The Octagon—Memorial Day Movie Review

Despite how it sounds, this 1980 action film has nothing to do with our own treasured Pentagon, headquarters for the United States Military. The Octagon is all about an evil ninja training camp, so secretive that we never actually hear the name “Octagon” throughout the entire movie. 

Ninja training camp is great for overweight slobs, tormenting them with trap doors and sucker-punches in the belly. Eventually they will be come hardened assassins—ninja assassins, those mythical creatures of the night that have been supposedly extinct for over 300 years.  (Seriously, when this movie was filmed, ninjas were not yet a mainstay in popular culture.  So at times, characters in this movie are like, “Ninja?  What’s a ninja?)

But Chuck Norris knows they exist. The echoing voice in his head is sure that they exist, even if nobody else will believe him. To prove that he’s right, he must go on this harrowing action-adventure to seek and destroy the ninja training camp.  Along the way he meets:

1) a steely-eyed Lee Van Cleef. He likes to poke fun at Chuck Norris’s ability to spot elusive ninjas. Laughing at Chuck, he says, “Do you see these ninja often? Or only on a full moon?” Smart-aleck! Van Cleef is only jealous.

2) some guy that is so intimidated by Chuck Norrisawesomeness that all he can do is whisper insults about Chuck behind Chuck’s back: “I don’t trust him. He looks constipated.”

If Chuck heard that, he’d show this guy some real constipation!

Another Iconic Action Movie:

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