An Eye for an Eye (1981)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Sean Kane is forced to resign from the San Francisco Police Department's Narcotics Division when he goes berserk after his partner is murdered. He decides to fight alone and follows a trail of drug traffickers into unexpected high places. Despite the great cast of very talented people such as Christopher Lee 'An Eye for an Eye' was a pretty bland and boring flick cause i really expected more from this. Norris wasn't bad of course and the martial arts scenes were pretty good it's just that the movie was slow and some of the acting not that good either. (3/10)

Back when I had watched THE EXPENDABLES 2 (2012), I acquired about a score of vintage Chuck Norris vehicles; I was familiar with only a few of them, and this was the first opportunity I have had to check one of the others out – albeit in tribute to Sir Christopher Lee.The film is very typical action fare of its era – comparable, for instance, to the contemporaneous flicks Charles Bronson was starring in – but obviously incorporating Norris' brand of martial arts to complement the expected gunplay. The plot, too, is pretty routine: the star, along with his cop partner, gets ambushed (due to a snitch within the Police force) during a raid on some drug dealers – with the latter losing his life in gruesome fashion. Receiving no support from his superior (Richard Roundtree), he gives up his gun and badge – but, needless to say, continues the investigation on his own. This becomes even more personal when his partner's Asian TV reporter wife (engaged in her own expose' of drug trafficking) first contacts Norris that she may have acquired a lead on the villains and then winds up dead herself before she can divulge the information to the hero. Soon, however, he acquires a couple of associates: the dead woman's father (Mako), himself a martial arts expert and who often comments wryly on Norris' own skills; and her co-worker, who just happens to live in the same building, and who eventually goes to live with our protagonist and his dog after her own place is ransacked (at one point even comforting a perspiring Norris in the wake of a nightmare).Lee plays the TV station head, but his mere casting gives away his identity as the head of the smugglers, while Matt Clark is the crooked cop who gets to die violently for his double face. The film, then, is not bad as these things go (aided by a rather good score)…but there were a few instances of unintentional humour (Lee's chief goon is a club-footed giant – played by wrester "Professor" Toru Tanaka – so that his pursuit of the female journalist in a train station, which havoc apparently goes completely unnoticed by the authorities, emerges as awkward, to say the least), misjudged direction (when she calls Norris and is bluntly interrupted, the latter keeps asking her what is going on rather than precipitating to her rescue!; likewise, Roundtree keeps antagonizing Norris when their goals are clearly the same) and outright silliness (Lee, realizing that his operation is jeopardized, exclaims Norris's character name upon seeing him at his mansion, as if he had not been sufficiently set-up as his nemesis all through the picture).

(plot) Sean Kane is a lethal weapon whose partner (Terry Kiser) dies right in front of his very eyes. He is haunted by it ever since. He goes on the warpath for revenge to uncover the secret truths. You can guess the rest…Chuck Norris films are a mixed bag. He can make some good movies (Code Of Silence & Lone Wolf McQuade) Or he can make some really terrible one's that are cheapies, like most of his early films. This one is actually not that bad, though. It is a bit creaky at times when it comes to pacing and suspense, your villains are very poorly written. What was Christopher Lee even doing in this film? He's barely in it, aside from near the end. He was good like he always he is, but I get the feeling he needed a quick paycheck. I wish he had more screen time. When the action is present, it delivers. What Chuck Norris lacks in acting, he makes up for with his move set. He's very exciting to watch when it comes to fighting. The guy's got some serious movies and that is something I can't deny. Mako provides comedic relief as Norris's mentor. He's good at it! Richard Roundtree is solid as Capt. Stevens. Maggie Cooper is one of those wooden actresses you'd see around this time period. She's pretty bad as the love interest. Matt Clark has a great turn in the movie, whilst former WWF Wrestler, Professor Toru Tanaka makes for quite the intimidating foe. He was huge!Final Thoughts: it is what it is. I enjoyed the action, and ended up having an OK time. It's nothing great what so ever, but it sure beats watching most of Norris's early stuff. Worth a look for fellow action junkies5.5/10

How any Chuck Norris movie can be called "good" is beyond me. First and foremost, Chuck is a poor actor then and now. This movie doesn't have just a bad part, it is a bad part. And I will say, Chuck's later movies were actually better. Maybe because the scripts were better??? 'Cause his acting certainly wasn't. (Sorry, Chuck. You just don't have "it".) I recommend skipping this one unless you are a die-hard fan. (Does Chuck have any??) At least some must exist since this movie got a score above 2. Come on, be realistic, people. One or two "catch phrases" does not a movie make. One or two martial arts favorites also doesn't qualify to make this movie worth seeing. --Again, unless you are a die-hard fan.-- I found this movie trivial and unentertaining. I realize we're not looking for Oscar quality in an early martial arts film (especially an American one from the 1980s), but bad is bad and this movie is BAD.