More about this DVD  •  DVD Info  •  Movie Main Page  •  Message Board

Anyway, Lone Wolf McQuade is a spaghetti-Rambo flick that follows the heroic exploits of one J.J. McQuade (uh..Norris). McQuade is a Texas Ranger who has always worked alone. He single-handedly brings hoards of bad-guys in for justice until one day his superior officer gets tired of his "lone wolf" antics and gives him a partner. There are other goings-on but this pretty standard renegade good-guy versus bad guy flick goes as follows: Bad guy's girlfriend falls for good guy. Bad guy happens to be a drug dealer and arms smuggler. Bad guy injures good Guy's daughter. Good guy seeks revenge happens to solve even greater crime in the process.

This film has everything. Machine guns, cowboys, karate, chicks, army trucks, David Carradine, long-range rubber projectiles, and even an evil midget. What more could you want? A lot of well-oiled Chuck? A supercharged Dodge? Welp, you get a fair helping of both of those too. And of course what kind of Chuck Norris movie would we have without an army of bad guys with only one prop Uzi?

McQuade was directed by Steven Carver, whose previous claim to fame is Big Bad Mama, but the actors have gone on to do some interesting work. Robert Beltran of Star Trek Voyager fame plays J.J.'s new partner Kayo, while Bad Guy girlie Barbara Carrera went on to portray Bond girl Fatima Blush in Never Say Never Again, and L.Q. Jones, who plays old-timer and mentor to J.J. Dakota, was three-fingered jack in The Mask of Zorro and had roles in Casino and The Patriot.

This flick is a fun time for fans of 80's action movies. It's substance less and nonsensical action is relentless. Chuck pulls out all the stops and still kicks ass while wearing his jeans. 'Nuff said?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

MGM had this one preserved anamorphically in its theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and this is a better than average transfer. Dirt and grain have been all but banished as this print is nearly pristine. Colors are surprisingly well saturated and the image is crisp with vibrant blues and reds, and even the Texan brown scale is reproduced well. Fleshtones are well balanced and tanned and there are only a couple of instances of lighter (or pink) smear, but it's acceptable. Detail is sharper than your usual MGM transfer, and the blacks, for the most part, are solid. Some evidence of edge enhancement is noticeable, but only distracting in the brighter scenes where it causes shimmering. This is one of the better catalogue transfers I've seen from MGM.

Audio: How Does the Disc Sound?

There are three Dolby Digital mono tracks on this disc, in English, French and Spanish. While listening to the English mix I had hardly a complaint to note... besides the fact that I was listening to a 1983 mono mix. Dialogue is very clear and well integrated with the score and sound effects. ADR is also fairly seamless. However, as could be expected there isn't any low end to speak of, even with the large number of explosions that occur.

There also are French and Spanish subtitles, and English Closed Captions.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

The only extra included on this disc is an original theatrical trailer. It's a really long preview that summarizes the flick. So, watch after viewing the movie.

It's too bad there wasn't a commentary. I really would have liked to hear from the director and Chuck about how sweaty everybody was, or why they never stopped to change shirts due to all the armpit action. Oh well, maybe if there's ever a Norris box set we'll only be so lucky.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

No ROM extras have been included.

Parting Thoughts