The Octagon

The Octagon is a 1980 American action martial arts film starring Chuck Norris, Karen Carlson and Lee Van Cleef. It was directed by Eric Karson and written by Paul Aaron and Leigh Chapman. The film involves a martial artist (Chuck Norris) who must stop a group of terrorists trained in the ninja style by his half-brother (Tadashi Yamashita). It was filmed in Los Angeles and released by the distribution wing of American Cinema Productions beginning August 15, 1980. It is notable for its inventive use of voice-over effects to portray the inner life of Norris' character, Scott James. This was actor Richard Norton's film debut. Plot The film opens with a short scene at a private military training camp. The main instructor, Katsumoto (Yuki Shimoda) tells the graduating class that all of their actions and whereabouts will be known and that if they do anything to expose or harm the group, they and their families will be killed.