The Octagon (1980)

A martial artist must defeat a plan by ninjas to create a worldwide training camp for terrorists.

Director:

Eric Karson

Writers:

Paul Aaron (story), Leigh Chapman (screenplay),

Stars:

Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson, Lee Van Cleef

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Chuck Norris	...	Scott James
Karen Carlson	...	Justine
Lee Van Cleef	...	McCarn
Art Hindle	...	A. J.
Carol Bagdasarian	...	Aura
Tadashi Yamashita	...	Seikura
Kim Lankford	...	Nancy
Larry D. Mann	...	Tibor
Kurt Grayson	...	Doggo
Richard Norton	...	Kyo - Seikura's Enforcer / Long Legs
Yuki Shimoda	...	Katsumo - Seikura's Aide
Redmond Gleeson	...	Duffy
Alan Chappuis	...	Pierre
Brian Libby	...	Deadwyler
Ken Gibbel	...	Meat

Storyline

Scott's life is plagued by two kinds of flashbacks. First are the childhood memories of the rigorous training he and a friend endured under a martial arts master. The second is of a mission Scott went on that ended with him watching his friend get murdered. Scott later becomes drawn closer to a vicious crime ring known as The Octagon. As he gets closer to the truth, Scott learns that these may be the men that murdered his friend so long ago.

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Plot Keywords:

martial artist | ninja | martial arts | flashback | sex | 

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Taglines:

No-one will admit they still exist! Unholy masters of terror...

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Genres:

Action | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 August 1980 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Fortaleza Secreta

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Gross:

$18,971,000 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ACG Motion Picture Investment Fund, American Cinema Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When Richard Norton (as "Long Legs", not Kyo) is kicked in the Groin by Chuck Norris, he grabs himself and yelps out "Oh shit... shit!". Norton himself said that when he was assisting with the stunts on the set of "The Blues Brothers" and told John Belushi the fight he'd be in, Belushi was the one who told him to say "Oh shit!" when getting kicked in the groin.

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Goofs

During a car chase sequence, the off-white colored car hits the pursing red vehicle that is parked in its path. The next time we see them, both cars are undamaged and not touching each other.

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Quotes

Scott: Oh my God! Ninja... ja... ja... ja...

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Connections

Referenced in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Day the Earth Froze (1993)

User Reviews

Norris vs. Ninja

Personally, I wouldn't say that this is an action movie. It's more of a thriller. The movie is in fact really slow and a bit boring most of the time. The decent action doesn't kick in until just before the end. If it hadn't been for that scene, this movie wouldn't have got more than 3 stars from me. But since the last scene was pretty good, I give it a 6. Just remember that this is an Chuck Norris-movie. Norris isn't exactly the best martial arts actor, he hasn't got any spectacular moves and I get a little tired watching him wear the same type of jeans in almost every movie. There are a bunch of ninjas in the movie. The movie tried to establish them as skilled and feared fighters, but it didn't succeed with that.