Movie Review: Good Guys Wear Black (1978)

Genre: Action  

Director: Ted Post  

Starring: Chuck Norris, Anne Archer, Dana Andrews, James Franciscus  

Running Time: 96 minutes  

Synopsis: In 1973, Senator Conrad Morgan (James Franciscus) is leading negotiations to end the Vietnam War. A CIA special forces unit known as the Black Tigers, led by Major John T. Booker (Chuck Norris), is ambushed while on a covert mission to rescue American prisoners in the Vietnam jungle. Five years later in Los Angeles, Booker is approached by the mysterious Margaret (Anne Archer), who is asking questions about the botched mission. Booker learns that other Tiger veterans are being murdered, and uncovers a conspiracy.

What Works Well: This lower-budget effort provides Chuck Norris with a career boost away from pure martial arts movies (although he does chop his way through a few action scenes). The plot has decent ambitions to combine mistrust of government agendas with regular bursts of action, and director Ted Post occasionally threatens to breach not-bad levels. Dan Andrews enlivens a couple of scenes with seen-it-all cynicism.

What Does Not Work As Well: The sequence in the Vietnam jungle is too dark to discern what is going on. All the characters lack depth, and despite a decent cast, the acting is strictly monotonal. Norris displays a remarkable inability to display any emotion, and so making love to Margaret or reacting to the death of colleagues all come and go with the same cold detachment. Loose ends and logic gaps prevail, and in the jumbled rush to find an ending, plenty of conspiracy specifics go missing in action.

Key Quote:

John Booker (realizing the mission is compromised): Everything went wrong by the numbers. And that takes planning.

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Movie Review: City On Fire (1979)

Genre: Disaster Thriller  

Director: Alvin Rakoff  

Starring: Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen, Ava Gardner, Henry Fonda, James Franciscus  

Running Time: 106 minutes  

Synopsis: A disgruntled ex-employee sabotages an oil refinery, causing a massive firestorm that consumes the adjacent city. Mass casualties ensue, and among those caught in the flames are a heroic doctor (Barry Newman), the corrupt Mayor (Leslie Neilsen), a wealthy benefactor (Susan Clark) who has a relationship with both, a dedicated nurse (Shelley Winters), an alcoholic television news personality (Ava Gardner), her producer (James Franciscus), and the city's Fire Chief (Henry Fonda). Evacuating the main hospital becomes a focal point of rescue efforts.

What Works Well: The opening scenes are standard and inoffensive in attempting to set the context, and the set-on-fire stunt performers are excellent.

What Does Not Work As Well: This Canadian production is a dreadful attempt to join the tail end of the 1970s disaster movie parade. Almost hilariously bad but often just painful, the writing and acting are atrocious, with numerous lines of dialogue quotable as tone-deaf treasures. Leslie Neilsen unintentionally practices for his impending niche, but Henry Fonda (reciting his lines with a dead-eyed lack of conviction) and Ava Gardner (overplaying the drunken schtick) jointly win the most embarrassing prize. The production values and special effects betray a limited budget, while the final hospital evacuation sequence takes forever, and mostly features extras.

Key Quote:

Fire Chief: All it takes is one man, could be anybody... your neighbor, my neighbor... one man to destroy a city.

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