Eye of the Tiger (1986)

I don't fully get why I didn't adore this movie, because it has so many things that I enjoy. Firstly it has Gary Busey in one of his few lead roles, but he's so good at playing action villains ("Under Siege" would be his highlight) that you don't really buy him as the straight man. This is most obvious in the infamous bingo hall scene, where he gets to do a long monologue that just doesn't go over at all. This isn't what Busey is good at, and a more competent director would have used his talents more and hid his limitations better. Secondly you have my favorite villain cliché of the 80s: an oddball motorcycle gang that rules a small town. Sadly we only really get to know the leader and everyone else is just an extra standing around doing nothing, which seems like a missed opportunity to me. But the biggest letdown was probably just the lack of action. Logically you'd assume that Busey is going to kill every single biker thus saving the town, but if that's what you expect you're in for a real anticlimax. There are some explosions and gunfights here and there, but you just keep waiting for Busey to go postal which never happens. In fact, for a Vietnam veteran (which in action movies usually makes you Superman) he's really not that tough at all. If the motorcycle gang had any common sense, this movie would be twenty minutes long. "Eye Of The Tiger" isn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but damn I expected so much more.

Tough and resourceful Vietnam veteran and ex-con Buck Matthews (an excellent and engaging performance by Gary Busey) gets released from prison only to discover that his home town has been overrun by a vicious biker gang led by the ruthless Blade (the almighty William Smith in peak scurvy form). Buck enlists the assistance of his easygoing fellow 'Nam vet buddy J.B. Deveraux (a fine portrayal by Yaphet Kotto) to rectify the situation. Director Richard C. Sarafian, working from a tight script by Michael Thomas Montgomery, relates the engrossing story at a brisk pace, maintains a harsh gritty tone throughout, grounds the premise in a believable working class world, makes good use of the dusty desert locations, and stages the thrilling action scenes with rip-roaring gusto. The sound acting from the capable cast keeps the picture buzzing: Bert Remsen as concerned priest Father Healey, Seymour Cassel as the slimy corrupt sheriff, Denise Galik as Buck's loyal wife Christie, Kimberlin Brown as fetching nurse Dawn, and Judith Barsi as Buck's adorable daughter Jennifer. Moreover, this movie not only delivers a few neat bits of brutal violence (a decapitation by wire rates as the definite gory highlight), but also several inspired sick touches (Buck shoves a lit stick of dynamite up one biker's butt and the bikers dump Christie's coffin in front of Buck's house after they kill her!). Peter Lyons Collister's crisp cinematography gives the film a cool slick look. Don Preston's rousing score does the pulse-pounding trick. A nifty flick.

Gary Busey is the man and this time he's even granted a leading role as an ex-Vietnam veteran, ex-convict and reborn family man forced into a position that leaves him with nothing left but... revenge on his mind. Sounds cool, doesn't it? But jeez, I thought this flick would be at least a bit more fun. Turns out it's nothing more than an average watch, really. I kind of anticipated it to be a FIRST BLOOD (1982) rip-off, given Busey's character and the local sheriff antagonizing him and all, but it's not. Probably would have been more fun if it was. Now, the main evil-doers are some motorcycle gang who've taken on the role of drug-runners near a small town. During one of their nightly pillage & rape routines, they run into Gary Busey who will not have this type of misbehaviour. He rescues some nurse and the biking gang-bangers are not very happy about this. You can pretty much guess what happens next. There's some fun stuff in this film (decapitaing a biker while riding his motorcycle, dynamite up someone's naked ass,...), but the movie drags too much in places. And when Gary Busey does get his act together, it's basically just him and the bikers teasing each other with various acts of the disturbed. Fair enough, only EYE OF THE TIGER lacks a lot in graphic violence. The climax near the end (as implausible it may be, bombing the desert hideout, automated bazooka's coming out of Busey's truck and such) was silly fun, but the 'end-bossfight' was short and highly unmemorable. Also, the film lacks a true villain. The Boss of the gang was shown too little and just didn't do anything remotely menacing. It all turns EYE OF THE TIGER into an average time-waster, nothing more. Have low expectations and you might not mind having seen it. Obviously, it's still a better accomplishment than Lamberto Bava's BLASTFIGHTER (1984), a rather similar film, but EYE OF THE TIGER simply can't compete with stuff like COBRA (1986), COMMANDO (1985) or the aforementioned first RAMBO film. Even MALONE (another 80's Burt Reynolds action-vehicle and pretty much the same film) was better in most ways.

It don't matter to me.No, it don't matter that this film doesn't have the greatest actors. Gary Busey does a great job as a Vietnam Vet who comes home to lose his wife to a gang of motorcycle thugs, led by A-number-one total scumbag with a really bad haircut, William Smith. Yaphet Kotto is a perennial favorite of mine, and he does the right thing her. Yeah. And then there is Seymour Cassel as the crooked Sheriff that needs to be taught a lesson.Yes, the story is pretty unbelievable, but that doesn't matter. It's the little guy getting kicked around, the cops on the take, the townspeople who have ceased to care, and scumbags that need to be flushed down the toilet.A guilty pleasure for when you need to get the adrenaline flowing.