Blu-ray Review – Forced Vengeance

After a career push to turn him into a drive-in theater hero in the late 1970s, Chuck Norris enters the 1980s with greater focus on conquering multiplexes and international audiences. Building on the mild success of 1980's "The Octagon" and 1981's "An Eye for an Eye," Norris smashes into 1982 with two pictures, with "Forced Vengeance" following "Silent Rage," giving the martial arts star a chance to show his stuff in the more exotic location of Hong Kong. The villains are up to no good (the heroes also act questionably) when it comes to collecting rival casinos, and it's up to one man out to protect his loved ones from direct threats. Co-writer/director James Fargo ("Voyage of the Rock Aliens," "Every Which Way but Loose," "The Enforcer") doesn't get ambitious with "Forced Vengeance," keeping the effort down to the basics in Norris-style entertainment, putting the lead in a series of action poses as his character seeks to deliver acts of intimidation before offerings of butt-kickery. There's no significant creative challenge presented here, and not all of Fargo's ideas are acceptable, but there's a welcome simplicity to the endeavor that keeps it compelling. And Norris is alert here, providing hearty showdowns and hostile retorts, doing his one-man-army routine with some level of enthusiasm. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com