Invasion U.S.A. (1985 film)
| Invasion U.S.A. | |
|---|---|
 1985 movie poster | |
| Directed by | Joseph Zito |
| Written by | Aaron Norris & James Bruner (story) James Bruner & Chuck Norris (screenplay) |
| Produced by | Menahem Golan Yoram Globus |
| Starring | Chuck Norris Richard Lynch Melissa Prophet Alex Colon Alexander Zale Dehl Berti Billy Drago |
| Cinematography | João Fernandes |
| Edited by | Daniel Loewenthal Scott Vickrey |
| Music by | Jay Chattaway |
| Distributed by | Cannon Films |
Release date |  September 27, 1985 |
Running time | 107 min |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $10,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $17,500,000 (USA) |
 Cover of the novelization. | |
| Author | Jason Frost |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Action, Novelization |
| Publisher | Pinnacle Books |
Publication date | October 1985 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Paperback |
| Pages | 214 pp |
| ISBN | 0-523-42669-0 |
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 Norris were involved in the writing. It was made in Fort Pierce, Florida. However, Miami landmarks---such as Dadeland Mall and Miracle Mile---can be seen in the film.[citation needed]
(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 a U.S. Coast Guard boat, with armed personnel. The U.S. Coast 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 U.S. 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 back to the CIA, but he first refuses. However, Rostov demands that Hunter be killed before they can begin their operation, because Hunter is his former nemesis. Rostov and his gang fail to kill Hunter, but destroy his home in the Everglades. Hunter goes to meet his CIA contact, and tells him that he will come back.
Later in the day, hundreds of additional communist guerrillas invade the beaches of southern Florida. The guerrillas drive away from the beaches on several 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. The next day, National Guard troops are called up, while martial law and a curfew are declared. The next two days, Hunter foils a plan to bomb a church and attack a group of people waiting outside a store. In the process, Hunter kills Rostov's right hand man Nikko (Alexander Zale). Soon later, Hunter saves a school bus full of children from a bomb that was about to detonate. In order to corner Rostov, Hunter coordinates a risky plan.
The U.S. Government builds a command center in Atlanta, Georgia for the troops. At the command center, all 50 state governors and military officials meet how to stop the terror attacks. The FBI arrest Hunter for the killing of the terrorists and is taken to the command center in Atlanta; a plan orchestrated by Hunter. With Rostov wanting Hunter dead, he orders all the guerrillas to invade the command center in Atlanta. The U.S. National Guard surrounds the command center with M60 Patton tanks and several hundreds of troops, using the arrest of Hunter as a trap. At the command center, Hunter comes face-to-face with Rostov and finally kills him. The terror crisis ends when the guerrillas on the street surrender to the National Guard.
Trivia
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (December 2007) |
- On the front cover of the movie there is a picture of the United States Capitol Building in Washington D.C, and of what is (presumably) the New York city skyline with the World Trade Center buildings. However, the movie does not take place in either city, nor are any attacks mentioned in those cities; the movie only depicts and mentions attacks throughout the South Eastern United States in Florida, and in Georgia during the final fight of the movie.
- The description of the movie on the back of the movie's cover says that Chuck Norris' character was to teach the United States military to wage guerrilla warfare on the invaders, however this never occurs anywhere in the film.
- Actual homes were blown up for the filming of the movie in an area south of Atlanta near Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. These homes had been vacant since a buyout by the airport and were later razed to put in a convention center.
Merchandise
- A novelization was released in October 1985 by Pinnacle Books.
- Jay Chattaway's score was released by Varese Sarabande on LP in 1985. It was later re-released, remastered and with many minutes of new material, on CD in 2008 from Intrada. This was a limited edition of 1000 copies.