THE OCTAGON
aka OCTAGON
aka OCTAGON – DIE RACHE DER NINJA
USA 1980
Directed by: Eric Karson
Cast: Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Art Hindle, Lee Van Cleef, Carol Bagdasarian, Tadashi Yamashita, Kim Lankford, Larry D. Mann, Kurt Grayson, Richard Norton, Yuki Shimoda, Ken Gibbel...
Running Time: 104 min. (US DVD)
Tagline
(taken from the US DVD) …spectacularly choreographed and executed (The Hollywood Reporter)
Tagline
(taken from the US poster) The Ninja, unholy masters of terror. No one will admit they still exist. Only one man can stop them.
Tagline
(taken from the US poster) In a world of choices, for one man there is no choice… he must face The Octagon. Covertext (taken from the US DVD) Legendary martial arts star Chuck Norris takes on a deadly terrorist training camp known only as The Octagon in this deadly tale of revenge! Plagued by painful memories as a fighter, Scott (Chuck Norris) has stayed away from the dark side of battle. But when a wealthy heiress seeking revenge hires him to infiltrate an international terrorist operation run by his adopted brother, Scott has no idea what he is coming up against. Drawn closer and closer to The Octagon, Scott realizes his brother is using his skill in the deadliest manner, training men in the Ninja style of killing. Now it is up to Scott to battle his brother in the ultimate showdown of good vs. evil! My Thoughts One year before Menahem Golan’s ENTER THE NINJA (1981) triggers off the avalanche that is commonly known as the 1980s Ninja craze this enjoyable B-flick explores similar territory. Starring Chuck Norris, one of THE action superstars of the 1980s, as Scott, he has to fight first against his inner voices and then against his evil brother and his bunch of Ninja super-killers. The result is rather weak, because the whole movie is too slow-moving for my taste and pretty unspectacular, with the exception of the good showdown which finally delivers the goods. But it sadly is a long (and sometimes boring) way to get there, despite some fights, shootouts and car chases. In the end Chuck Norris finally displays his undeniable martial arts skills by killing lots of black Ninjas until he finds himself eye to eye with his brother ‘in the ultimate showdown of good vs. evil’, as the back cover puts it. THE OCTAGON certainly belongs to the better Chuck Norris movies, although I have to admit I like AN EYE FOR AN EYE (1981) and INVASION U.S.A. (1985) way more. Art Hindle (of David Cronenberg’s THE BROOD (1979)) can be seen as Chuck’s friend who meets a bloody end in the hands of the Ninjas. Lee van Cleef and Richard Norton also make some appearances, but these are so small they can nearly be called cameos. An okay effort, but after the cool finale one wishes that the whole film would have been shot that way. ‘Cause than it would have been great.
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