Invasion U.S.A. (1985) - Who needs the army?

Oh, no!  Communists!  Whatever are we going to do?  Guess we might as well surrender - arguably - the most powerful country in the world with a population of around three hundred million.  What else is there to do?  Certainly not tell a story, if the internet is believed.

Just in case you find the title misleading, 'Invasion U.S.A.' is about a few busload of armed communists, who rock up on America's shores and decide to effectively invade.  Hopefully no other band of scallywags try this in real life, as the States seems to roll over quite easily in the face of a few hundred rowdy men.  Luckily, one man isn't going to have that and in the same way Tom Cruise vows never to let an alien's boot touch Earth's soil, so here we have Chuck Norris wiping the lot of them out.

Apparently, the film was due to be a lot longer, with various subplots that flesh out our one man army's backstory and motives.  But then - according to what I read online - the film-makers thought, 'Nah, we don't need any of that - just stick to the action!'

And that is pretty much what we're left with.  A load of faceless badguys descend on some poor area of a civilian town and the Chuck does what he does best and ends the life of every last one.  Rinse and repeat.  Obviously, he has the grace to save the lead badguy until last - what hero would do more?

You could almost see this film's 'story' as a computer game.  Each 'scene' is kind of like the next level Chuck has to blast his way through.  All they needed was an end-of-level boss here and there with an extended energy meter and you'd have an excellent video game.

'Invasion U.S.A.' is the definition of 'mindless action.' So, if you're expecting anything even close to cerebral than run a mile.  However, if you've just watched 'Rambo' and 'Commando' in the same evening and are still hungry for more, 'Invasion U.S.A.' would make a satisfying dessert.

6/10 Should probably keep you awake if Freddy Krueger was haunting your nights