DVD Release
Invasion U.S.A. (1985)
R1 / NTSC DVD
MGM Home Entertainment / 2001
Directed by: Joseph Zito
Written by: Chuck Norris, Aaron Norris, James Bruner
Cast: Chuck Norris, Richard Lynch, Melissa Prophet, Billy Drago
Review by James Garfield
Invasion Miami, more like it. Matt Hunter (Chuck Norris) is an ex-government agent who now lives in the Florida Everglades rounding up and selling gators. An old enemy of his, Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch), starts a Soviet guerrilla invasion of the United States right there in Florida. Rostov’s forces leave bombs and fire bullets and rockets at such American institutions as churches, shopping malls, and suburban homes. It’s up to Hunter to stop (i.e., slaughter) Rostov and end the invasion.
Invasion U.S.A. was roundly denounced for its politics (standard to collaborations like this between Norris and Cannon Films), film critics tending to hang leftwards in general. But it’s odd to take so cartoonish a film seriously. Norris always seems to turn up in the right place at the right time to throw off the terrorists’ attacks. The main villain, Rostov, is portrayed as absolute evil, having the tendency to shove women through windows and shoot men in the balls. Clichés litter the dialogue: “It’s a trap!” “Time to die.” “I’ll see you in hell.” There’s even a scene of Norris watching Earth vs. the Flying Saucers on TV, indicating the filmmakers’ self-consciousness about the sheer fantasy they were creating. It all amounts to mindless fun; and besides, if your country was invaded, what would you do– just lie back and enjoy it?
They don’t make ‘em like this anymore, now that the Cold War’s over—no one has yet made a great shoot-‘em-up based on today’s geopolitical circumstances. The film is a crucial reason why so many jokes go around today riffing off of Norris’s image of Ultimate Manliness. Watch for highlights like Norris saving a bus full of little kids singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” from a bomb. That’s how they did it in the 80s. It’s just a shame we don’t get a commentary track with Norris and director Joseph Zito—guess a big corporation like MGM didn’t have the budget for it.
