Code of Silence (1985)

Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this; Chuck Norris in a genuinely good film.This is one of the better ones though. There isn't much in the way of martial arts, but there's a great one man army style finale.It's more of a cop thriller, which has a genuinely good story and a damn good cast to boot. You've got the legendary Denis Farina and Henry Silva, who can never, ever play a good guy; he just looks evil all the time.I love stories about corrupt cops; there's something that really grabs you emotionally because you get so angry that even "heroes" can be corrupted. Not our Chuck though, who ends up alienating himself from the force because he wants to bring down one of his own.Code of Silence is a gritty, old-school cop thriller kinda like Dirty Harry and it's one of Chuck's more serious roles and he is actually pretty damn good in it too. Its a little slow in the first half and isn't constant action, but it is really tense in places and doesn't skimp on the violence either.I would have given it a higher score if there was more martial arts in the film. But overall, if you're a Chuck Norris fan then give Code of Silence a watch. It's definitely one of his better films. 8 out of 10

Interesting thing - this was supposed to be a Clint Eastwood movie , but he decided to do "Pale rider" instead. It's funny , because the story here feels a little bit like western . "COS" has got obviously more story than average Chuck movie . The corrupt cops angle is nothing new or particularly deep , but works well enough. It's hard to call this story unpredictable and the ending conclusion is rather unfitting to the rest of the movie , but doesn't destroy it. There is one very funny scene involving two unlucky robbers that will make you laugh hard. There are some silly moments here and there , but overall this movie manages to be serious and have decent dialogues .Chuck is his usual self here , but somewhat less wooden . Henry Silva ("Nico : Above the law") is effective enough as the mob boss. The rest of the cast involving known faces like Ron Dean and Dennis Farina is also very OK.The action is rather unspectacular , although it's well placed and enjoyable. The big shootout at the end (Chuck versus mafia) is both silly and kinda creative. Director Andrew Davis ("The Fugitive" , "Under siege" and "Nico : Above the law") keeps the movie at nice pace. Veteran action movie composer David Michael Frank gives a nice funky score. Chicago does look really nice in this movie.I give it 5/10. Not really an underrated movie , but decent enough to watch it if it's on TV and you have nothing to do. It lacks that certain something that would make it stand out from many movies of the genre. Compared to almost every other movie Norris made this is however a freaking masterpiece. Along with "Delta force" and "The Lone wolf McQuade" his best work.

Like many others, I agree, this may be Chuck's best film, alongside Silent Rage. Here in a undercover operation gone to s..t, taking shouting abuse from his captain, he's left to clean up the mess. And to add further headache, one of his own is been put on the stand, for mistakenly blowing away an Hispanic kid. This cop, Creggie was drinking before too. Creggie has f....d up before too, so this could be his last chance. His younger more nervous partner, Gonzalez, is sworn to silence, therefore letting his partner get away with this again. While his other colleges vouch for him, Chuckie goes up against him, and also the baddies of these two gangs, Italians and Columbians. Chuck's stakeout was sabotaged, when his two undercover cops, about to make a drug purchase, bought it, as the opposing Italian gang arrived dressed as painters, no less. This is a great ten minute opening-shootout here that really went down well in this. Chuck again here, kicks, well you know, not as much than most of his movies, but some great chunks of action and an involving story almost make us forget Chuckie's karate talents. It's also one of Chuck's better performances. We see a real human side to his character, like when he takes the only surviving victim of the Italian mob, an innocent girl, in his care. The train scene is great with Chuckie making one hell of a dive into the river, this recurring music theme attached, with successive clicking in bits of it, worked great. We too also have a robotic tank that in the end becomes Chuck's best friend. At first in a demonstration scene Chuck laughs this off, calling it "Another machine without a brain". He also overthrows it, when it turns on him, the whole station of cops looking like fools as this scene fades out into the next. He also too backs up his younger partner, Gonzalez in telling the real truth that day the s..t went down, and that innocent Hispanic lost his life, even though the title wrongly refers the main story here. A thoroughly enjoyable drama, ala Chuck Norris, you may still find bits of this lacking in the brains department, but it's much better than a lot of Chuck's other s..t, I mean films. Henry Silva again makes the villain an art form as the merciless head of the Columbian family.

It's all too easy to see why "Code of Silence" would be lauded as one of action star Chuck Norris's best ever vehicles. He's working with an accomplished director, Andrew Davis, as well as a fairly meaty story. The action scenes are top notch yet are in service of the story instead of the other way around. The supporting cast, including a number of familiar faces, is strong, and the location work is superb. In fact, "Code of Silence" can rightfully take its place as one of the great Windy City films.Chuck plays Eddie Cusack, a police detective of principles who refuses to support a fellow detective who'd accidentally killed an innocent kid and then covered up his tracks. (The 'code of silence' of the title, of course, referring to that code that cops don't say anything against their fellow officers.) As a result, Eddie is often alone in his fight as he's caught in the middle of a violent gang war, and struggles to keep the daughter of one criminal safe.Chuck and Davis take this formula and play it for all it's worth, and to the credit of both men, the director gets a pretty good performance out of his star, who once again shows confidence and poise in any and all ass kicking scenes. Slick cinematography, by Frank Tidy, adds to the enjoyment, as does a bouncy music score by David Michael Frank. Veteran screen villain Henry Silva, who returned to fill the same role for Davis's subsequent effort "Above the Law" with Steven Seagal, is solid as always, as is the under-rated Bert Remsen as Chuck's superior. Then newcomers Joseph Guzaldo and Molly Hagan do well as, respectively, the young detective torn between honesty and being loyal to his partner, and the imperiled gangster's daughter, a feisty young lady who's distanced herself from her lowlife father (Mike Genovese). Real life former cop Dennis Farina is a hoot as Chuck's partner, who's constantly pitching business ideas to him. Co-stars Ron Dean and Joe Kosala (another real life cop) also returned for "Above the Law", Ralph Foody (a man with a very recognizable mug and voice) is highly amusing as burnt out, crooked detective Cragie, and John Mahoney has an enjoyable one scene role as a man demonstrating a new tactical police device dubbed The Prowler (there's no doubt that this device will come into play later). And that's director Davis's father, actor Nathan Davis, playing aged mobster Felix Scalese."Code of Silence" is very good of its type, delivering all the expected violence and thrills and executed with skill. It's genuinely exciting at times - check out the car chase and the climactic showdown - and keeps your interest from its beginning to its end. Those shots of the Chicago cityscape are a pleasure to see, too.Highly recommended.Eight out of 10.