A Force of One

A Force of One (1979)

He hears the silence. He sees the darkness. He's the only one who can stop the killing.

Karate champion Matt Logan is enlisted by the police to train officers in self-defense after narcotics agents are killed by an assailant using the martial arts.

Date of release
1979-06-01
TMDB
4.9 / 10 (126)
Runtime
1h 30m
Genres
Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Director
Paul Aaron

Casting

Interesting facts

  • Box office: $20.2M
  • Budget: $3.5M
  • Earned 5.8× its budget
  • Filmed in: San Diego

A Force of One is a 1979 American martial arts action-thriller film directed by Paul Aaron and starring Chuck Norris and Jennifer O'Neill, with Ron O'Neal, Clu Gulager, and martial artist Bill Wallace in his film debut. Norris plays karate champion Matt Logan, who is hired to assist an anti-narcotics police unit, who are being targeted by a killer. The screenplay by Ernest Tidyman was based on a story co-written with martial artist Pat E. Johnson.

Production

A Force of One was the third film to feature Norris as the star, following Breaker! Breaker! (1977) and Good Guys Wear Black (1978). It was produced and distributed by American Cinema Productions, which had previously produced Good Guys Wear Black. In addition to playing the lead role, Chuck Norris was also the film's fight choreographer with his brother, Aaron Norris, was also the stunt coordinator.

The screenplay, written by Oscar-winner and Shaft creator Ernest Tidyman, was based on a story co-created by martial artist and Norris' longtime associate Pat E. Johnson. In a 1980 interview, Tidyman considered it his least successful effort as a craftsman. "I only wrote it to buy my mother a house." he said, although financially it was one of his biggest hits.

Good Guys Wear Black director Ted Post was originally attached to the film. However, he dropped out before filming started due to production delays. Paul Aaron, who was originally hired to rewrite the script, was brought in as a replacement. Aaron had only directed one previous film, A Different Story, but was a well-established theatre director.

This was the film debut of martial artist and undefeated professional kickboxer Bill "Superfoot" Wallace. At the time of filming, Wallace was the PKA World Middleweight Kickboxing Champion.

Filming was predominantly done in San Diego and Los Angeles, California. Many scenes were shot at San Diego Harbor. The kickboxing scenes were shot at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. The street festival scenes were shot at Chicano Park. Oscar-winner John Barry (A Clockwork Orange, Star Wars, Superman) was the production designer. A 15-year-old Keanu Reeves, who was the stepson of director Paul Aaron, worked on the film as an uncredited gofer.

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.

Recommended