An Eye For an Eye
"She was like you...headstrong, willful...she had a great hunger for retribution. It seems I, too, am in need of retribution." - Chan
release year: 1981
genre: action
viewing setting: home Bluray 8/8/22 and 10/20/18 and home DVD, 7/4/17 and 7/22/15 and 5/15/13 and 5/8/09 and 12/27/01
synopsis: A tough martial-arts cop quits the force to pursue his personal agenda: revenge for the murder of his partner.
impressions: This was your basic 1980s karate fare: strong hero, slain friends, slimy bad guy, traitor among the ranks. It was rather entertaining and had a lot of action. Chuck Norris was in his prime here: he delivered plenty of spinning side kicks and rapid-fire punches. Near the end, when he realizes that he's fighting the guy who killed Linda, he gets that calm-rage look...and when Chuck gets that look in his eyes, you know someone's about to die. The sidekick/mentor factor was a nice, entertaining twist.
body count: 21 (5 by Chuck!)
asses kicked by Chuck Norris: 39. One of them happened while Chuck's hands were tied behind his back, and another involved Chuck holding a guy up by his necktie and punching him four times in a two-second span.
acting: A young, beardless Chuck Norris does good acting and fighting here. Mako is good both as his mentor in martial arts and as comic relief, spouting philosophical one-liners at odd times. Christopher Lee is suitably imposing as a television magnate. Professor Toru Tanaka is a human tank and evil henchman. Rosalind Chao has an early role as a reporter who digs too deep. Richard Roundtree is the police chief who has to put up with Chuck's violent ways.
final word: Good old-style American martial arts film.
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