User reviews

Nothing new, but this routine action comedy (Produced by Cannon's Golan Globus) with its buddy cops angle gives it plenty of life as Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams' natural chemistry strikes up some amusing dialogue exchanges and messy situations. It's on the cheap… and it looks it, but this doesn't fault how enjoyable it happens to be. Cannon simply produces the goods; shattering action (shoot-outs -- one in drag and car / truck / air chases), a humorous script ("Old MacDonald had a shotgun"), likable good guys, scummy bad guys and a jazzy soundtrack.

Nick Berzak (known as "Berserk" on the streets) along with his partner Frank Hazeltine are two L.A narcotic detectives, where Berzak believes the mayor of the community just also happens to be a big drug dealer despite everyone including his partner thinking otherwise. Berzak would go to any lengths to prove it, but their undercover operations always seemed to be foiled as if there's a mole in the department.

Carradine plays his character with a rugged, if crazy edge (he even eats raw meat) while Williams is the opposite as the affably smooth partner (a real ladies man). However they both share a kooky sensibility and use unorthodox methods to get the job done. Some character dramas appear; Berzak's relationship with his ex-wife (Valerie Bertinelli) opens up another side, while the moments with his mother (Doris Roberts) was another comical inclusion. Barry Sattels made for the perfect slime ball. The support cast is good; Peter Graves, Mykelti Williamson, Bobby Di Cicco, Ray Girardin, Michael Goodwin and Jon Gries. Director Jack Smight visceral handling is sturdy, if at times clumsy but it moves at a comfortably steady clip and Gail Morgan Hickman's material has a real sense of irony and some running gags ("I'm just talking to myself sir").

Stock, but entertaining 80s crime hokum.

"Don't say freeze. It only pisses them off."

A typical buddy buddy cop thriller of the late '80s, heavily derivative and sadly too low budget to do much with the premise. The story involves a couple of cops (Carradine and Williams) who go on the trail of nefarious criminals and gradually uncover a minor conspiracy. Peter Graves plays the police chief. It's amiable enough in a low-to-mid budget way, with some action, but entirely forgettable with it.

Here we have an enjoyable buddy cop film, fresh from the buddy cop hey-day of the mid '80's. Robert Carradine plays Nick Berzak (dubbed "Berzerk" by the perps who know him best), a rough and tough cop who always seems to be down on his luck. His partner, Hazeltine (played by the original "Ladies Man", Billy Dee Williams), is the one who keeps him in line. A perfect combination of good cop, bad cop.

They're hot on the trail, with their gut instinct that the local mayor, DeCosta, is behind some elaborate drug smuggling connection. Naturally, no one else on the police force believes either one of them, and it becomes clear throughout that there is a "rat" among them, who may be in on the scheme.

Like I said, I found this enjoyable. It's merely a "paint-by-numbers" action film, that is salvaged by the likeable charms of Carradine and Williams, with a good supporting cast headed by Peter Graves and Valerie Bertinelli. If you are a fan of the Cannon Group and their "canon" of '80's action flicks, you should enjoy this.

Story by Gail Morgan Hickman, who also wrote the Cannon/Charles Bronson films, "MURPHY'S LAW" and "DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN". The script recieved a polish by James Belushi, to whom this film was initially intended as a starring vehicle.

* For added fun, one could develop a drinking game based on every time Carradine spouts the name "DeCosta".

This has to be one of the worst films I have ever seen. There is absolutely no action, to much no since talking, and very bad music. I was about to hang myself with my belt if Robert Caridean sang one more tune as he has beetle eyes. Billy Dee Williams couldn't fire a gun if a 800lb person stood one inch in front of him. Doris Roberts should have retired thirty years ago for she has too many wrinkles for saying a quote. I would rather have my nose bit by a rattle snake while eating liver and onions than to see this film again. So save your time and watch real action films like Chuck Norris. I give this film 1 out of 10,000,000 Mountain Dews.

The following review contains negative opinions about a bad movie. Please note, Billy Dee Williams is exempt from all negative comments because that man radiates so much charm and cool that even in this debacle he shines.

Now on to your scheduled review.

