Chuck Norris’ ‘80s Christmas Action Movie ‘Invasion U.S.A.’ Is Just as Good as ‘Die Hard’

Chuck Norris hasn’t starred in a movie since 2012, when he picked up Sylvester Stallone’s call and became Booker in The Expendables 2, a man so tough that a cobra allegedly died after biting him. Despite that, he is still cherished by action movie fans. Norris is the subject of many internet memes, many of which joke about his grit and no-nonsense attitude. He is a United States Air Force vet after all, and has a black belt in Tang Soo Do, judo, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

Like many other legendary action stars, Chuck Norris did his best work in the ‘80s. From Missing in Action to The Delta Force, he gave us over a dozen pure beat-em-up films that we still cherish today. Because Norris’ films sacrifice plot, dialogue, and characterization for action, they have never been considered cinematic masterpieces. However, many of the films are brilliant, and deserve reexamination from critics, especially Invasion U.S.A., which is just as good a Christmas action movie as Die Hard.

In ‘Invasion U.S.A.’ Terrorists Choose Christmas Day to Attack America

Written by Chuck Norris himself, and directed by Joseph Zito (best known for Missing in Action and Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter), Invasion USAmelds the basics of ‘80s action movies with festive cheer. It sets up its plot using the popular “They pulled me back in!” trope. Matt Hunter (Norris), a former CIA agent, is happily retired. He is literally “Lone Wolf Hunter,” enjoying his own company and doing all the tough guy chores you’d expect a Chuck Norris character to do. To him, all is good, but for America, hell is breaking loose. Communist terrorists are planning to attack, led by the Soviet operative Mikal Rostov (Richard Lynch).

Predictably, the agency begs Hunter to come out of retirement to clean up the mess and uncover the mystery of why these attackers hate America so much. He declines, advising his superiors to be reasonable and give such opportunities to fresh faces. That’s until the terrorists attack his home and kill his friend. Because he isn’t the kind of person to turn the other cheek, the former CIA agent grabs his Uzi pistols and gets to work. He has two of them, one for the left arm, another for the right. There’s also his right leg, a perfect weapon in itself.

Call him Hunter the Santa because he eventually delivers the kinds of gifts no one knew they needed: freedom and peace. With terrorists running around in all corners of America, Hunter manages to liberate the country all by himself, allowing the festivities to resume.

‘Invasion U.S.A.’ Is More Christmas-y Than ‘Die Hard’

Die Hard is often considered one of the best Christmas movies, but it has little to do with the holiday. The film only acknowledges Christ’s birthday, revealing to audiences that it’s Christmas Eve, and New York City Police Department (NYPD) Detective John McClane is in Los Angeles, hoping to reconcile with his estranged wife, Holly, at an office party at the Nakatomi Corporation. The rest of the plot involves McClane trying to stop Hans Gruber (Alan Rickman) from stealing $640 million in untraceable bearer bonds. The only ‘joy (or woe) to the world’ comes from a barefoot McClane delivering wisecracks as he punishes the terrorists.

Invasion U.S.A., on the other hand, is packed with Christmas scenes and the standard community unity required during the festive season, though the terrorists keep spoiling the fun. One of the most iconic sequences takes us through a suburban neighborhood on Christmas Eve. Everyone is in a celebratory mood. A dad is setting up a Christmas tree with his children, two teenagers are kissing inside a car, and several residents are running around. The events purr along smoothly until violence erupts and spills off the screen. Terrorists show up in the neighborhood, one of them whips out a bazooka, and it’s all depressing from there.

Another marvelous sequence plays out halfway through the movie. As people are doing their Christmas shopping at a mall, the guerrillas start shooting at everyone and blowing things up. Shortly after, Hunter shows up in his truck and drives through the mall before taking everyone out. He then pursues other terrorists and thwarts their plans to bomb a church where people have gathered to celebrate the birth of Christ. After that, he drives after a school bus that is being used to transport children to safer grounds and removes a bomb from it before throwing it into the vehicle of the villain’s henchman, Nikko.

The sequence tops anything we see in Die Hard. Away from that, we get to hear one of the best Chuck Norris lines. “If you come back in here, I’m going to hit you with so many rights you’re going to beg for a left.” Classic!

‘Invasion U.S.A.’ Cast and Crew Got to Blow Up a Real Town

Plenty of effort was made into making Invasion U.S.A. a great film, and 40 years since it was released, the film remains an enchanting milestone of Cannon Group storytelling, with splendid costume design (Norris rocks full denim), vibrant color, and marvelous music to complement the chaos-at-Christmas plot.

According to the New York Times, the movie was made for $12 million, twice the kind of budget that had normally been allocated to Chuck Norris movies. Even better, most of the Christmas action scenes were filmed exactly as they appear on the screen.

The 2014 documentary Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films, reveals that the scene in which terrorists destroy houses with rocket launchers featured explosions in real homes.

At the time, Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta had been granted permission to bulldoze an entire suburban neighborhood to lengthen a runway, so the filmmakers were accorded the opportunity to blow up the existing homes. Similarly, part of the now-defunct Avondale Mall was being reconstructed, so the production team was allowed to destroy everything in the actual mall, resulting in the fun and chaotic battle between Hunter and the terrorists.

Want to have fun this festive season? Invade the streaming services and allow Invasion U.S.A, to occupy your screen.

Invasion U.S.A.
is available to stream in the US on The Roku Channel, Tubi TV, and Pluto TV for free with ads.