Invasion U.S.A.

Invasion U.S.A. Information

Invasion U.S.A. is a 1985 action film made by Cannon Films and starring Chuck Norris. It was directed by Joseph Zito. Both Chuck Norris and his brother, Aaron, were involved in the writing. It was made in Fort Pierce, Florida. Miami landmarks, such as Dadeland Mall and Miracle Mile, can also be seen in the film. The film was followed by a sequel in 1986 entitled Avenging Force with Michael Dudikoff taking over the role of Matt Hunter.

This film is unrelated to the 1952 film of the same name.

Plot

The film begins by showing a group of Cuban refugees on a boat sailing for the United States. They are at first met by what appears to be a U.S. Coast Guard boat, with armed personnel. The Guardsmen kill all the refugees and take several bags of cocaine hidden in the boat. It is revealed that the armed personnel were communist Latin American guerrillas dressed as U.S. Coast Guardsmen.

The real Coast Guard eventually finds the boat full of the murdered Cubans off the coast of Florida. The FBI and the Miami Police Department arrive at the docks to investigate the murders. The communist guerrillas eventually land in Florida and exchange the drugs for weaponry from a drug dealer. They are led by Soviet operative Mikhail Rostov (Richard Lynch). Former CIA agent Matt Hunter (Norris) is asked to come out of retirement, but he first refuses; a failed assassination attempt by Rostov's team at his house in the Everglades convinces him otherwise.

Later in the day, hundreds of additional guerrillas land on the beaches of southern Florida and move inland using several pre-positioned trucks. The guerrillas begin their assault by destroying suburban homes. Another group of guerrillas (dressed as Miami police officers) attack a community center in South Miami. Meanwhile, the FBI has no idea who is behind the attacks. Hunter and the CIA believe that Rostov is behind the attacks. As terrorist acts continue in Miami, race riots and general chaos develop within the city. By now, the public believes that terrorists are behind the attacks.

Next, the guerrillas attack a shopping mall where people are doing their Christmas shopping. During the attack, Hunter comes into the mall and engages the guerrillas. Hunter tracks down the whole group that attacked the mall. National Guard troops are called up, while martial law and a curfew are declared. Hunter continues to go after the terrorists, stopping their plans to bomb a church and a school bus with students out on a field trip. In the process, Hunter kills Rostov's right hand man Nikko (Alexander Zale).

Alarmed by the threat, the government establishes a special theater command for the southeastern United States with the headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. At the command center, all 50 state governors and military officials meet to stop the terror attacks. The FBI arrest Hunter for the killing of the terrorists and he is taken to the command center, where he goads Rostov on national television to come out and kill him. Rostov orders all the guerrillas to assault the center. However, the guerrillas find no one inside the center and the National Guard surrounds the area with tanks and troops, using the arrest of Hunter as a trap. As the battle rages outside, Hunter comes face-to-face with Rostov and finally kills him with a rocket launcher. The terror crisis ends when the guerrillas on the street surrender to the National Guard.

Cast

Chuck Norris as Matt Hunter
Richard Lynch as Mikhail Rostov/Michael Hames
Melissa Prophet as McGuire
Alex Colon as Tomas
Alexander Zale as Nikko
Dehl Berti as John Eagle
Billy Drago as Mickey

Reception

The film met with mostly positive to mixed reviews from critics. But on the website Rotten Tomatoes it currently has a 27% with a 51% on the "Like It". Roger Ebert writing for the Chicago Sun Times gave the film a negative review and called it "a stereotypical clone of action movies".

Merchandise

A novelization was released in October 1985 by Pinnacle Books.
Jay Chattaway's score was released by Varèse Sarabande on LP in 1985. It was later re-released, remastered with many minutes of new material, on CD in 2008 from Intrada Records. This was a limited edition of 1,000 copies.