Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

This serviceable action flick from karate man Norris has a better plot than usual for his films, once which draws in politics and hidden agendas and a government conspiracy going right to the top. This makes a refreshing change from the typical "gang of bad guys" out hunting the heroes in these kind of films, but sadly there is also a drawback with this movie: it's one of the most action-free action movies out there. There are only three or four major action scenes in this movie, ones which are quite well done, it has to be said, but the majority of the film consists of talking or people going from location to location in search of the truth.The slightly-above-average running time for a Norris flick also drags this film down, too, although it just avoids becoming too boring thanks to a number of supporting characters and a range of locations, from a car racing track to snowy ski slopes. The cast is also pretty good too. Norris here is very young-looking and has odd blond hair; however he is as wooden as ever and has no cause to do any kind of acting aside from the straight-laced hard man routine of most of his films. Archer makes for a forthright love interest, while Lloyd Haynes seems to be left over from the blaxploitation days and his role is a good supporting one. The chief villain is a miscast James Franciscus who fails to be threatening or scary. Also a surprise is the appearance of an aged Dana Andrews in a minor supporting role, and he puts in another fun turn.The action scenes, when they do come, are stylish yet brief. A highlight sees Norris kicking a baddie off his motorbike as he drives past, a trick which John Woo would later steal for the Van Damme epic HARD TARGET. There are a couple of shoot-outs and some fun martial arts fights, but one scene in particular stays in the mind long after the credits have run. This jaw-dropping moment sees Norris leap feet-first into the windscreen of an oncoming car, thus crushing the driver inside and saving himself. It may be far-fetched but it makes for great cinema. While not a great film at all, GOOD GUYS WEAR BLACK is entertainment that passes the time and is pretty good for a Norris flick.

Ted Post(Hang 'Em High)directed this early Chuck Norris vehicle regarding a contract out to kill members of a covert group sent into Vietnam on a bogus mission to secure POW's said to have been imprisoned in a camp. Norris stars as John T Booker, leader of the Black Tigers, leading five of the men out of Vietnam. He goes on to become a professor and part-time race car test driver, soon learning from an old pal in the CIA(Lloyd Haynes)that he and his men have a hit out on them. Booker will join forces with a mysterious reporter, Margaret(Anne Archer, simply lovely)who knows more than she's willing to divulge, in an attempt to find the remainder of his men(..those still alive) across the country, running into constant trouble along the way. James Franciscus has a memorable role as a handsome, ambitious, ruthless political negotiator, Conrad Morgan, eyeing the Secretary of State position, whose goal is to silence all who had a part in the "Phoenix Operation" and Booker will do everything in his power to see this bastard fail. Dana Andrews also has a small, but pivotal role as Morgan's right-hand man, Edgar Harolds, who was once in a higher position of political power, now an alcoholic, lonely man with only one ace under his sleeve to keep the wolves at bay. Soon-Tek Oh, as Major Mhin Van Thieu, was part of the Black Tigers, actually part of Morgan's camp, a hired assassin whose putting bullets into Booker's men.Good Guys Wear Black, as any Norris fan can tell you, features one of Chuck's most memorable iconic sequences where he goes through the windshield of a moving car to kick an enemy attempting to flee. Norris also gets a chance to subdue those who attempt to thwart his mission of justice, by dropping his foes with martial arts kicks and other maneuvers..this is a great period for us Norris fans as he was a bit thinner, more agile and athletic, and could really move fast, giving his adversaries little chance to counter his arsenal of blows. Post, working from a rather convoluted espionage script, keeps the story going, with Norris in fine form. While he never was known for his acting prowess, Norris' other skills, such as screen presence, charisma, and fighting style, bolster GGWB rather well. I think this film features one of the better stories of Norris' career(..and Archer is certainly one of his better leading ladies), while not allowing him to kick and punch people throughout.

The film begins in Paris , 1973 during peace talks to end the Vietnam War.Later on, Riverside , California, five years later , a mild-mannered teacher named Booker (Chuck Norris) keeps his previous life as leader of a Vietnam commando (Soon-Tek Oh, Pierce, Aaaron Norris, among others) named ¨The Black Tigers¨ unit under wraps until he discovers that he's number one in a hit list. John Booker attempts to resolve why his former squad are being mysteriously killed, one time the Vietnam war is over.There's a conflict-ridden love interest as well, Norris falls in love with a lovely journalist (a youngster Anne Archer) who must to save her.This exciting picture is plenty of action-packed, tension,suspense and cheesy sub-plot to boot with wild stunts .The movie displays a plethora of martial arts fights ,Norris cleans up the nasty fighters by means of punches ,kicks,bound and leaps with struggles certainly slick .It's violent, frenetic and hectic and not particularly literary but worthy entry in Kung-Fu genre , although runs out energy surprisingly early. Average Norris-thriller ,exciting and tense at times with fine work from Dana Andrews, Lloyd Haynes and James Franciscus as a brilliant and ambitious politician. And of course, Karate expert Chuck Norris who saves the day with lots of visceral violence , he's a nice wrestler who possesses incredible strength . The film belongs Norris's early period ,during the 80s as : ¨Code of silence,Delta Force,Silent rage,Octagon,Forced vengeance, Delta Force I,II, An eye for an eye¨ among others with successful box office at cinemas and video-rentals. In the 90s and 2000s with exception of ¨Walker Texas Ranger¨,the Norris star has gone down. Action addicts will give this one a passing grade ,all others need not apply. If you're a previous Norris fans,you'll like it but contains enough action and violence for enthusiastic of the Karate genre. The motion picture is regularly directed by Ted Post. It's followed by the sequel titled ¨A force of one¨ with Norris-Booker as team commander of some undercover narcotic agents who are being eliminated one-by-one.

This is a pretty bad Chuck Norris flick, that's quite boring to watch, with hardly any martial arts action, and a dull story. All the characters are only so so, and a lot of the actors looked bored, plus even Chuck is boring to watch in this one!. It had one cool moment, where Chuck Norris kicks a guy through the front window, however the rest is just plain dull, plus I appreciated then it went more on plot, but damn it at least make it interesting!. Anne Archer is totally wasted here, and had no chemistry with Norris, plus James Franciscus is terrible as the main villain, and looked rather bored. I am a fan of Chuck Norris, but have seen quite a few terrible films from him, and this is one of his absolute worst! plus the twists are predictable as well. Please leave this one where it belongs collecting dust on the shelves, as even die hard Norris fans will probably be disappointed in this, plus the ending was quite lame as well. This is a pretty boring Chuck Norris flick, that's quite boring to watch, with hardly any martial arts action, and a dull story, Pass on this one. The Direction is lackluster. Ted Post does a lackluster job here, with OK camera work, and keeping the film at a very dull pace. The Acting isn't much better. Chuck Norris is not at his best here, he is just going with the motions, and was pretty wooden in some scenes, there were a couple scenes when he was exciting to watch, and did his best with what he was given, which was simply crap (Norris Rules!!). Anne Archer is absolutely wasted here, she looks good, but her character wasn't that interesting and she had no chemistry with Norris. James Franciscus is terrible as the main villain, he looked rather bored and wasn't menacing at all, in fact he hardly has any screen time. Lloyd Haynes is OK here as Murray, but acts with his cigar, he was adequate. Rest of the cast are not that good. Overall Pass. *1/2 out of 5