An Eye for an Eye (1981) User Reviews (50)

Silly, but fun, Chuck Norris film

[Chromium_5 · 7/10 · 23 February 2005]

Chuck Norris has gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years, but watching some of his earlier films, it's hard to understand why. No, he's not the best actor of all time, but his fighting skills are pretty impressive. This movie gives him a lot of room to do what he does best, and it's great fun to watch him take out bad guy after bad guy with his amazing kung fu kicks. There are also good performances by Mako and Christopher Lee, both of whom make any movie worth watching, and the director has some cool camera shots throughout.

That said, I have to admit it has plenty of unintentionally hilarious parts, and I'm not just talking about the cheesy 80's soundtrack and polyester suits. For one thing, it seems like something is a little wrong with ol' Chuck. He does some genuinely odd things throughout the movie that make you wonder if he's OK in the head. The most shocking example is when a guy asks him, "Kane, do you know what is permeating this room?", and he sniffs the guy's face, rubs his cheek, and says, "Is it your cologne?" Then there's the scene where he knocks a man out, then places a pillow behind his head and pats his hair. He also spends a lot of time talking to his dog, Mort... and not just in a friendly way, but in a maybe-he's-hearing-the-dog-talking-back sort of way.

The character of the Professor is funny too (funny-odd, not funny-haha). The scene where he gets hit by a car and responds by beating the car up is not easy to forget.

These things are a bit unsettling, but where the film really loses it is at the end, when everything goes unexpectedly and completely bonkers. I am referring to the surreal scene where dozens of businessmen who all look like Ron Burgundy have a full-scale war with the police. It's like watching "Die Hard" with the terrorists being played by the entire cast of "Dallas." Cheesiness aside, however, this is an enjoyable, action-packed film that any fan of Norris is sure to love.

7/10 stars.

Clean Shaven Fun

[dolomite-2 · 7/10 · 13 February 2000]

This was chuck's 2nd best film, Lone Wolf McQuade being his 1st. Chuck just walks through this movie without jumping into any form of acting ability, an ability which he has never had. but what you see a Norris movie for is his Martial Arts, and he delivers here!!! Some great fights (Lots in slow mo) and a great soundtrack. It also boasts one of the worst WAKING UP FROM A NIGHTMARE pieces of acting in the history of film. Mako is great, Christopher Lee doesn't do a lot and Chuck has NO BEARD, which makes him look about 4 (Although that would make him the hairiest 4 year old ever!!!) All in all a great early 80s actioner which is never dull. Chuck Norris should have made all his movies with Steve Carver.

Leave Your Brain At The Door Entertainment - Enjoy.

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 6/10 · 24 January 2018]

Now, this film really takes me back to my youth, where you were a member of a video shop... or fifteen (I counted the cards I used to have)... and you would troll around them all to find a movie worth watching - at least it kept us fit.

This is pretty much your basic '80's action flick. Where the good guy is out for revenge for the death of a lover, a family member, friend, or in this case a partner on the force. The plot, like this one, would usually revolve around drugs trafficking. Throw in a love interest and loads of exciting fights and you have the perfect mix. This was the start of the "Leave your brain at the door" movies. To be fair, it's nice to let enjoyment and excitement take you out of your daily routine. I know I need it at the moment.

So in this story, you have Kane (Norris) and his partner, Dave (Kiser), heading to an undercover meet. However, it's a trap and Dave is killed, in quite a nasty way. From here on in Kane is out to solve the murder and get revenge for his dead partner. This leads him and Dave's girlfriend reporter, Linda (Chao) into a world of drug trafficking...

So what makes this a film worth watching?

Well there is Chuck Norris, who to be honest, isn't too bad in this film. He was just coming into being an actor in his own right at this time. These types of characters, like the films, were ten-a-penny and you were lucky if they made it to two-dimensional, let alone three. I have to believe that it's the likes of Christopher Lee (Canfield), Richard Roundtree (Captain Stevens), Matt Clark (McCoy), and even Mako (Chan) that elevated his acting up a notch or two for this movie. The rest of the cast are solid actors and carry the film and the much-used scenario easily.

