Line #57 Film/InvasionUSA1985


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/l_89348_95a38f68_4546.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:As if the U.S.A. wasn't enough, Norris saves Christmas too.]]
3
4	->''"The movie 'Invasion U.S.A.' is, in fact, a documentary."''
5	-->-- '''Website/ChuckNorrisFacts'''
6
7	''Invasion U.S.A.'' is an action film directed by Joseph Zito, starring Creator/ChuckNorris, and released by Creator/TheCannonGroup in 1985.
8
9	A [[{{Mooks}} multinational assortment of commie terrorists]] led by one Mikhail Rostov (Creator/RichardLynch) enter American soil, and start causing havoc everywhere. Only one man can stop them: the former CIA agent Matt Hunter (Norris).
10
11	The film was followed by ''Film/AvengingForce'' in 1986, with Norris [[TheOtherDarrin replaced]] by Michael Dudikoff as Hunter.
12
13	No relation to the [[Film/InvasionUSA1952 1952 film]] of the same title.
14
15	----
16	!!This film contains examples of:
17
18	* AllThereInTheManual: The [[http://glorioustrash.blogspot.com/2013/02/invasion-usa.html novelization]] closes a lot of the {{plot hole}}s and fills in the characterization which was cut from the movie.
19	* ArchEnemy: Rostov sees Hunter as one, as he is obsessed with taking him out. Hunter himself doesn't care much about Rostov, until he is attacked.
20	* AnAssKickingChristmas: The terrorists land in the US during Christmas season. And just to show what bastards they are, they start blowing up suburbs celebrating it.
21	* AutoErotica: Two teenagers are sitting in a car (although it's unclear whether they intend to go past the heavy kissing stage) in the suburbs scene. In an inversion of SexSignalsDeath, staying in the car helps keep them alive when Rostov starts blowing up the nearby houses.
22	* BadassBoast:
23	** Hunter gives one to a pimp who interferes with his interrogation of a would-be informant.
24	-->'''Hunter:''' If you come back in here, I'm gonna hit you with so many rights you'll beg for a left.
25	** Later, he gives one to Rostov via television:
26	-->'''Hunter:''' Nikko was easy. Now it's your turn. One night you're gonna close your eyes, and when they open, I'll be there. It'll be time to die.
27	* BatmanGambit: Hunter arranges himself to be caught by the police so that he'll be placed in the emergency command center. He does this because he knows that Rostov will launch an all-out attack to the place to get him while destabilizing the American government for good.
28	* BigBad: Rostov is the leader of the terrorist mercenary invasion, with his bosses in the Kremlin as the GreaterScopeVillain.
29	* BreakOutTheMuseumPiece: As per the invasion analogy, the terrorists use war-surplus landing barges when landing on a Miami beach. When the authorities discuss whether they can trace them, it's pointed out that they are [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII forty years old]].
30	* BullyingADragon: The terrorists find themselves surrounded by heavily armed National Guard troops who have tanks and helicopter gunships. Rather than surrender, they open fire. While killing some National Guardsmen, they are all killed in short order.
31	* CarChase: One starts after the mall shootout.
32	* CarFu: Hunter kills a mook with his jeep during the mall shootout.
33	* CatapultNightmare: Rostov thrashes around and bolts up when he wakes from his nightmare.
34	* CatchPhrase: "Time to die" for Hunter.
35	* CensoredChildDeath: While Hunter manages to stop a terrorist attack against a school bus in time, he's later seen surveying a destroyed carnival ride that was the target of a different attack, with it all but being stated that children were killed off-screen.
36	* ClickHello: In his nightmare, Rostov tries to pull a major job, only to be interrupted by Hunter putting a gun on his temple. Happens again in the finale, but with a grenade launcher.
37	* CoversAlwaysLie: The White House isn't involved in the action.
38	* DeadMansTriggerFinger: Happens to a machine-gun toting Marine, who is gunned down while he's stupidly standing still in the middle of the huge climactic battle and firing from the hip on full-auto.
39	* DeathByIrony: Rostov oh so loves [[StuffBlowingUp killing people and destroying property with explosives]]. Guess how Hunter finishes him off?
