One of action cinema’s unheralded greats, Richard Norton, has sadly passed away. Here are ten essential movies where Norton kicked ass…
Action fans were heartbroken to learn that the perennially underrated but legendary Richard Norton passed away recently. The Australian tough guy and martial arts master has had a colourful background, which has included working security at nightclubs, teaching martial arts and acting as a bodyguard to stars including The Rolling Stones.
Like many experts in martial arts (Norton was a master of karate, judo, and jiu-jitsu, among other disciplines), a career in movies from the 1980s onward beckoned. It was Norris’ friend, Chuck Norris, who paved the way with Norton, making his cinematic breakthrough under a ninja mask in Chuck’s action spectacular, The Octagon.
Norton was one of the few Westerners to be entrusted multiple times in the frenetic Hong Kong cinema. Oftentimes, actors from the West would frustrate the likes of Sammo Hung and Jackie Chan for the simple fact, they just couldn’t keep up with the speed and relentlessness of filming fight sequences. However, Norton, like his long-time friend and collaborator, Cynthia Rothrock, was called upon many times in that Hong Kong action heyday, and there’s no greater compliment to your status as a badass than that.
With presence and charisma, as well as a better acting range than many of his genre contemporaries, it’s perhaps a surprise Norton wasn’t a leading man more regularly. However, his undoubted relish as the bad guy often saw him cast as an antagonist against the hero. Highly respected in the martial arts circuits as well as for his work as a stunt man and fight choreographer, Norton regularly helped actors look the part on screen, including Margot Robbie, Charlize Theron and Scarlett Johansson.
For the uninitiated, here are 10 Essential Richard Norton Films that show just how great he was.
Force: Five
Playing a little like how you’d imagine a Tarantino film within a film, martial arts exploitation movie might look. Maybe the kind of thing Mia Wallace (Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction) might have starred in. Force: Five is a cheesy but enjoyable romp which features a group of martial arts experts sent on a rescue mission.
From Robert Clouse, who directed Enter the Dragon, Norton stars alongside a number of famous stars of fighting cinema like Joe Lewis and Benny “The Jet” Urquidez. Action-packed, just the right amount of trashiness and lots of fun. Norton in particular shows off his immense on-screen fighting prowess because ability on the mat or in the ring doesn’t always translate to on-screen fighting ability. Norton, though, was a master of both, projecting a sense of power behind his kicks in particular.
Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars
Part of the Lucky Stars series, made famous as one of the many collaborations between Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, and Yuen Biao, Twinkle Twinkle Lucky Stars has some of the most iconic moments in the franchise.
As you’d expect from a film made at the very height of Hong Kong cinema’s revolution of action cinema, it’s packed with chaotic and dazzling fight sequences, painful stunts and comedy hijinks. It also features a show-stopping fight between Norton and Hung, which ranks as one of the great East vs West, good vs bad showdowns of the classic Hong Kong era. Norton gives as good as he gets in a fight, so gruelling to shoot, he lost 18 pounds.
Millionaire’s Express
Such was Norton’s impressive display up against Sammo, he was inevitably brought back to brawl soon after in Millionaires’ Express, directed by and starring Sammo Hung and co-starring Yuen Biao. Norton is among a host of bandits terrorising a bunch of wealthy folk travelling on the titular train. Norton also happened to first co-star with Cynthia Rothrock, who appears as a fellow bandit. She has a standout fight with Hung, and Norton gets plenty of opportunity to show his abilities with a great showdown with Yasuaki Kurata.
It’s big in scale, funny and epic with innumerable fights and stunts. Hung packs the film with soldiers, bandits, cowboys, samurai and more. What more could you ask for?
Magic Crystal
Not long after Millionaire’s Express, Norton and Rothrock found themselves facing off in Magic Crystal, which is a fun, martial arts-packed Indiana Jones riff written and directed by Jing Wong and starring Andy Lau no less.
There are great fight sequences as you’d hope in a Hong Kong production, as well as some eye-catching scenery with much of the film shot in Greece. Norton is the bad guy in chief here, getting to show off one of his signature weapons, twin sai. Norton, by this point, had perfected the charismatic, roguish villain who revels in his evil ways but is somehow likeable. He has a ball here.