Next, there's the direction. Steve Carver does a really good job with the camera work. There are some really well-framed sections. I loved the part where Kane goes to visit his sensei and master Chan. He parks his beautiful red Mustang and gets out. This is all superbly framed in a long shot by an ornamental oriental fence. Even on the drive up to his masters home, he is followed by a helicopter. This is filmed smoothly; you have a side portrait of Norris driving and outside the passenger window you see the copter flying at his side. There's also a nice sequence where Kane runs from his house, down his pier to his private jetty, opens his speedboats enclosure, jumps in and speeds away. There is a lot in this film that Carver should be proud about. Even the slow motion sections of the fight scene's work. When a lot of martial arts opted to speed up the action, slowing it down works really well - especially when you have a master of the arts like Norris.

Carver also sets a nice rollercoaster pace for the movie. He knows when to slow down to drive the plot and quicken it up to boost excitement and tension. A Lot of filmmakers could take a few notes from this film.

The only thing in the film that irked me was the love interest, Maggie Cooper. This was mainly for Sullivan's wooden performance. In some scenes, she appears so laid back that she may have been sampling the product the bad guys were moving.

If you like your martial arts flicks and are not too worried about plot, then I would recommend this one to you. It may not be intellectually brilliant but it is kick ass entertaining.

Norris at his fighting best!

[Arthur-23 · 8 July 2000]

This is probably Chuck Norris' best film. Action, pacing, suspense, and sound track, were all there! The notorious Professor Tanaka was among the best villains to appear in any Chuck Norris film to date. Truly menacing! Well made, great escapist entertainment. Worth viewing if you're in the mood for a fast-paced film with more emphasis on action than plot. If you're not looking for deep subtext, this film delivers!

Lame Script, Lame Action, Wooden Acting

[Breumaster · 4/10 · 7 February 2020]

I tried to find the best on the story and the movie. But all I found out is that Chuck Norris had the most unbelievable character in this movie. He looked like a poor boy, which doesn't know what to do in some scenes. The script was lame, the dialogues killed my nerves. One of the worst "action" movies I watched.

Chuck vs. the Professor

[eibon09 · 7/10 · 20 December 2000]

This early Chuck Norris fare is one of his entertaining and exciting one to view. Done by Steve Carver who later did the sightly better Lone Wolf McQuade(1983). Its about a Police officer who quits the force to find the people responsible for his partner's death. He ends up joining forces with James Chan played by Mako when he battles some Triad organization. The Triads are portrayed differently in this film then they would be during the mid to late 1980s. This was before gunplay became a big part of the Triad pictures from the Heroic Bloodshed genre in Hong Kong cinema. An Eye for An Eye(1981) is much better then any of Chuck Norris's movies from the 1990s.

The battle between Chuck Norris and Professor Toru Tanako is one of the top martial arts match ups in any Norris flick. Chris Lee makes a great villain as the diabolical Morgan Canfield. Mako adds to the already good cast with his presence and wisdom. Mako is probably the only person to have appeared in a movie or TV show with Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung. An Eye for An Eye(1981) must have been the inspiration for the Steven Seagal film, Hard to Kill(1990) because the plots are almost identical. Anohter memorable character is The Professor. Future Cythnia Rothrock co star, Richard Norton provides some of the stunts for the film.

An Eye for an Eye

[Prismark10 · 4/10 · 13 August 2023]

An Eye for an Eye is an action vehicle for Chuck Norris. It has good production values, a hackneyed story that lacks good martial arts action.

Sean Kane (Chuck Norris) is a drug cop in San Francisco. His partner Dave Pierce (Terry Kiser) is burnt to a crisp in drugs bust gone wrong.

Kane leaves the force to track down the drug boss who killed his partner. Only to find Pierce's girlfriend, news reporter Linda (Rosalind Chao) is also killed.

