The Octagon
Short description
The Octagon is an American action thriller from 1980. It centres on Scott James, a former karate champion who is drawn back into violence when a wealthy woman, Justine, seeks protection from a clan of ninja assassins. The threat turns out to be connected to McCarn, a mercenary and an old enemy of Scott's, and their conflict becomes part of a wider international conspiracy built around a secret training ground for killers. Scott's involvement is personal as well as professional, and he pursues the organisation behind the attacks.
Eric Karson directed the film, working from a screenplay by Leigh Chapman, with Joel Freeman producing for American Cinema Productions. It was Karson's first feature as director; his second, Black Eagle, followed in 1988. Chuck Norris leads the cast as Scott James, with Karen Carlson as Justine, Lee Van Cleef as McCarn, Art Hindle, Carol Bagdasarian and Kim Lankford among the principal players; 52 cast members are credited.
Made for about 4 million dollars, the film took roughly 19 million dollars worldwide, a strong return on its production cost. Audience response has been moderate: on IMDb it holds 5.1 out of 10 from around 6,800 votes, and on TMDB 5.1 out of 10 from 159 votes. A critics' rating of 5 out of 10 from seven reviews places professional opinion close to the audience average, with neither group rating it highly. Running 104 minutes, it belongs to the martial arts and ninja cycle of its era.
What's left behind the scenes
- An octagon is an eight-sided structure.
- To save money, director Eric Carson's personal Jaguar was used in the film. Carson was very upset when his Jaguar collided with a Pontiac during filming.
- The filmmakers initially planned to conclude the movie with a large-scale martial arts performance, but they lacked the time, money, and resources to do so.
- Blowing up the arena and fortress sets cost $200,000—far less than it would have cost to dismantle the giant structure and transport its parts to a landfill.
- The character played by Richard Norton was mute and, accordingly, did not utter a single word throughout the film. His hissing is an imitation of the sound produced during breathing exercises.
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