Lone Wolf McQuade (1983) on Netflix
J.J. McQuade polices Texas alone, which earns him the name Lone Wolf. His captain, T. Tyler, insists he take on a partner, Arcadio "Kayo" Ramos, and criminals are carrying military weapons.
- Netflix3.5/5
- IMDb6.3/1016,475 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes57%
Trailer
Plot summary
J.J. McQuade is a Texas Ranger who works by himself and lives alone in a run-down house with only his pet wolf for company, which is how he came by the name Lone Wolf. His captain, T. Tyler, wants him to take on Arcadio "Kayo" Ramos as a partner. McQuade is divorced from Molly but friendly with her, and devoted to his teenage daughter Sally, whose new boyfriend Bobby serves in the US Army. Out riding, Sally's mustang bolts at a backfire, and Lola Richardson saves her and invites them to a party, where Rawley Wilkes displays his martial arts. When McQuade declines to fight him, Wilkes sends thugs to attack Ramos. Sally and Bobby then witness the robbery of a US Army convoy.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Screenwriter BJ Nelson wrote the part of Texas Ranger J.J. McQuade for Clint Eastwood. Eastwood passed on it, and director Steve Carver then decided Chuck Norris would be ideal for the lead and approached him himself.
- Steve Carver set out to roughen Chuck Norris's clean image, giving him a beard and scenes of drinking beer on screen. Norris was reluctant, because he wanted to remain a good role model for children.
- Chuck Norris and David Carradine both refused stunt doubles for the film's climactic fight, over strong reservations from the producers. Norris argued the martial arts scenes were not fillers, and that technique alone would not capture an audience's emotions.
- David Carradine said Norris wanted their duel to go beyond the fight he had with Bruce Lee in the Roman Coliseum in Way of the Dragon, combining Carradine's flowing, loose style with Norris's solid, hard one.
- The climactic fight took four days to shoot and left both men wrecked. David Carradine said old injuries came back and new ones arrived, and that by the end they were stumbling around like little old men.
- The film was first rated R, and Chuck Norris appealed to the MPAA and got it reduced to PG. It was his second successful appeal, after Good Guys Wear Black, and he argued it on the strong, positive image he projected on screen.
- Norris credits the film as the main inspiration for his hit series Walker, Texas Ranger a decade later, but the pilot had to be rewritten and the characters renamed because Orion Pictures held the copyright on all things McQuade.
- Director Steve Carver and his production partner Yoram Ben-Ami sued the producers of Walker, Texas Ranger for 500 million dollars. They lost to MGM and CBS all the way to the Supreme Court, and Carver said the case is why he and Chuck Norris parted ways.