40	* DeathOfAChild: The terrorists successfully attack an amusement park, and although it's not stated outright it's clearly implied children were among the victims. Rostov's rocket launcher attack on the suburbs also implies a hefty child casualty, considering that the scene showcases one of many families of the houses about to be blown up celebrating.
41	* DestinationDefenestration: Rostov throws Mickey's lady through a window after killing him.
42	* DirtyCommunists: The terrorists are made of these.
43	* TheDragon: Nikko. He serves as Rostov's right hand, and keeps him focused on the invasion.
44	* EqualOpportunityEvil: The terrorists are a motley crew of mercenaries from East Germany, Russia, Asia, Africa and Latin America.
45	* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: Some of the terrorists wear wedding rings.
46	* ForcedFriendlyFire: Hunter kills [[TheDragon Nikko]] by sneaking from behind, yanking the latter's gun hand right to his temple and pulling the trigger.
47	* ForTheEvulz: The terrorists seem to have no motivation whatsoever other than causing as much havoc as possible. Then again, since they are communist mercenaries, they might have been in it for the money, or to destabilize Evil Capitalist America. Also, since Nikko refers to them as "petty criminals", some or most of them may be convicts who've agreed to partake on the invasion to (hopefully) get a reduced sentence.
48	* FriendOrFoe: After the bad guys have pulled off a number of [[FalseFlagOperation false flag attacks]], a group of gun-toting civilians can be seen standing guard and wearing armbands, while a group of kids are put on a bus to be evacuated to elsewhere.
49	* GroinAttack: Rostov kills Mickey by shooting him in the groin multiple times. He does the same to one of his subordinates who pointed out (rightfully so, as it turned out) that Rostov's obsession with getting Hunter would hurt the mission.
50	* GunsAkimbo: Hunter with his Micro Uzis.
51	* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Hunter has a habit of killing terrorists with [[SomebodySetUpUsTheBomb their own bombs]].
52	* HopeSpot:
53	** Rostov (posing as a coast guard with his men) informs a bunch of illegal immigrants that they are free to enter the US before shooting them all.
54	** Hunter successfully manages to locate and stop multiple attacks in time, including preventing a bus full of kids from being blown up on the highway. Then he watches the news and he sees that the terrorists successfully blew up an amusement park. He laments being unable to be everywhere at once as a result.
55	* ImpaledPalm: Hunter puts a knife through an informant's hand to make him talk.
56	* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: The terrorists cause havoc by killing civilians while being dressed as members of various authoritative occupations to turn people against them.
57	* ImprobableInfantSurvival: One of the terrorist attacks outright targeting children -- the bomb placed on the school bus -- is successfully stopped by Hunter.
58	* IntrepidReporter: [=McGuire=].
59	* InvadedStatesOfAmerica: A much smaller scale and, interestingly enough, realistic variant. The "invasion" in this film takes the form of infiltration. The terrorists land on an empty (except for one unfortunate young couple) beach late at night and then spread out across the country disguised as ordinary citizens or even police and military personnel. Then once they are in place they unleash a wave of terror across the country. Essentially, it's America being invaded by a guerrilla army.
60	* InvincibleHero: This is Chuck Norris at his most invincible. Hunter never gets hurt, save for a small cut in his face, knows where all the bad guys are at any time, never loses a battle, and only "fails" to stop terrorists because he's too busy taking out simultaneous other attacks to get to them in time. He's so invincible that even Rostov, with all the resources he has, is afraid of him and dedicates a good chunk of his men to killing him.
61	* IWarnedYou: A Mook example. After Rostov realizes he and his terrorist army have been LuredIntoATrap, he shouts it out loud, and one of his Mooks grumbles "I told you so!"
62	* IWorkAlone: Said word by word by Hunter when he officially accepts the assignment of finding Rostov.
63	* LastStand: A villainous example. Once surrounded by the National Guard, the terrorists fight to the last man rather than surrendering to them.
64	* NeverSmileAtACrocodile: During his more peaceful moments, Matt and his buddy John Eagle capture alligators.
