Eye of the Tiger (1986) User Reviews

Great, mindless, action-packed fun

[bannonanthony · 7/10 · 9 December 2008]

It was 1987 when I first heard of this movie. It was the very first time I'd heard of Gary Busey and a trailer for this movie was the first time I ever heard the famous Survivor theme song. I hadn't seen the whole thing until about 2003 though. But, being a fan of mindless 80s action movies, I'm glad to say I was not let down when I finally came to own a copy of this movie.

It's sad that Busey never really made it as a leading man, because in this film he gives an absolutely fantastic performance as the wronged man Buck Matthews. Unfaily sent to prison by corrupt sheriff Seymour Cassel for killing a man in self-defence, Vietnam vet Buck is released and heads home. Things have gone decidedly bad since he was gone as the town is now in the grip of a sadistic, drug-running motorcycle gang headed by AIP veteran William Smith. Needless to say, the sheriff is on the gang's payroll and also happens to be Buck's parole officer, so things don't look good for our hero.

The film is, of course, a revenge picture as Buck engages in single handed combat with the gang after they kill his wife and traumatise his daughter. He even has his own special vehicle for the task: a weapon-laden pick-up truck sent to him by a Latino drug lord whose life he saved while in the slammer. Yes, it's THAT kind of film.

But it is actually pulled of rather well by writer Michael Montgomery and 'Vanishing Point' director Richard Sarafian. The action sequences, though sometimes grisly (a wire decapitation), are handled well, especially Buck's final assault on Smith's stronghold when good cop Yaphet Kotto finally decides to step in and help him. Kotto, Cassel and Smith all turn in excellent performances, with Cassel being particularly slimy as the crooked cop. It's very satisfying when he gets his comeuppance. The final fight between Busey and Smith is very well-handled.

Although the famous Survivor song is a bit overused, it seems very appropriate for the movie's action. The original music score by Don Preston is very rousing as well. I can honestly say that while Busey is excellent at playing villains like Mr. Joshua from 'Lethal Weapon' and Commander Kril from 'Under Siege', he shows here that if you give him decent enough material, and overlook some of his personal problems, he can carry a film and make it enjoyable. I enjoy 'Eye Of The Tiger' thoroughly as a great 80s action 'missing gem', and I recommend it to my fellow IMDb users with confidence.

This place is crawling with lice, and you're acting like it's Mayberry R.F.D.

[lastliberal · 6/10 · 19 April 2009]

It don't matter to me.

No, it don't matter that this film doesn't have the greatest actors. Gary Busey does a great job as a Vietnam Vet who comes home to lose his wife to a gang of motorcycle thugs, led by A-number-one total scumbag with a really bad haircut, William Smith. Yaphet Kotto is a perennial favorite of mine, and he does the right thing her. Yeah. And then there is Seymour Cassel as the crooked Sheriff that needs to be taught a lesson.

Yes, the story is pretty unbelievable, but that doesn't matter. It's the little guy getting kicked around, the cops on the take, the townspeople who have ceased to care, and scumbags that need to be flushed down the toilet.

A guilty pleasure for when you need to get the adrenaline flowing.

Violent and crude vengeance movie in which Gary Busey faces off a bloody motorcycle gang.

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 30 July 2018]

Returning home from prison, a Vietnam War veteran called Buck (Gary Busey) goes back his little town . As he arrives at home with his wife and daughter, but a violent event takes place and Buck become into vigilante . As Buck sets out to clean up his hometown which has come under the control of a violent motorcycle gang run by Blade (William Smith) . Then he turns into an avenger and taking the law into his own hands as judge , jury and executioner .With the help from a fellow Vietnam vet, Deputy Deveraux (Yaphet Kotto), Buck exacts revenge against the corrupt town sheriff (Seymour Cassel) and the violent riders .

Passable crime thriller in ¨Death Wish¨ style , this one created the Vigilante genre with Bronson as the main star , here Gary Busey imitates him pretty well . It contains suspense, noisy action-packed, intrigue, thrills and lots of violence . Busey with his usual stoic acting displays efficiently his weapons and an armoured pick-up and killing mercilessly nasties . As Busey turns the one-man vigilante when his family is attacked by furious band formed by some ominous dressed-in-black punks , as his wife is murdered and daughter really upsetting ; then , he stalks the enemies and takes the law into his own hands, searching vengeance on crooks, hoodlums, muggers, making the neighborhood safer and bumping off delinquents . It's certainly thrilling , though the morality may be questionable , even in this time, as the spectators were clearly on the Gary Busey's side . Here Gary Busey is accompanied by a good support cast, such as : Yaphet Kotto , Seymour Cassel , Bert Remsen as priest and William Smith as an extremely baddie .

The motion picture was professionally directed by Richard C Sarafian , though it has some flaws and gaps . Sarafian was a good craftsman and Father of actors as Richard Sarafian Jr., Tedi Sarafian, Damon B. Sarafian, and Deran Sarafian and daughter Katherine Sarafian, being Brother-in-law of Robert Altman . While employed as a reporter in Kansas City , he met the director, Robert Altman, who hired Sarafian as his assistant. Sarafian has a fruitful career making TV episodes and films and directing a classic iconic movie : Vanishing Point¨ (1971) , as his car chase sequence served as inspiration for Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof (2007) . Richard portrayed two real-life Mafia figures: Jack Dragna in ¨Bugsy¨ (1991) and Paul Castellano in ¨Gotti¨ (1996). And directed a lot of dramas and thrillers as ¨Gangster Wars¨ , ¨The next man¨, ¨Solar Crisis¨, ¨Run Wild , Run Free¨, ¨Terror at Black falls¨, ¨Fragment of Fear¨ , ¨Street Justice¨ and ¨Eye of the tiger¨

Busey gets the lead...and gets revenge!