Holy bad acting, Batman! This thing is an absolute, ungodly mess. The performances are awful, the plot is boring and overplayed and the... You know what, I can sum this one up really easy. At multiple times this reminded me of The Room. The awkward jumps from thing to thing, the stunned acting, the effort to make one character just seem really, really cool (and it wasn't Billy Dee). If Tommy Wiseau made a Lethal Weapon knock off, this is what you'd get.

Oh, throw in some really casual police corruption and power tripping for good measure. If not for the incredible charisma of one Mr Williams, this would get a rock bottom score but that man is a treasure so he bumps it up a bit.

The only way I could recommend this is if you've only ever seen Billy Dee as Lando from Start Wars. If that's the case, like it kinda was for me, this is worth watching just to add more of him to your film experience. There is nothing else here worth your time.

Number One With A Bullet is a buddy cop action/thriller with the mismatched pair of actors Robert Carradine and Billy Dee Williams. I am a fan of both of the leading men in this film, however they have zero onscreen chemistry. This was a later era film for Cannon studios and was poorly promoted and I didn't even know that this existed until recently. Robert Carradine put forth a effort in this movie, but was definitely not right for this. Billie Dee Williams is always cool, but can't really elevate a movie that's nothing special in the first place. Even the action is not that great and this is the same company that made Invasion USA. I would rather watch that instead.

Is this the pinnacle of 80s buddy cop movies? I'm a millennial, so my bases are rooted in Turner and Hooch, and Cop and a Half, then I have fond memories of catching the TV versions of Lethal Weapon.

Number One with a Bullet is an amazing hit in my nostalgia vein. You can sense that the film makers are sick of the genre, but everyone is still having a good time. You can see background characters trying to hold back their snickers as Nick smart alecks banally as Everybody Loves Raymond's mom dotes on him, and I join them as Frank the trumpet player practices on his kazoo between set pieces.

And there's loads of action. Plane vs helicopter shoot outs, dump yard car magnet dodgeball, generic explosions, and loads of ACAB negligence.

If you ever wanted to see Naked Gun played straight, check this one out.

(1987) Number One With A Bullet ACTION COMEDY

After the success of "Lethal Weapon" came this low budget effort which is quite good but cannot level up to the same manner as the first two "Lethal Weapons films in terms of budget anyway. But in my opinion is better than "Lethal Weapon 4" and for it's story line and resonating characters. It has Det. Nick Barzack (Robert Carradine) and Det. Frank Hazeltine (Billy Dee Williams) on a crusade to bring down a drug ring. At the same time Barzack is having problems with his home life as he is still separated with his wife, Tereasa Barzak (Valerie Bertinelli) and his boss of the police department, Capt. Ferris (Peter Graves).

No one will ever say this was a "great film", but it's still got plenty of redeeming qualities that place it far above most of the tripe Hollywierd is pumping out these days. An endless stream of subtle but hilarious one-liners ("Man, I was just on the toilet thinking' about you. Ain't life a bitch?" and "I guess he shoulda froze." "Well, it's not like we didn't tell him."), scene setups that have been copied to death for their comic potential (like the drying-out scene), and the cliché but still fresh presentation of a classic buddy-movie. Even the annoying characters (like Mom) are somehow entertaining in their own way. It doesn't surprise me that this title is conspicuously absent from rental shelves, but I, for one, will be glad when it's finally available on DVD.

PS I still find myself quoting this movie at least once a week: "No, thanks. I'm on a low-mucous diet." :-D

Don't get me wrong, this is a horribly by the numbers, worthless and forgetable film, but in my circle of friends it has developed a cult classic status. This is due to a friend giving me repeated copies of it as gifts as a long running joke. This caused me and some other friends to make our own sequel to it, Number 2 With a Bullet, to give to him on his birthday. After showing our film to some more friends we then made another, Number 3 With a Bullet. We even plan to make another in the next month. These are crudely made pieces but are highly entertaining nonetheless (more so than the original it has to be said).

I hope that one day the makers of this poor buddy movie discover the legacy they have created (just as long as they don't sue).

It's been a long time since I've seen it...but I recall the title theme being exceptionally good.

I was a big fan of Valerie Bertinelli, too, so I'd have watched this just for her, probably.

She & Billy Dee (who I'd already seen in "Hit", which is enormously better than this, among others), plus the title music, are really about the only reasons to watch this clear Lethal knockoff. (If you want a much better spin on Lethal, have a look at "Bon Cop, Bad Cop".)