Invasion U.S.A. Reviews

This was yet another of the cycle of patriotic chest-beating films that captured the public's Reagan-era jingoism and gave Americans the chance to kill terrorists and communists--if not in the real world, then at least in the safety and comfort of the movie theater. The story begins as waves of terrorists hit the beach in Florida in old WW II surplus landing craft, then pile into unmarked trucks bound for various destinations throughout the country. The terrorists are a motley bunch; some of them seem to be Vietnamese, some Arab, others Cuban or Nicaraguan. These polyglot killers are under the command of Richard Lynch, who has what sounds like a Russian accent and who directs the invaders to attack churches, shopping malls, and suburban tract homes with Christmas trees in their yards, all calculated to make the US government crumble. The only man who can save civilization as we know it is Chuck Norris, a retired secret agent who lives in the Everglades, where he tools around in his air boat. When the terrorists kill his best friend by mistake, Norris kicks into high gear and, almost as if he were psychic--because he certainly is never shown doing any kind of investigative work--Norris, with a pair of submachine guns slung under each armpit, suddenly and consistently appears wherever the villains are preparing their latest outrage against law and order. A numbingly stupid actioner, INVASION U.S.A. has one of the most laughable villains ever committed to film. Lynch is so certain Norris is going to triumph over him that at several points in the film he wakes up in a cold sweat after dreaming that the hero is pummeling him. Norris, who has occasionally shown some interesting talent, reverts to his usual stolidity here, impassively gunning down terrorists like fish in a barrel.