Review of Force Of One, A

Introduction

Following my bad experience with Chuck Norris` "The Octagon" I wasn`t particularly looking forward to viewing "A Force of One".

Video

The video on this disc is not good, although it is an improvement on the quite awful "The Octagon". The master clearly is not in good shape - the image is grainy and dirty and suffers from being way too dark on nightime shots. However, at least the image is stable and contrast is held constant throughout and most importantly is watchable!

This film really looks all of it`s 21 years of age - unlike other titles from the same era that have been cleaned up for DVD.

Audio

Dolby Digital Stereo here, but very much a mono soundtrack playing through two speakers. The dialogue is clear and there is some very cheesy action film music and the usual array of dodgy sound effects.

Features

Extras? not a chance - scene selection and play are the only options available on the title screen.

Conclusion

Well, this is not a great movie, but watchable enough. The plot centres around drug dealers using a karate expert to kill cops and our hero, Chuck Norris is there to save the day. The fight scenes themselves are pretty cheesy to say the least and look to have either been cut for the UK market - or badly filmed in the first place. With regards to the "18" certificate for this film, it strikes me that this must be a simple video master to DVD affair retaining the original certificate awarded years ago, because I can`t see anything here that would warrant a 15 certificate today, let alone an 18.

Video is below average quality but watchable and the sound is acceptable, but like the "The Octagon" doesn`t really offer anything over a VHS version in terms of quality and has no extras. Therefore it can`t be considered particularly good value, despite the £9.99 asking price.