roger ebert gave the film 0.5 stars out of 4 and called it "a brain-damaged, idiotic thriller, not even bad enough to be laughable." vincent canby of "the new york times" called the film "a 'wake up, america!' movie of a goofiness to make one long for the sanity and conviction of john milius's 'red dawn,'" adding that though chuck norris "seemed on the verge of becoming a kind of benign clint eastwood character, he loses all credibility in this awful film. even though mr. norris collaborated on the screenplay and helped to choose the director (joseph zito), the movie treats him as if it wanted to prove that he has absolutely no future on the screen." "variety" wrote, "a brainless plot would be almost forgiveable were it not for the perverse depiction of innocents butchered in 'invasion u.s.a.' star chuck norris, who cowrote the script and has recently chisled a popular niche with his 'missing in action' and 'code of silence' pictures, hits his nadir with this vicious-minded commodity from the cannon group. the 'rambo' audience will blink at this one. yes, it will make some money." gene siskel of the "chicago tribune" gave the film 1 star out of 4 and wrote that it "has a terrific premise but no script." michael wilmington of the "los angeles times" called it "a brutal, one-note, sadistic affair (though it has, to its credit, non-stop action, a good score and a chilling performance by lynch)." paul attanasio of "the washington post" wrote, "'invasion usa' might actually be fun in a campy way if it weren't so dourly exploitative," and called norris "an actor whose most evocative facial expression is his beard."