Invasion U.S.A. (1986) Vinegar Syndrome 4K Blu-ray Review

Plot: Matt Hunter thought he had put his fighting days behind him when he retired from the C.I.A., preferring to live in the serene solitude of the Florida Everglades. But when notorious Soviet terrorist Mikhail Rostov decides to exact revenge against Matt, this one-man-army has no choice but to dust off his martial arts skills and face off, Uzis in hand, against his deadliest enemy. However, as Matt tries to remain one step ahead, the insidiously evil Rostov begins deploying bands of guerrilla fighters across the state to terrorize innocent civilians and force Matt out into the open and compel him to face off for one final, bloody showdown.

An action tour-de-force from director Joseph Zito (The Prowler, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter) and one of the key films in helping establish Chuck Norris (who co-authored the screenplay with James Bruner) as an action superstar, INVASION U.S.A. was also one of the first true blockbusters from 80s genre film legends Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus’ Cannon Films. Co-starring Richard Lynch (The Sword and the Sorcerer), Melissa Prophet (Goodfellas, Casino), and Billy Drago (The Untouchables), this epic feat of non-stop stunt work and incredible action setpieces comes to 4K UHD from Vinegar Syndrome, newly restored for this release from its 35mm original camera negative and ready for retribution with a staggering supply of new and archival bonus materials.

Review: I picked up the Vinegar Syndrome 4K of Invasion USA starring Chuck Norris last week and spent most of the weekend watching the movie and all the plethora of special features.

What can I say about this movie that hasn’t already been said? I think Invasion USA is arguably my favourite Chuck Norris movie alongside Lone Wolf McQuade. It’s an hour and 45 minutes of non-stop action and is one of Cannon’s finest hours.

Richard Lynch is quite unhinged as the fearsome villain Rostov who (with his team of comrades) plans to invade America and bring the country to its knees. He shoots his enemies in the crotch, blows up houses with RPGs and is an all-round bad egg; for me he remains one of the best villains of the 80s. It’s too bad Billy Drago is only in the one scene as he (like Lynch) could be incredibly chilling and always made for a great antagonist.

Although there is no shortage of action scenes, it’s the last 20 minutes that really elevate Invasion USA with a genuine sense of scale; we get several real tanks and helicopters, regular huge explosions, shoot-outs and a bodycount surely in the triple digits.

I love how Matt Hunter (Chuck Norris) is like Batman where he magically appears wherever the bad guys are no matter where in the country they attack. He also doesn’t even get a scratch by the end of the movie and single-handedly saves America. Thank you, Chuck!

Jay Chattaway provides the swelling, heroic score and he also did the music from Red Scorpion which was equally epic.

At an hour and 45 minutes Invasion USA is perfectly paced and there isn’t a single moment of wasted time.

Vinegar Syndrome have done it again with another release stacked with special features.

• 2-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD / Region A Blu-ray
• 4K UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
• Presented with the following sound options: 5.1 surround mix; 2.0 stereo mix; brand new commentary track with director Joseph Zito; brand new commentary track with Austin Trunick, author of The Cannon Film Guide and an archival commentary track with director Joseph Zito and Michael Felsher
• Operation Invasion U.S.A. (31 min) – an interview with director Joseph Zito
• Writing the Real Thing (23 min) – an interview with screenwriter James Bruner
• The Stories We’re Telling (22 min) – an interview with editor Dan Loewenthal
• Heroic Moments (16 min) – an interview with composer Jay Chattaway
• It’s in the Eyes (14 min) – an interview with actress Melissa Prophet
• Do You Like Talking? (7 min) – an interview with actor James Pax
• Cannon Carnage (18 min) – an archival featurette on the make-up effects of Invasion U.S.A.
• Loose Cannons (29 min) – an archival interview with screenwriter James Bruner
• Original trailer
• Reversible sleeve artwork
• English SDH subtitles

The interview with director Joseph Zito is insightful as he talks about how this movie was part of the revolution against Communism and he was surprised because he always thought this was just going to be a piece of entertaining fluff.

Seeing Jay Chattaway discuss his work on scoring the movie was also a highlight as I had never seen him interviewed before. James Bruner, the writer talks about how he put the script together and how his first screenplay was a Western and it’s an inspiring tale of someone who worked in construction and in his spare time wrote stories and scripts.

The picture quality of the 4K isn’t as amazing as I would have hoped for with a lot of grain, but it’s arguably the best the film has ever looked. The sound is perfect, and we get subtitles and Chapter Selection which I always like.

Overall, Invasion USA is one of Chuck Norris’s best movies with some jaw dropping action especially in the final 20 minutes. The 4K picture isn’t as impressive as I would have liked but everything else was perfect and this is still well worth an upgrade.