Lone Wolf McQuade is a 1983 American Western exploitation martial arts film directed by Steve Carver and starring Chuck Norris, David Carradine, Barbara Carrera, L.Q.

J.J. McQuade is a former Marine and a Texas Ranger who prefers to work alone and carries a large .44 Magnum revolver for a duty sidearm.

The film opens with McQuade involved in an intense battle with Mexican bandits and a gang of horse thieves from which he emerges unscathed (saving several Texas State Troopers).

Shaking off the dust, McQuade returns to El Paso, Texas to attend the retirement ceremony of his fellow Ranger and close friend Dakota.

After the party, his commander attempts to curb his "lone wolf" attitude by insisting he work with local Texas State Trooper Kayo Ramos, a tough but clean-cut and polite Latino.

Despite McQuade's annoyance that he does not need a woman to take care of him, Richardson seems to start breaking through his rough exterior within the couple of days they are together.

At an illegal garment factory, they pick up a young delinquent named Snow, who is reluctant to talk until Dakota points a Mac-10 in his general direction and empties the magazine.

Then, using his homemade supercharger system, McQuade charges his truck through the dirt – miraculously breaking himself free – and then rescues Ramos and Jackson.

Kaye Dyal only assisted with story ideas late in the process anda John Milius suggested a few details.

[4] Carver wanted to "mess up" Chuck Norris' image, having him grow a beard and drink beer on screen.

[4] Chuck Norris and David Carradine refused to use stunt doubles for their climactic fight scene, despite strong reservations from the producers.

Actually, it's a means of avoiding violent situations, and a form of defense if you have no choice and you're backed into a corner.... My films are very similar to the John Wayne movies of the '40s.

[10] Roger Ebert rated the film three-and-a-half stars out of four and compared Norris and his character favorably to the roles Clint Eastwood used to play in spaghetti Westerns.

[11] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called Norris "good" and further noted: "The plot, set in and around El Paso, is unimportant and nonstop, like an old-fashioned, Saturday afternoon serial, which isn't at all bad.

"[12] Todd McCarthy of Variety wrote, "Fans of Soldier of Fortune magazine will think they've been ambushed and blown away to heaven by 'Lone Wolf McQuade.'

Every conceivable type of portable weapon on the world market today is tried out by the macho warriors on both sides of the law in this modern western, which pits Texas Ranger Chuck Norris and his cohorts against multifarious baddies who like to play rough.

"[14] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times thought that the film, "like its predecessor, 'Forced Vengeance,' becomes so numbingly violent that it's a turnoff about a third of the way through.

"[15] Jimmy Summers wrote in BoxOffice magazine, "Chuck Norris still doesn't have the screen presence to achieve his often-repeated wish of becoming the next John Wayne, but as long as he keeps his feet and fists flying and stays relatively quiet he's an effective action hero.

[17] Norris later said the film "broke the kung fu mode" for him and helped turn him into a more mainstream action star.

[2] Norris credits this film as a leading inspiration for his hit television series, Walker, Texas Ranger, which premiered a decade later.

[18] Steve Carver and his production partner Yoram Ben-Ami sued the producers of Walker, Texas Rangers for 500 million dollars.