Eye of the Tiger

1986 "'Nam was hell... Prison unbearable... But coming home meant murder."
5.6| 1h32m| R| en| More Info
Released: 28 November 1986 Released
Producted By: Scotti Brothers Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

Buck is a Vietnam vet, recently released from prison. He returns home to discover the town being terrorized by a vicious motorcycle gang. When the bikers murder his wife and traumatize his daughter, Buck and his friends arm themselves to the teeth and wage war against the gang to destroy them once and for all.

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Reviews

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.
Monkeywess This is an astonishing documentary that will wring your heart while it bends your mind
Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Winifred The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
sol- Titled after a 'Rocky' theme song but owing more to the 'First Blood' and 'Death Wish' franchises, the plot here has a Vietnam War veteran returning to his small country town after a stint in prison, only to be tormented by both the local sheriff and a drug peddling motorcycle gang. 'Eye of the Tiger' lacks the charismatic antagonists of the 'Death Wish' films and the Vietnam War commentary of 'First Blood', but Gary Busey is great in the lead role and it is a surprisingly well filmed affair. The way the camera simply lingers on Busey's traumatised daughter after a home invasion is an excellent touch and over-the-top as some of the stunts are, they are rivetingly edited. As a message movie, 'Eye of the Tiger' is hit-and-miss. There is an uneasy scene in which Busey pontificates to the uncaring locals as they play bingo and turn a blind eye to the gang's reign of terror. Busey's dialogue in general clicks though; "I grew up here" and "it's not much, but it's home" is enough to justify why he stays and does not simply leave in the first place. Moralists should be cautioned that (unlike the 'Death Wish' films), 'Eye of the Tiger' is extremely pro-vigilante without much thought dedicated to the detriments of taking the law into one's own hands. The film works surprisingly well even with a such a stance though as Busey is always first and foremost motivated out of a desire to protect his daughter rather than get revenge per se. Elements of post-Vietnam War disenchantment do not hurt either, though 'First Blood' still remains the go-to film for such an angle.
videorama-759-859391 Eye Of The Tiger isn't bad action revenge fare. It's just isn't the smartest action pic, as if belonging to those Norris's or Van Dammne ones which are purely popcorn suited. Although this didn't have a cinema running, here isn't a bad film, with a simple plot. Vet Busey, returns to his home town, controlled by bikies, and take one guess who the lead is. I'll let you figure that out. Busey was set up by a bad guy cop, Seymour Cassell, who I'm glad he got his just desserts at the end, where I'd rather see Busey smack the s..t out of him, but it wouldn't be much of a fight would it. These mean bikers kill Busey's wife, so he returns fire. They do one despicable thing with her coffin too, I couldn't believe. As always it ends in a showdown of avengement. One funny scene has Busey crashing a bingo game of local townfolk, to make his point, imploring to be heard, but sorrily isn't. They just go back to their game. If you're into revenge, action and some shock violence, then this is the flick for you, but really, it doesn't rise any higher than that. Just sit back and indulge.
RTheManF89 I recently purchased this, well not purchased, but my dear mom was nice enough to buy this DVD at Ross today for the low price of just $4.00. At first, I actually had no freakin' idea that this was on DVD to begin with. I thought the only available copy was the OOP VHS from USA Home Video (Which is now Lions Gate). It had a cooler cover than the DVD, but before I get back to the movie, I would just like to make a little rant about how the big Hollywood studios (And the greedy sharks that own them) keep changing the cover art (Or force the art department to do so) for DVD releases. This one's a good example. The cover art for the original VHS of this movie made it look fun and imo, somehow dramatic, but this cover looks like it's been made over at MGM using Photoshop. It just doesn't make the movie look good to a buyer. It seems like these studios could really care less about nostalgia and just only care about making it appeal to today's youth. I guess you could also say that the cover for this made it look like a Transporter Rip-Off or a John Woo- type movie from 2001. Anyway, back to the movie. It's about a Vietnam Vet/Ex-Con (He had been convicted for a crime he didn't commit) named Buck Matthews (Played by Gary Busey in as I stated, quite possibly his best role.) who had just been granted parole and he goes back to his hometown to move on with his life and his family, his wife Christie (Played by Denise Galik) and Jennifer (Played by Judith Barsi from the awful "Jaws 4: The Revenge", may god rest her poor soul). We then see Buck at the police station, where he meets the corrput sheriff (Played by Seymour Cassel) and meets up with J.B. (Played by Yaphet Kotto) Also, Buck encounters a biker gang (The leader Blade, being played by the always awesome William Smith from "Maniac Cop") attacking a nurse, and saves her life and he becomes a town hero. However, it isn't long before the gang attacks Buck's house and kills Christie. Then, the movie starts to move into Death Wish territory. I do not feel like going further for the moment (I really don't want to spoil anything for anybody), but I will say the rest gets more exciting every minute. That's just my opinion though. As for the DVD itself, there really isn't much, although MGM did do a good job with the very beautiful widescreen quality. There is a trailer, but that's pretty much it for extras. There could have been like a director's commentary or even a commentary by either Busey or Kotto or all 3, but I really don't know.
hammerfan1 Gary Busey had his best starring role outside of 'The Buddy Holly Story' in this 1986 actioner. He stars as typical 80's action hero, Buck Matthews. He's a decorated Vietnam vet, husband and father, and a wrongly convicted ex-con. Fresh out of prison, Buck heads home to his small town to lie low and reconnect with his family. This plan goes south in a hurry. His parole officer is the sheriff who set him up on murder charges in the first place. Then Matthews runs across the deadly drug-running biker gang who has been terrorizing the town while he was in prison. What makes things worse is the gang and the sheriff are in business together.Matthews rescues a rape victim from the gang one night and receives the wrath of the gang's leader, played by veteran bad guy William Smith. Without giving away a crucial plot point, I will simply say that tragedy ensues. Buck goes on a vengeance spree that would make Charles Bronson proud.This is not the type of movie that is nominated for awards and is discussed on any best movies ever list. It is, however, a fantastic example of the type of action / revenge movies that were popular in the 1970's and 80's. Invite some buddies over, heat up the popcorn, and enjoy this awesome movie.