She to was investigating local drug bosses and it seems she got too close.

Kane teams up with Linda's grieving father James (Mako) to find any leads as to just who was responsible for all the deaths.

The film makes good use of San Francisco locations, it has noted character actors with Christopher Lee and Richard Roundtree. Although Lee's presence gives away a big surprise.

It's big failure are the lukewarm action scenes. It very much wastes Norris's martial arts skills.

Smooth-Faced-Norris' Best!

[Movie-ManDan · 6/10 · 12 December 2014]

In my review of Forced Vengeance, I mentioned that there are three looks to Chuck Norris: smooth-faced, moustache, and bearded. I'd call "Forced Vengeance" Moustache-Norris' best, "The Hit-man" Bearded-Norris' best, "The Delta Force" Norris' best in general and "An Eye For An Eye" Smooth-Faced-Norris' Best.

Despite being a sold action movie that is very fun and thrilling, the acting is bad and story is unoriginal. Chuck Norris plays a cop who witnesses his partner being murdered after being set up, quits the force and seek vengeance. There's really nothing more to it than that. And as I mentioned earlier, the acting is bad (for the most part). Chuck Norris is simply a bad actor. I've seen better acting by first-time high schoolers in a drama class. He has gotten better over the years, rising from terrible to just okay. I laughed at Norris during a few parts. Nobody else is necessarily "bad," but everybody really is cheesy. Every martial-arts film is cheesy-as-can-be! Christopher Lee is the only real actor in this that can be taken seriously. But due to an all-around corny movie, it affects him. A movie with good acting was not what they were trying to get at. This is a straight-up action movie that stirs-up smart thrills and excellent action. This features some of Norris' best physical fight scenes and gun fights. Easily top 5 for Norris in terms of action and suspense. The build-up of mayhem and destruction that comes is exciting. Even though its cheesy, its the good kind; the over-the-top, cartoony cheese. There can't be a strong sense of danger and not be thrilling. Actually it can be dull, but this isn't a bad movie. The action is fabulous and danger is lots of fun. Props to Christopher Lee too.

3.5/4

Norris' martial arts skills are so extreme that even bullets cannot hurt him!!

[planktonrules · 3/10 · 10 June 2023]

"An Eye for an Eye" is a Chuck Norris martial arts film which should have been better. While the script is very familiar and should have entertained, the dopey stunts involving guns were just embarrassingly bad.

When the story begins, Detective Kane (Norris) and his partner are ambushed as they're investigating the drug racket. Surely someone betrayed them and set them up. But when his boss (Richard Roundtree) acts like a jerk and blames Kane, Kane quits the force in order to investigate an evil Chinese drug triad on his own....with a bit of help from his mentor (Mako) late in the story.

Okay, so let's talk about the guns. The only bullet that hits him occurs at the beginning. Yet, despite being shot in the shoulder, he shows no ill effects five minutes later and does all of his martial arts stuff with no inhibition of his shoulder. Then, through the course of the movie, hundreds (if not thousands) of bullets are shot at him and not a single bullet hits him. Some shots are from very close and some are from machine guns...yet none manage to hit him. Now, I know kung fu and karate and all that are pretty cool...but they CAN'T make you invulnerable to bullets!

In addition to silly stunts, the plot itself feels very familiar. While Norris' fans at the time seemed to like it and want more, when I saw it I just felt like I was watching a second-rate (or third) movie.

To have the mo, or not have the mo. Is the question?

[lost-in-limbo · 6/10 · 19 April 2008]

'Chuck Norris doesn't need a weapon... he is a weapon!' Oh, yeah. Don't you know it! This is what I like to see. Where can you get a Norris film which has him in a red sports car, flaunting a blinding fashion sense, glowing golden hair, a sensitive pet dog called Mort, Mako as his comical martial arts mentor, an unstoppable henchman, Richard Roundtree, Christopher Lee, haunting flashbacks, plenty of fodder for some ass-whooping and of course that fuzzy mo. Hey wait on. What, there's no mo on show?! I don't know, but I guess I have to deal with it. Even though it has dynamism of its own. More so than the man! Anyhow all of this can be found in director Steve Carver's "An Eye For An Eye", who was also responsible for the highly amusing and surprisingly stylish Norris' outing "Lone Wolf McQuade (1983)".

