The Octagon (1980)

Norris engaged with Yamashita's head ninja

 I'll keep this brief: Chuck Norris is haunted by a past involving his adoptive martial arts master father and Japanese brother Yamashita, forbidden to ever associate with Yamashita again after he broken a sacred loyalty when challenging him after winning a competitive compound contest. Eventually the film tells us that Yamashita and master Shimoda train mercenaries and terrorists the art of the ninja, vowing all that endure their training to remain loyal to them always or else their entire families will be killed. We see this when a successful theater dancer/choreographer Norris befriends is killed, along with her family, and he tries to stay out of any business involving Yamashita, even as Karen Carlson appeals to him for protection after her father is assassinated, vowing to oppose terrorists. Kurt Grayson has a working relationship with Yamashita, sending recruits, once trained, out into different parts of the world to function as terrorists. Lee Van Cleef has a mercenary squad that opposes terrorists, too, looking to partner with Norris. Art Hindle is Norris' good friend and fellow karate competitor, inspired to confront Yamashita and others responsible for terrorism. Now the Octagon itself is this obviously octagon-shaped "obstacle course" with different levels, like a video game, designed by Yamashita and Shimoda as a test of skill, ingenuity, speed, and mental acuity. This course won't even be introduced to us until the very end when Norris eventually decides to pursue a fight with Yamashita. There is a lot of Norris just refusing to go to battle (unless ninjas threaten his life), with Carlson constantly trying to recruit him, as Hindle and Van Cleef both challenge his passivity towards violence. Eventually Carlson suffers harm, Hindle decides to go to confront Yamashita and "make a difference", a "reformed" mercenary played by Carol Bagdasarian appeals to Norris for help after leaving behind Grayson and terrorism, and finally Norris just won't take hanging back anymore while others are in danger or get killed. There is this creative decision to hear echoing thoughts in Norris' head that can be a bit weird, but at least the film does more than show the hero kvetching or looking stone-faced. Critic Leonard Maltin loved to dole out plenty of snarky remarks towards Norris' acting, but even when I was a kid watching his action films on TBS (or when I could sneak VHS tapes my stepfather rented from stores off his dresser while he was working), I knew why Chuck was the star of his films...he wasn't required to work any method style and plunge the watery depths of his soul to unearth the torment of his character. What he does well is fully realized here: lots of kicks, punches, forearms, trips, swordfights, and flips as Norris pummels, cuts, and incapacitates ninjas. I'm guessing all those "American Ninja" movies and "Enter the Ninja" movies saw "The Octagon" and started that 80s assembly line.

Yamashita as Seikura, Norris' "brother"

Norris and Carlson with LA in the background

Bagdasarian getting even with terrorists

Hindle with Norris

In Chuck Norris films, being the buddy or potential romantic love interest can be a death sentence. Hindle wanting a piece of Yamashita and just going right into the belly of the beast without backup isn't particularly wise and Carlson engaged in a war with terrorists and ninjas comes back to haunt her. But Norris, on the other hand, can feel when evil is near, knows how to think on his feet or react before that evil could kill him, and suffer a throwing star stab in the shoulder, slice to the stomach, and repeated blows. He's durable, takes a lot of punishment, and refuses to let these ninja get between him and that sword to the gut waiting for Yamashita. I wish Lee Van Cleef had more to do, but his casting seems meant for the poster...he orders his men to take out terrorists, but his time with Norris is mostly spent talking about inactivity and failing to fight anymore. From what I gather, critics were not happy about how the film seems to push Norris towards violence when he was dedicated to no longer hurt anyone voluntarily.

I personally felt all the dialogue and plot with so many characters just to get to Norris trouncing ninjas in the octagon before his final combat in the woods with Yamashita might have been an attempt to class up the action genre and bring extra respect to the film, but without the violence fans expected, The Octagon might have suffered for the critics without much love from those who watch Chuck Norris films to begin with. 3.5/5