Equalizer 2000
It’s far from Norton’s best film, but there’s something to be said about a good old Mad Max ripoff from the 1980s. Norton’s being Australian meant it would be fairly inevitable he’d be tied to George Miller’s franchise in some way, and his work in front and behind the camera in Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa was no great shock.
Still, Norton also had the distinction of headlining one of the countless Mad Max-sploitation films of the 80s from legendary and prolific B movie producer, Cirio H. Santiago, who made hundreds of low-budget films in his native Philippines, often riffing on well-known genre films like Mad Max, Conan and more. Norton, spending much of the dusty, explosive movie with his shirt off, also carries a big gun. There have been far worse in the sub-genre (a few notable with David Carradine), but also, there’s just an inherent charm about these exploitation copycat movies. With the benefit of time, compared to similar low-budget films of the modern age, Equalizer 2000 looks gargantuan in scale in infinitely better in technical craft. It does, after all, have a lot of pyrotechnics, stunts and practical action. Better that the crappy CGI plug-in effects tied to the digital low budget filmmaking age.
China O’Brien
It’s the dream team again! China O’Brien saw Cynthia Rothrock stake her claim as the Queen of action cinema in the US, having had a successful stint in Hong Kong. With Robert Clouse directing, China O’Brien wasn’t blessed with the biggest budget and the ultimate goal only seemed to be booming success on VHS rentals, but the film was a middle ground between a slower and less complicated style of fighting seen in US made action movies, and the complex and frantic choreography of Hong Kong. Better than the former, not as good as the latter.
Rothrock and Norton, in a rare occasion in their many collaborations, are both on the side of good. They’re joined by the fleet-footed, gravity-defying Keith Cooke in a film that’s very much in the Walking Tall mould. The three action icons team up to rid a small town of corrupt cops and an organised criminal outfit. The chemistry between Rothrock and Norton was always great, whether they were duelling or partnering up.
Cyber Tracker
Cyber Tracker is a Terminator rip-off from the fine purveyors of 90s video action, PM Entertainment. For those not in the know, PM were famous for packing their low-budget films with an incredible amount of spectacle and stunts. Their signature was the car flip, usually accompanied by a huge explosion. It was a breeding ground for great stuntmen, many of whom went on to huge tentpole productions.
A few action stars were prolific with PM, notably Gary Daniels and Don “The Dragon” Wilson. A few, like Rothrock and Norton, only fleeting, sadly. This Wilson starrer was one of two (I believe) Norton dalliances with PM films. He’s a great support for Wilson here and gets in on the action as you’d expect. It’s a goofy Terminator riff with plenty to enjoy, and thanks to PM’s trademarks, it stands above many other knockoffs.
Under the Gun
A mid-90s video special right out of Australia. This is Ozsploitation not quite at its finest, but with plenty to enjoy. Norton serves as the star but also produced the film and choreographed the fights. Given that and being in his Native Oz, you might even call it a passion project.
Under the Gun is a solid and entertaining video special, co-starring Kathy Long, who at one time was seen as a potential rival to Rothrock (and she was also legit). Despite the rough edges, there is a certain ragged Aussie charm that makes this stand out above many other straight-to-video actioners of the era.
City Hunter
After a few years away from Hong Kong, Norton was pulled back to star opposite Jackie Chan in the big-budget action comedy, City Hunter (based on the famous Manga). He’s the lead villain, and he even gets Gary Daniels standing beside him as his henchman. The film has a particularly memorable sequence where Chan fights Gary Daniels with both appearing as Streetfighter characters. Daniels looks like a perfect Ken while Chan gurns it up as Chun-Li.
The film is screwball, and that’s an understatement. Meanwhile, Norton, as he tends to do as a Hong Kong cinema baddie, has a blast. He’s a brilliant douchebag of the highest order here, like everyone, really dialling it up.
Mr. Nice Guy
In his final face-off with Chan, Norton is the big bad once again. He gets to chew scenery with glee as a slick-haired gangster. Chan was a year away from finally making his big Hollywood break in Rush Hour. It had been years of trying. Sammo is in the director’s chair, happy to let Chan energise the screen with his trademark hijinks.
It’s one of the later pure Chan action films from Hong Kong, there was not much after his Hollywood period that stood out in his returns to Hong Kong cinema, as the likes of Donnie Yen took the action into new territories, leaving Chan a little behind.
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Tom Jolliffe