Carver knows his stuff, by keeping it at a cracking pace, competent flair and plastering it with brilliantly stylised and choreographed action set-pieces. Some lively suspense, and jolting thrills are randomly worked in along the way. The premise is routine, and the twists foreseeable. Vengeance, vengeance. I think Norris has got vengeance on mind, and flashy slow motion is the weapon of choice. Of course nothing is going to get in his way. This makes it quite exciting, over-the-top and at times comical. Yes there's some intentional humour too, even in the wonky script. The San Francisco backdrop is well-used (from the gritty to the attractive) as its spaciously photographed and William Goldstien's moodily appealing score is pitch-perfect. The wooden plank that's Norris does what's needed of him, and strangely holds your attention in an adequate turn. A tip-top supporting cast give it a little more credit. Mako brings a wilful personality that suitably feeds off Norris. Richard Roundtree's cynical, frown-beating Capt. Stevens and Christopher Lee's smooth presence features largely as Morgan Canfield. Rosalind Chao, Maggie Cooper and Matt Clarke are solid too. In a role that's hard to forget is Professor Toru Tanaka as the formidable, stone-engraved opponent that Norris must encounter. A swiftly executed and undoubtedly engaging actioner.

Chuck Norris vehicle needs gas

[SnoopyStyle · 4/10 · 12 August 2015]

Undercover San Francisco narcotics cops Sean Kane (Chuck Norris) is forced to resign by Captain Stevens (Richard Roundtree) after his partner Dave is killed and his actions cause problems. Dave's TV reporter girlfriend Linda is also executed. She had reveal to her father James Chan (Mako Iwamatsu) that she has incriminating evidence. James and Sean go to investigate as the Triad target them. He's also assisted by TV news editor Heather Sullivan as the owner Morgan Canfield (Christopher Lee) looks on.

It's tough to connect with this movie early on. At one point, Chuck Norris asks "What the hell is going on?" and I felt the same way. Chuck continues to be a weak stiff actor. The addition of Mako Iwamatsu helps a little. The movie never really takes off. The action is rather lackluster. Chuck isn't even doing much fighting until the last act and it's not shot well when he is fighting. This has no chance to be good but it could have been fun. Other than some fights later on, there isn't much for anyone other than hardcore Norris fans.

Kane's weapon is himself, he is a weapon !

[HarryLags · 8/10 · 18 October 2016]

After his iconic battle against the legendary Bruce Lee in 1972's Way of the Dragon (and with the encouragement of cinematic superstar and karate student Steve McQueen), six-time, undefeated world karate champion Chuck Norris felt it was time to move permanently into the world of cinema.

The nicely paced, entertaining and well-structured film is filled with solid direction and wonderful performances.Chuck Norris is cool, a bit humorous and totally believable as a courageous, but dangerous hero. It's also no surprise that the legendary Christopher Lee brings a touch of diabolical class to his villainous role while the great and always reliable Richard Roundtree delivers another solid performance.

Add to all of this a kick-ass musical theme by talented composer William Goldstein (Chuck's Forced Vengeance) and you have an early 80s action/adventure that is a real joy to watch.

If, like me, you're a fan of Chuck Norris's early 80s martial arts/action films, I highly recommend An Eye for an Eye.

Overall worth watching..8 out of 10

Norris vehicle as an undercover cop pitted Chinese drug dealers and must contend corrupt polices

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 1 June 2007]

The movie talks about a tough police man (Chuck Norris) from San Francisco , he's double-crossed and a friend cop is murdered . He renounces as a honorable cop in the presence his chief (Richard Roundtree) and helper (Matt Clark) . Later on , a journalist being eliminated by a mysterious killer , a sadistic villain Chinese (Professor Tanaka) . His friend reporter (Maggie Cooper) -working in Television channel whose owner is an elegant tycoon (Christopher Lee)- hands over Norris a tape with clues . The loner cop must protect her from threatening hoodlums . Perennial karate guy Norris along with his partner , Mako , undergo a violent confrontation against the Chinese Mafia , pitting corrupt cops from police department and criminal gangs named triads . Norris saves the day in this thrilling and exciting movie .

