Ever since he fought Bruce Lee in 1972's The Way of the Dragon, actor Chuck Norris has earned his reputation as an action film legend. More than 50 years later, he has achieved an almost mythological pop culture status, with a successful television and film career.
Born Carlos Ray Norris in 1940 in a small Oklahoma town two miles north of the Texas state line, Chuck Norris would leave small-town America behind and eventually become an unlikely martial arts champion and action film legend.
While serving in the Air Force in South Korea, Norris learned martial arts, and won numerous karate championships. That led to Bruce Lee casting him as his nemesis in The Way of the Dragon, with a climactic fight scene between the two that remains among the best ever committed to film.
Throughout the 1970s and 80s, Norris brought his unique style of martial arts to a number of box office hits. In the 1990s, his fame was solidified with his CBS series Walker, Texas Ranger, and films like Expendables 2 and viral jokes reinforced Norris' iconic status in recent years. With over 30 films on his resume, however, some of his work has gone underappreciated by both critics and fans. Following are ten Chuck Norris films that are vastly underrated, and worth reconsideration.
10 The Hitman (1991)
Chuck Norris and an Epic Mullet
The Hitman is straight B-movie cheese, but it's worth a watch because it offers both a fun twist and the greatest cinematic mullet of the early 1990s. Chuck plays Cliff Garrett, a Seattle cop who is shot and left for dead by his crooked partner (Michael Parks). While everyone thinks he's dead, Garrett goes deep undercover as a hitman to bring down the city's criminal organizations.
Chuck grows an epic mullet as part of his undercover persona, and it works, because no one recognizes him as he savagely takes out mobsters with a twisted sense of humor, a departure from his usual roles.
The film scored a dismal 13% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but the action scenes are well done, and some excellent camera work gives the film a dark, moody tone. The film is a fun diversion, good for a late-night watch with friends as you marvel over the skills of Chuck's hairdresser.
The Hitman
is not currently available to stream, but is available for purchase digitally through providers including Amazon.
9 Hero and the Terror (1988)
Chuck Battles Non from Superman II
By the late '80s, Norris had earned a reputation as an action film icon, even though his movies were often moderately budgeted productions. Norris' charisma, however, was always bigger than the budget, and that was the case with 1988's Hero and the Terror, which found Chuck playing a cop having to hunt down an escaped serial killer he barely managed to apprehend years before.
Jack O'Halloran cuts an imposing figure as "The Terror," a mute killer who seems nearly unstoppable. It's a pretty similar character to his role as Non in the Christopher Reeve Superman films, and the only drawback here is that his screen time is limited. The film flopped at the box office, but Hero and the Terror is a slick action thriller that overcomes the '80s clichés throughout the script and delivers some prime Chuck.
Hero and the Terror
is streaming on Tubi.
8 Sidekicks (1993)
It's The Karate Kid with a Side of Chuck
Sidekicks is often dismissed as a Karate Kid ripoff, but this action/fantasy is strictly a comedy aimed at kids. It stars the late Jonathan Brandis as Barry, an underachieving asthmatic who daydreams about being Chuck Norris' sidekick in an effort to escape the bullying he experiences in real life.
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The film is silly but sentimental, a celebration of the power of imagination with a lesson to kids of the importance of self-reliance. The supporting cast is surprisingly good, with Beau Bridges, Mako, Julia Nickson, and both Joe Piscopo and Richard Moll providing some comedy relief. A modest hit upon release, the film has built a bit of a cult following, and even Norris himself says he would love to do a sequel.
Sidekicks
is available to stream on Starz.
7 The Cutter (2005)
Norris Proves Age Is Just a Number
At the age of 65, Chuck Norris should have been sitting on the front porch of his Texas ranch drinking iced tea and making occasional appearances on The Hollywood Squares. Instead, he was still kicking - literally - in a 2005 throwback actioner titled The Cutter. Norris plays John Shepherd, an ex-cop turned private detective who gets caught up in a criminal conspiracy involving ancient jewels and a sacred Biblical artifact.
The cast is filled with familiar faces, including Joanna Pacula (Tombstone), Bernie Kopell (The Love Boat), Marshall Teague (Babylon 5), and Tracy Scoggins (Lois and Clark). While the film's script never realizes its full potential, it's still fun seeing Norris post-Walker, still able to command the screen. The kicks are fewer and far-between, and there are some obvious stunt doubles for the jumps and falls, but the magic of Chuck is still there. He even has a couple of chuckle-worthy lines.
The Cutter
is available to stream on Prime Video, Plex, FreeVee, and the Roku Channel.
6 Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire (2005)
Walker Returns with a Vengeance
In 2005, four years after Walker, Texas Ranger ended its run, Norris returned to the franchise with the TV movie Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire. The plot is standard, Walker episode material about a missing kid and a government weapon. The draw here, however, is seeing Norris back in action as Walker, although it isn't exactly a reunion movie.
The film focuses less on the original cast (Clarence Gilyard's Trivette is limited to a cameo), and prioritizes new actors, particularly Janine Turner (Northern Exposure). Trial by Fire was meant to kick-start a spinoff with Turner's character of Ranger Kay Austin as a potential lead. However, ratings for the film were terrible, so CBS ditched plans for future film sequels or spinoffs. It's a shame, because the film is entertaining, but it ends on a cliffhanger that was never resolved.
At this point in the series, Norris let some of the younger actors handle most of the action, particularly Judson Mills' Gage. Keep an eye out for a young Selena Gomez and Charles Baker (aka Breaking Bad's Skinny Pete) in small roles before they became famous.
Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire
is not available on streaming, but is available on DVD on the secondary market.
5 An Eye for an Eye (1981)
Chuck, Saruman, and Shaft in a Tale of Revenge
Revenge flicks had a good heyday in the 1970s and 80s, and 1981's An Eye for an Eye cast Chuck as a cop seeking justice after his partner is ambushed and killed in the line of duty. The script is a by-the-numbers affair and riddled with clichés, but the gritty aesthetic of 1980s San Francisco and an excellent cast make the film worthwhile.
Christopher Lee (The Lord of the Rings) plays the villain and Richard Roundtree (Shaft) appears as Norris' police chief, and they make the most of their screen time. The audience score at Rotten Tomatoes is only 39%, far too low for a film that features some outstanding fight scenes with Norris. The film is directed by Steve Carver, who also directed one of Norris' biggest hits, Lone Wolf McQuade.
An Eye for an Eye
is available to stream on Tubi, FreeVee, and the Roku Channel.
4 Logan’s War: Bound by Honor
A Made-for-TV Movie with Surprising Depth
Norris took on the role of mentor in Logan's War: Bound by Honor, a made-for-TV movie he made during his hiatus from Walker: Texas Ranger. Using essentially the same crew from the show, and filmed in north Texas, the movie looks and feels like a Walker episode, except with Eddie Cibrian (Third Watch, The Cave) as the lead character of Logan, a man on a quest to kill the mobsters who murdered his family when he was young.
For a made-for-TV movie, the film has some good action, and some actual character development. Norris plays Logan's uncle Jake, who takes him in as a child and teaches him how to defend himself. He helps Logan plot his revenge against the mobsters, and finally gets in on the action in a violent finale. If you've seen every episode of Walker and want more, Logan's War is a good option.
Logan's War: Bound by Honor
is streaming on Prime Video, FreeVee, Tubi, Pluto TV, Plex, and the Roku Channel.
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3 Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
Norris' Charisma Elevates a Low Budget Actioner
Even devoted fans of Invasion U.S.A. admit the film would have been far better with a larger budget. The premise isn't half bad: a group of Russian terrorists and foreign mercenaries show up in Florida and begin attacking civilians.
The invasion isn't quite that epic, however, and it's more of an incursion of a few dozen Russians. When the Russians ride around in airboats in the Everglades and blow up Chuck's shack, however, and nearly kill his armadillo, that sets The Bearded One off.
Chuck basically carries the picture, dishing out broken bones and one-liners with enough charisma to give the film the epic feel the budget could not. Richard Lynch, who played the heavy in dozens of films and TV shows during the 1970s and '80s, is excellent as the lead Russian. The film is set during Christmas, although it doesn't quite play up the holidays the way other Christmas-themed action films like Die Hard did.
Invasion U.S.A.
is available to stream on MGM+, Tubi, Pluto TV, and the Roku Channel.
2 Braddock: Missing in Action III
A Threequel with an Emotional Twist
The Missing in Action films never reached the level of success of other "P.O.W." films of the 1980s like Rambo: First Blood Part II or Uncommon Valor, but the movies were a good showcase for Norris, and established him as a bankable action hero. The first two films were even more successful on home video, so it was no surprise that Norris returned to the franchise in 1988 for a third film.
Braddock: Missing in Action III was a dismal box office failure, but it is arguably the best movie in the series. Rather than attempting another "P.O.W." story, the film finds Braddock returning to Vietnam to find his wife, who he thought was killed. Not only is she alive, she had Braddock's son, and the film turns into a rescue mission of his family and dozens of Amerasian orphans. The film's second half has some excellent action, and more heart than you would expect for a Chuck Norris film.
Braddock: Missing in Action III
is streaming on Cinemax.
1 The Delta Force (1986)
Chuck Norris and Lee Marvin Are a Classic Action Duo
The Delta Force is one of Norris' most popular films, but it doesn't get nearly the respect it deserves. Some dismiss the script as strictly B-movie quality, while others dislike the fact that Chuck uses his Uzi more often than his martial arts.
In retrospect, the film holds up pretty well as a military rescue flick that reflected the anxiety of the terror attacks and hijackings of the mid-'80s. It's also hard to deny the appeal of an action film led by Chuck Norris and the legendary Lee Marvin (The Dirty Dozen), in what would be his final role before his death the following year.
The film is based loosely on the TWA 847 hijacking in 1985, but adds a fantasy element, with America's Delta Force rescuing the hostages. Norris plays a retired Delta Force captain who returns to duty to join the mission, led by Col. Nick Alexander (Marvin).
The all-star cast resembles the Irwin Allen disaster movie casts of the 1970s, including Shelly Winters, George Kennedy, and Joey Bishop. Keep an eye out for Liam Neeson, Kevin Dillion, and Mykelti Williamson in uncredited roles as Delta Force commandos. Eventual Oscar nominee Robert Forster (Jackie Brown, Breaking Bad) plays the lead terrorist Abdul, despite being Irish-Italian.
Despite a 15% Rotten Tomatoes critics score, the film continues to win over fans who enjoy it as a unique snapshot of '80s military films. The Alan Silvestri (Predator, Back to the Future, The Avengers) score, composed and performed entirely on a synthesizer, is pure '80s perfection.
The Delta Force
is available to stream on Prime Video, FreeVee, Pluto TV, and Tubi.
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