| Lone Wolf McQuade | |
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Lone Wolf McQuade movie poster |
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| Directed by | Steve Carver |
| Produced by | Yoram Ben-Ami Steve Carver |
| Written by | H. Kaye Dyal B.J. Nelson |
| Starring | Chuck Norris David Carradine |
| Music by | Francesco De Masi |
| Cinematography | Jerry G. Callaway Roger Shearman Michael Sibley |
| Editing by | Anthony Redman |
| Studio | El Paso |
| Distributed by | Orion Pictures |
| Release date(s) | 15 April 1983 |
| Running time | 108 mins |
| Country | USA |
| Language | English Spanish |
| Budget | $5,000,000[1] |
| Box office | $12,232,628 (US)[1] |
Lone Wolf McQuade is a 1983 action film, starring Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Barbara Carrera, and Robert Beltran, and is directed by Steve Carver. The film score was written by Francesco De Masi and borrows heavily from Ennio Morricone's score for Once Upon a Time in the West. The screenplay features a quiver full of one-dimensional characters: the "lone wolf" Ranger Jim McQuade (Norris), the bad guy (Carradine) with a wife (Carrera) who falls for the hero at first sight, the retired buddy, the captain trying to rein in the hero, and the new young partner the hero does not want.
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The main character, J.J. McQuade is a former Marine and a Texas Ranger who prefers to work alone. He lives in a dirty home in the middle of nowhere with a pet wolf. The film opens with McQuade involved in an intense battle with Mexican bandits and a gang of horse thieves from which he emerges unscathed. Shaking off the dust, McQuade returns to El Paso, Texas to attend the retirement ceremony of his fellow Ranger and close friend Dakota. After the party, his commander attempts to curb his "lone wolf" attitude by insisting he work with local Texas State Trooper Kayo Ramos, a tough but clean-cut and polite Latino. McQuade has a teenage daughter who came from a past marriage and is still on relatively good terms with his former wife. When his daughter is injured (and her fiancé is killed) after witnessing the hijacking of a US Army convoy (one of the hijackers is driving a Dodge Aspen which pushes her fiancé's car over an embankment), McQuade more readily works with Kayo to find out who did this to his daughter. Kayo's computer skills allow him to track the errant convoy. At an illegal garment factory, they pick up a young delinquent named Snow, who is reluctant to talk until Dakota points a Mac-10 in his general direction and empties the magazine.
As the story progresses, they are joined by FBI Special Agent Jackson. The trail leads them to arms merchant Rawley Wilkes, who is hijacking U.S. arms shipments for his illicit weapons deals. Wilkes is trained in martial arts and often gives free demonstrations at county fairs.
The three eventually find the arms trading headquarters in the Mexican desert. Agent Núñez is killed while saving Kayo from machine gun fire. McQuade is buried inside his truck but manages to escape, though injured. Agent Jackson is struck by gunfire on two separate occasions but still manages to assist McQuade and Kayo in the final attack. After an intense battle, McQuade and Wilkes engage, with the fight leaning first in Wilkes' favor until he strikes McQuade's daughter, provoking McQuade into a frenzy that defeats Wilkes. McQuade is reunited with his daughter, only to be fired upon by an injured Wilkes. Wilkes' business partner (and McQuade's new romantic interest) steps into the line of fire to save McQuade and is killed in the process. Wilkes retreats, and the film ends with McQuade victorious after a climactic finale when he throws a grenade that explodes and kills Wilkes.
The movie had a relatively positive reception from movie critics, being compared to Sergio Leone's stylish spaghetti westerns.[4] [5] [6]
The movie was successful, grossing $15 million.[7]
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