The picture is plenty of action-packed , tension , suspense and cheesy sub-plot , to boot with wild stunts . There's a lively conflict , ridden love interest as well , as Norris falls in love with a lovely journalist who must save her . The movie displays a plethora of martial art fights , as Norris cleans up the Chinese fighters by means of punches , kicks, bounds and leaps with struggles certainly slickly choreographed . It's violent , frenetic and hectic and not particularly literary but worthy entry in Kung-Fu genre , although runs out energy surprisingly early . Average Norris-thriller , exciting and tense at times , including fine work , as always , from Christopher Lee as a brilliant TV financier . Special appearance as hunk villain of Professor Tanaka with lots of visceral violence , he's a wrestler who possessed incredible strength , he was arguably the successor to Harold Sakata(famous Chinese nasty of ¨Goldfinger¨) as the archetypal Asian henchman . The film belongs to Norris'early period , during the 80s , such as : ¨Code of silence¨ , ¨Delta Force¨ , ¨Silent rage¨ , ¨Octagon¨ , ¨Forced vengeance¨ ,¨ Force of one¨ , among others with successful box-office in cinema theaters as video-rentals . In the 90s and 2000s with exception of ¨Walker Texas Ranger¨, the Norris star has gone down . Action addicts will give this one a passing grade , all others need not apply . If you're a previous Norris fans , you'll like it but contains enough action and violence for enthusiastic of the Chop-Socky genre . The motion picture was professionally directed by Steve Carver who directed to Norris in ¨Lone wolf McQuade¨, as well.

Early Chuck movie - Mostly for action junkies

[Maziun · 2/10 · 26 December 2014]

Most of early Chuck Norris movies are terribly cheap and simply unberable. This one is not good either , but a vast improvement over the earlier movies . At least it's somewhat watchable with good things in it , even when overall it's a movie you forget about the next day.

The plot is rather formulaic . We often have to wait for a considerable amount of time for the action sequences to start and at times the plot makes you go "What the hell is going on here ". Much of the movie seems contrived and episodic.

The action scenes have some cool touches of slow motion. The martial arts are believable and fun . The music is really good. The whole movie feels more like a 70's movie , but that's not a bad thing.

Norris tries to show a little bit more emotion than his usual stone face. "Tries" is the right word.He also looks very young with his blonde hair and clean shaved baby face. Richard Roundtree ("Shaft") is solid as Capt. Stevens and so is Mako as Norris mentor. He's not a bad comic relief too. Professor Toru Tanaka ("Goldfinger") is enjoyable as always as the intimidating foe. I only don't understand his weird shoes. The only bad performance comes from the wooden Maggie Cooper as the love interest. Christopher Lee ("Dracula") makes a nice performance, too bad he doesn't have too much screen time.

Forgettable , but harmless movie if you're in the mood. I give it 2/10.

Standard Chuck Norris actioner

[lor_ · 4 January 2023]

Avemb's "An Eye for an Eye" is an effective martial arts actioner vehicle for the current champ of the genre, Chuck Norris. Helmer Steve Carver mixes a realistic approach with comic strip elements effectively and though results are routine. Pic should please fans of chop-socky.

Norris toplines as a San Francisco cop who quits the force and goes after revenge when his partner and partner's girlfriend are killed by drug traffickers. Aided by his former police boss Capt. Stevens (Richard Roundtree), Norris evens the accounts and takes care of the drug ring.

