Eye of the Tiger (1986)

Best movie of this year hands down!

Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Gary Busey is fantastic as a just-out of jail Vietnam vet, wrongly imprisoned years before by his hometown Sheriff. He returns home to his wife and daughter, only find himself harassed by the local Sheriff (Seymour Cassel) that had him imprisoned years before. Buck Mathews (Busey) refuses to leave town, so the Sheriff hires the local biker gang to harass Mathews and and his family. Things go too far, and Mathews sets out on a mission of revenge against both the gang, headed by Blade (a maniacal Vernon Wells of Commando fame), and the Sheriff.Eye of the Tiger is a great B-movie. The cinematography and directing are great, and it has a wonderful cast. Yaphet Kotto is perfect as Mathews old buddy, who is now an about- to-retire deputy to the corrupt Sheriff. The two team up to wreak havoc on the biker gang and deal out damage from the ground and air. If you enjoy 80's action, and especially if you like Gary Busey, this is a B-movie worth seeking out. It's a good revenge story, full of good over the top 80's violence, and it has a great cast. Plus, it uses Survivors classic Eye of the Tiger song as it's theme! Whether you are relaxing on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or drinking beers with buddies on a Friday night, if you enjoy 80's action, this movie is for you...

I think the reason this doesn't get a better rating in here is because of the story's believability factor of the movie. It's a "0". Nonetheless its quite an entertaining movie for what it is. If it's got Gary Busey and it's from the 80's, chances are you're gonna get entertained.Busey is his usual self as an Ex-Con who comes home to a bunch of desert dwelling drug smuggler bikers who harass a town incessantly. If you anything about Gary Busey then you know eventually, he takes care of business. Obviously this isn't up to par with say, Die Hard, or even Cobra or Raw Deal but it delivers the revenge goods for your watching pleasure.

***SPOILERS*** After being railroaded by the town Sheriff, Seymour Cassel, for a justifiable killing, in defending himself in a bar brawl, Buck Matthews, Gary Busey, is back to start his life all over again and on the right track.With the town Sheriff looking for every excuse to put the "Mad Dog Killer" Buck back behind bars he instead becomes the town hero by saving nurse Dawn, Kimberln Brown, from being raped or possibly even murdered by a gang of outlaw bikers. Buck's heroic action not only angers the bikers but the Sheriff as well in him being shown to be the ineffective lawman that he, as well as everyone in town, knows that he is.Finding out Buck's address from a TV news clip the bikers lead by the wild and crazy as well as a drugged up Ray, Michael S. Walter raid Buck's place running down his wife Christie, Denise Galik, and killing her as well as seriously traumatizing his 6 year old daughter Jenny, Judith Barsi. Getting in touch with his former prison cell-mate Jamie, Jorge Gil, back in Miami where he runs a major crime syndicate Buck receives all the firepower he needs, including a machine gun cannon and rocket launching pick-up truck, to take on the outlaw bikers. Buck's one man guerrilla war starts with the psycho biker Ray being ambushed and ending up losing his head!It's later when Buck together with his good friend and fellow Vietnam war buddy J.B Deveraux, Yaphet Kotto, start knocking off the bikers with guerrilla war tactics it becomes very evident,if it didn't already, that the bikers have a friend in the town's police department! That chicken sh*t lily liver-ed Sheriff who's been taking drug pay-offs from the bikers to look the other way!***SPOILERS*** With no one but J.B coming to his aid Buck and his pick-up truck take the fight to the biker's base-camp outside of town where they run their drug operation. with Buck doing the driving and shooting, machine gun rocket and cannon fire, and J.B, a licensed pilot, providing the air support the bikers are put to flight on foot with their bikes no longer operational. The Sheriff ends up getting a free ride on Buck's pick-up truck with him being handcuffed to the steering wheel as it gets a direct hit from a biker artillery shell. As for the the biker's head man Balde, William smith, the late Ray's brother he ends up getting all that's coming to him not only absorbing a dozen or so knuckle sandwiches, courtesy of Buck Matthews, but stuffing himself with all the coke his nose can handle and overdosing on it!

Remember the "The A-Team" TV series back in the 1980's? Remember how cheesy the acting, story and special effects were? I do and I couldn't help but compare this movie and the old TV series. Interestingly, Yaphet Kotto was even in an episode of the "The A-Team" as a head gangster boss if my memory serves me. In any case, the plot is just plain silly - a whole town cowers in fear of the bad guys and simply go about their lives like nothing is wrong. Hey, how about calling the FBI or ATF? The town folk sit around and play bingo while the bad guys kill, rape and destroy things. Of course, the bad guys find the wrong person to pick on with Busey and the violence begins. Busey's wife gets killed and it's time for vengeance. Someone needs to smack the writers on their heads. Busey's dead wife is barely back in the ground (you'll know what I mean if you haven't seen the movie) and they try to create a love interest for him. (roll eyes) So to wrap this up, this movie is more or less an episode of "The A-Team" (good guys save town from baddies) but with killing, rape and profanity. Keep the little ones away from this terrible film.