Force: Five (1981) occupies a curious corner of the early ’80s martial arts boom. It arrived just as the kung fu action craze that dominated American grindhouses throughout the 1970s was beginning to evolve into something stranger and more hybridized.
Directed by and starring Robert Clouse, best known for helming the Bruce Lee-starring film Enter the Dragon (1973), the film attempts to merge the structure of a men-on-a-mission war movie with the rhythms of a traditional martial arts adventure. The result is uneven at times, but undeniably entertaining in the scrappy, anything-goes spirit that defined much of the era’s independent action cinema.
A seasoned government operative recruits a team of five elite martial artists for a mission that borders on impossible. Their objective: infiltrate and dismantle the corrupt power structure surrounding one of the world’s richest and most influential religious figures. Facing a fortified stronghold and an army of loyal followers, the fighters must rely on their unique skills, discipline, and courage to bring down the organization from within before it becomes even more dangerous.
If Force: Five lacks the polish of Clouse’s earlier work, it makes up for it with a certain rough-edged enthusiasm. The fight choreography is fast and plentiful, even if the editing occasionally struggles to keep up with the performers. Sonny Barnes, Benny Urquidez, and the late, great Richard Norton are among the standouts, each bringing a legitimate martial arts pedigree that gives the action a welcome sense of authenticity.
Joe Lewis anchors the film with a steady, no-nonsense presence, guiding the ensemble through a story that rarely pauses for long before launching into the next skirmish. It also features an early performance from Amanda Wyss of A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) fame.
The film’s recent Blu-ray release through the MVD Rewind Collection offers a welcome opportunity to revisit this offbeat entry in the genre. Presented with a new HD transfer, a retro-styled slipcover format, archival interviews with Lewis and Urquidez, an archival featurette on Urquidez, a trailer, and a collectible mini-poster.
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The disc embraces the VHS-era legacy while giving it a cleaner, more stable presentation. As with many titles in the line, the emphasis is on preservation, bringing cult favorites back into circulation for fans who remember discovering them on late-night cable or battered rental tapes.
Force: Five stands as a reminder of when martial arts cinema was still experimenting with how it might fit into the broader landscape of American action filmmaking. It’s a little clumsy, a little eccentric, and occasionally goofy, but that’s also part of its charm. For fans of early ’80s martial arts oddities, MVD’s Blu-ray provides a fitting homecoming.
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