Making solid atmospheric use of S. F. locations, Carver segues from realistic violence and tension to comic strip hokum in the form of a huge oriental villain (Toru Tanaka), whose menacing antics tip the audience that the film is all in fun. Format has Norris, in traditional Western genre fashion, helped and heckled by an old pro "master" James Chan (Mako), whose wisecracks provide comic relief.

Norris's acting is improving and his balletic fighting and kicking skills remain tops in the field. Chris Lee is fine as an urbane villain, while Maggie Cooper is cute as romantic interest for Norris. Tech credits are good, My review was written in August 1981 after a Midtown Manhattan screening.

Average Norris.

[gridoon · 4/10 · 17 March 2003]

Chuck Norris, stiff-as-usual, in yet another mind-numbingly predictable action thriller which actually has just as much talk as action, maybe even more. Professor Toru Tanaka is a promising-looking villain, but even he doesn't prove to be a worthy opponent for good ol' Chuck. And Christopher Lee is wasted, again. (*1/2)

One of Norris's better films.

[alexanderdavies-99382 · 6/10 · 7 August 2018]

Chuck Norris provides more in the way of entertainment value in "An Eye for An Eye." The martial arts is the main attraction of course and this film delivers the goods in spades. This is quite a mixture as far as the cast is concerned: Chuck Norris, Christopher Lee, Richard Roundtree and Mako. Ask yourself: how often have you come across a combination of actors like that? That huge Asian wrestler with the limp makes for quite a frightening sight, even if he isn't very quick. The climax is a very good one.

Norris Looks Like a Goober Without Facial Hair

[utgard14 · 3/10 · 19 July 2003]

God what a dull movie. I have never been a fan of Chuck's early Chuck-fu movies. If it wasn't for his Cannon films, Chuck's career would have died by the time the 80's action movie boom hit. I'm not going to describe the plot of this movie since you can read reviews by people who liked it for that. I'm certainly not going to name my favorite parts either, since I didn't have any. It was just a boring cop movie with a few sluggish action sequences thrown in. Just avoid this unless you're hard up on Norris. If you want a fun, pass-the-time action flick, try Invasion USA or Missing In Action. Stay away from this one.

"A warrior is not a mountain goat. It is well to remember this."

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 2 March 2015]

A clean shaven Chuck Norris stars in this enjoyable formula action movie with an admittedly trite story. Chuck plays Sean Kane, a narcotics detective whose partner, Dave Pierce (Terry Kiser), is killed early on. Sean, despite having images of the nightmarish scene in his head, is determined to find and punish those responsible. This, of course, he does after resigning from the police force. Teaming up with his gruff and witty mentor, James Chan (Mako), Sean sets about determining the identity of some dope smugglers.

As far as "vengeance for killing my loved ones" cinema goes, "An Eye for an Eye" is agreeable entertainment. An engaging Chuck delivers one of his better performances, and his supporting cast is pretty damn eclectic. His adversary is a smooth and dapper Sir Christopher Lee, as news station owner Morgan Canfield. Lee is cool but is kind of wasted in this part. Richard "Shaft" Roundtree is Chucks' boss, one of those standard issue superior officers who's weary of his employees' methods. The gorgeous and sexy Rosalind Chao is effective as the partners' grieving girlfriend; Maggie Cooper is likewise pleasing to watch as Chucks' love interest. A fine assortment of first rate character actors also helps matters: the briefly seen Kiser of "Weekend at Bernie's" fame, Stuart Pankin as effeminate pimp Nicky LaBelle, Matt Clark as one of Chucks' colleagues, and Mel Novak as the weaselly Montoya. The massive screen villain Professor Toru Tanaka makes quite the impression as a heavy - named The Professor - who, in one uproarious scene, expresses his displeasure by beating up a Volkswagen. J.E. Freeman, Robert Behling, and Nancy Fish have bits. But the show is completely stolen by the hilarious Mako, who endlessly criticizes Chucks' technique and reels off one liners. ("I tried to question him...he preferred to expire.")

