Spare Change

Don't Mess with Texas Rangers

Posted by Bryan

Note: This post has nothing to do with Kenny Rogers, the anger-management-impaired pitcher. Nor the country music-singing, roaster chicken-cooking guy, either, for that matter.

While some might say it's his *only* good movie, I prefer to say that Lone Wolf McQuade is simply Chuck Norris's *best* movie.

From the you-killed-my-dog fury to the George-Romero-honoring vaulting-from-the-earth original Ford Bronco to the proto-Bill-who-will-be-killed David Carradine playing Rawley Wilkes, this movie has it all, including not one-but two-sidekicks. Barbara Carrera shows up as the conflicted love interest. McQuade's daughter Dana Kimmell parlayed this hit into a piercing performance in the classic Friday the 13th, part 3

When J.J. McQuade's arm is too badly damaged to fire his long-barreled pistol, he expresses his rage by kicking out the support beam to his front porch. Has there been a better presentation of testosterone overflow?

A veritable spaghetti western (if, in fact, director Steve Carver is a descendant of obscure Italian director Guisseppe Carvellini who helmed Il Pomodoro Splendido), this tale will bring you to tears as it pulls you to the edge of your seat, only to challenge you intellectually as you ponder the moral questions that it presents in an unflinchingly gritty reality. Well, probably not, but did I mention that it features a dog that they claim part wolf?