65	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Hunter has no interest in recapturing Rostov when he is informed that he has entered American soil. Then Rostov organizes an attack on Hunter's home, killing his friend John Eagle. Hunter's first step after this is to go after Rostov, which ultimately leads to failure of his invasion.
66	* NightSwimEqualsDeath: A couple taking a night swim right where the terrorists are about to come ashore get shot a minute or two after getting out of the water.
67	* NightmareSequence: Hunter is such a fearsome adversary to Rostov, that he has nightmares about him kicking his ass.
68	* {{Novelization}}: By JasonFrost, a pseudonym used by writers Raymond Obstfeld and Rich Rainey. It is unclear which one wrote it.
69	* OffscreenTeleportation:
70	** Hunter disappears from [=McGuire's=] sight when she momentarily looks away from him.
71	** He pulls this off again during his final confrontation with Rostov.
72	* OhCrap: Rostov has a grand total of four of these, all courtesy of Hunter:
73	** When Hunter [[ClickHello places the barrel of his gun against Rostov's temple]] during the latter's nightmare.
74	** When he realizes his mistake of [[spoiler:leading all his men into a single spot]].
75	** When he tries to flee back to his helicopter during the same assault, only for Hunter to greet him and his minions with his Micro Uzis.
76	** When Hunter opens an M72 LAW behind him.
77	* SpareAMessenger: When two terrorists shoot up a Cuban block party while disguised as cops, one of them has to remind his TriggerHappy partner that they need to spare witnesses to falsely incriminate the cops.
78	* SpitefulSpit: Realizing Rostov will kill him anyway, Tomas, one of Rostov's underlings, spits him in the face.
79	* StuffBlowingUp: Rostov's attack on the ideal suburban neighborhood.
80	* SuperWindowJump: Hunter gets the hell out of Dodge when his house comes under fire from Rostov's men.
81	* TankGoodness: [[spoiler:During the FinalBattle, the National Guard surrounds the villains, complete with M-48 Patton tanks]].
82	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: After Hunter beats the absolute hell out of Rostov in hand to hand combat, he could easily have finished him then and there. Instead he disappears so he can go and get a LAW rocket launcher, which he then uses to blast Rostov at close range after sneaking up on him. Rostov himself apparently had something similar planned, as after Hunter disappeared, he too acquired a rocket launcher and was searching for Hunter with it.
83	* TooDumbToLive: Prior to the [[spoiler:FinalBattle, Rostov's terrorist army finds itself looking at a huge contingent of National Guard backed by numerous tanks, APCs and helicopter gunships. Despite having no anti-tank weapons whatsoever and no anti-air weaponry aside from their automatic weapons... the terrorists open fire anyway.]]
84	* VigilanteMan: The public is led to believe that Hunter is one, as his actions to thwart the terrorists are not officially supported by the CIA.
85	* VigilanteMilitia: An army of terrorists led by a KGB agent infiltrates American society and then unleashes a wave of blood and destruction. Since the terrorists have shown an ability to successfully [[DressingAsTheEnemy disguise themselves as police and soldiers]], the public is understandably frightened that the officer or soldier guarding the corner might be an enemy undercover. As such, many citizens form armed militias to help guard their communities. A group of them can be seen protecting a convoy of school buses as children are loaded onto them by their parents, who are sending them to the rural areas for safety (similar to what the British did with children from London in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). Of course, these militias may not have to worry about too much with Chuck Norris hunting the bad guys!
86	* VillainOpeningScene: The first scene involves [[BigBad Rostov]] and his men pose as coast guards and greeting immigrants before killing them all.
87	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: After Hunter saves [=McGuire=] from Nikko, she disappears from the movie.
88	* WouldHurtAChild: One trio of terrorists attempt to blow up [[BusFullOfInnocents a school bus full of children]]. The terrorists are utter bastards with no qualms whatsoever about killing children, and they actively make an effort to do so at least once, [[spoiler: which thankfully is stopped by Hunter]]. They also attacked an amusement park ride. This is tragically TruthInTelevision, because there are terrorist groups that not only don't care about kids getting hurt, but have intentionally attacked schools. Al-Qaeda and it's various affiliates in particular are notorious for saying that "no one is innocent" and that everyone is fair game.
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Context Film / InvasionUSA1985