In the first of his two movies with Chuck, director Steve Carver delivers the expected action with skill and keeps the story moving forward at a good pace. Chuck kicks ass in high style, and has a nice showdown with the Professor, complete with silly sound effects. There's some fine location work in San Francisco and a solid music score by composer William Goldstein.

"An Eye for an Eye" isn't one of Chucks' best, but it does just fine for a nights' viewing. The sense of humour does help quite a bit.

Seven out of 10.

bad, very bad

[kittiwake-1 · 2/10 · 20 August 2006]

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.

Unpretentious and entertaining

[philiposlatinakis · 6/10 · 21 December 2020]

Chuck Norris movies tend to be polarizing. The Chuck fans love them regardless of short comings, and everyone else thinks they're a waste of celluloid. An Eye for an Eye is competently directed by Steve Carver, a man with actual talent. It's well edited. The performances are good (Chuck does his best). But the story and some of the dialogue is a little lame in places. However, Chuck karate kicks the bad guys and that's what we all really want to see. It's not a great film, but it's unpretentious and entertaining.

Ridiculous Film

[hitmannet · 4/10 · 19 February 2000]

This is a totally absurd movie with stupid fighting scenes and poor script. The characters lack characterization and the director lacks brains. Remember not to bother watching it. You have been warned. 4/10 from me.

A perfectly enjoyable, if totally predictable early 80's Chuck Norris action item

[Woodyanders · 8/10 · 6 August 2006]

Okay, let's start this review off by stating for the record that this flick sure ain't no groundbreaking work of exceptional cinematic art. However, it's an enjoyably funky little martial arts action item that does the trick quite nicely, getting immediately down to butt-kicking business right from the stirring start and never letting up to the thrilling end. A clean-shaven, baby-faced Chuck Norris stars as rugged San Francisco cop Sean Kane, who after losing his partner in an ambush (a brief appearance by Terry Kiser of "Weekend at Bernie's" fame) quits the police force and decides to go after the no-count drug-dealing evildoers responsible on his own, using his chopsocky prowess to clean their clocks like nobody's business. So far, so formulaic and predictable. Fortunately, director Steve ("Big Bad Mama") Carver maintains a snappy pace and a gritty atmosphere which keeps the pretty flimsy story on track throughout. The action is both plentiful and exciting, with especially cool use of strenuous slow motion and a substantial body count racked up by our man Chuck. Moreover, a bang-up supporting cast helps a lot: the late, great Mako as a fellow martial artist who's constantly criticizing Norris' sloppy form (Mako makes for a really funny comic relief character), Richard "Shaft" Roundtree as Norris' huffy, disapproving superior, Rosalind Chao as a gutsy lady TV reporter, the always terrific Christopher Lee as the suavely slimy main villain, Matt Clark as a weaselly cop on the take, and the enormous Professor Toru Tanaka as a hulking ferocious flunky for the bad guys (the scene where Tanaka beats up a Volkswagon is an absolute riot!). Sure, this film will never be hailed as some kind of great overlooked classic, but it's nonetheless loads of solid, silly, straight-down-the-line early 80's action fun and that's good enough for me.

One of Norris' Best

[tkdlifemagazine · 6/10 · 9 June 2023]

Following the success of the classic martial arts crime film, The Octagon, Chuck Norris stars in An Eye for An Eye. This film has Norris as an ex-cop seeking to avenge the death of his partner and his partner's girlfriend. The film has a common anti-drug theme that runs through Chuck's 80's films and the involvement of the Far East underworld. The film is low budget but the action and fighting are good. Norris, by this point, had settled into being a film star and the discomfort sensed when watching older films of his dissipated. The film aged better than Norris's bight red Members Only Jacket. Better than some of the ones to follow.

I liked it the first time I saw it

[mm-39 · 4/10 · 4 March 2002]

Years later this film runs out of gas. The acting is choppy, and the film quality is grainy. The kung fu is excellent, but the budget and time constraints hurt this flick. This reminds me of other early 80's horror films like the Hallowing, that where good then, but lame now. I believe time does judge all things after the hype die down.