ever a character deserved a franchise, it’s J.J. McQuade. This movie ROCKS HARD!
TRIVIA TIDBIT: As a nod to one of the movie’s primary influences, the hospital where the daughter stays after the attempt on her life is called Eastwood Hospital. How cool is that?