[ManBehindTheMask63 · 9 September 2008]

Gary Busey plays an ex-nam vet and recently released convict (he is innocent...he was framed) Buck Matthews. He returns home to his family only to find that the town has become over run by a deadly biker gang that sells drugs all over the world. The sheriff has been paid off, so there is no law and the biker's get away with murder (literally!). So when Buck decides to rescue a woman from getting raped by the bikers...the bikers wage a war against him, killing his wife and destroying his home. So Buck decides to take the law into his own hands and seek revenge for this wife and protect the town. It's a pretty simple plot that's fun to watch. The acting is excellent and it is interesting & cool to see Busey play the lead hero for once. The action is decent, with lots of chases and a hand to hand fight scene against the head baddie at the end. The film has good budget and the movie was put together well. The song "Eye of the tiger" is obviously used during the opening credits and at the end when he goes on his vengeance spree. Overall, it was a cool flick that was made cooler by the fact that Busey was the lead action hero. There's a nice decapitation scene in there too.

You can't go wrong

[JohnSeal · 4/10 · 17 November 2003]

When your cast includes Gary Busey, Yaphet Kotto, Seymour Cassel, and William Smith, you know the film will be entertaining--even if it is as absurd as Eye of the Tiger. Busey gives a great impassioned speech in a bingo hall about his days in 'Nam, Kotto cuts a rug whilst dropping grenades from a biplane, Cassel twirls his moustache, and Smith--well, Smith and his semi-mohawk have to be seen to be believed. Let's just say that if you're a fan of Smith's '60s biker movies, you'll love Eye of the Tiger. The only strikes against the film--besides the ridiculous plot and shoddy writing--are the awful Survivor theme song (already used in Rocky III) and Kotto's hair, which appears to be a severely overcooked process 'do'.

An enjoyable no-brainer, starring the world's greatest actor.

[moz-1 · 6/10 · 2 March 2001]

Well, let me start by saying that Gary Busey is without doubt, my favourite actor of all time. He has an everyman quality which no one else really posessed in the 80's. Don't get me wrong, I don't think he's Bobby De Niro, but he's cool okay, so get off my back. Eye of the Tiger, then. A highly enjoyable movie from a great director. Yeah, it has no brains and yeah, the plot fits on a stamp, but any movie with this theme music is always gonna bring a smile to peoples faces. There are countless great moments with the ever watchable, Busey and Yaphet Kotto. Admitedly, the pace does slack a little too offen, but the decapitation scene and the questioning scene rank up there with my favourite moments and it does have the best pull-focus of all time. Watch when you want some 80's action with a little more breeding than most.

Yeah, go mess with Gary Busey and his family. That's always a smart thing to do.

[Vomitron_G · 5/10 · 9 June 2009]

Gary Busey is the man and this time he's even granted a leading role as an ex-Vietnam veteran, ex-convict and reborn family man forced into a position that leaves him with nothing left but... revenge on his mind. Sounds cool, doesn't it? But jeez, I thought this flick would be at least a bit more fun. Turns out it's nothing more than an average watch, really. I kind of anticipated it to be a FIRST BLOOD (1982) rip-off, given Busey's character and the local sheriff antagonizing him and all, but it's not. Probably would have been more fun if it was. Now, the main evil-doers are some motorcycle gang who've taken on the role of drug-runners near a small town. During one of their nightly pillage & rape routines, they run into Gary Busey who will not have this type of misbehaviour. He rescues some nurse and the biking gang-bangers are not very happy about this. You can pretty much guess what happens next.

There's some fun stuff in this film (decapitaing a biker while riding his motorcycle, dynamite up someone's naked ass,...), but the movie drags too much in places. And when Gary Busey does get his act together, it's basically just him and the bikers teasing each other with various acts of the disturbed. Fair enough, only EYE OF THE TIGER lacks a lot in graphic violence. The climax near the end (as implausible it may be, bombing the desert hideout, automated bazooka's coming out of Busey's truck and such) was silly fun, but the 'end-bossfight' was short and highly unmemorable. Also, the film lacks a true villain. The Boss of the gang was shown too little and just didn't do anything remotely menacing. It all turns EYE OF THE TIGER into an average time-waster, nothing more. Have low expectations and you might not mind having seen it. Obviously, it's still a better accomplishment than Lamberto Bava's BLASTFIGHTER (1984), a rather similar film, but EYE OF THE TIGER simply can't compete with stuff like COBRA (1986), COMMANDO (1985) or the aforementioned first RAMBO film. Even MALONE (another 80's Burt Reynolds action-vehicle and pretty much the same film) was better in most ways.

I want that Pick-Up Truck!

[Coventry · 6/10 · 2 August 2009]

"Eye of the Tiger", as sung by Survivor, must be one of the most recognizable and overused 80's songs ever released. The song itself is pretty much an 80's phenomenon, as it's still a classic regularly to be played at dance parties and served as theme song for at least two authentically 80's action flicks. Originally the theme song for the third (and coolest) film in Sylvester Stallone's "Rocky" cycle in 1982, but a couple of years later it also became the title and theme song for this obscure but sweet and exhilarating mid-eighties revenge movie starring the underrated Gary Busey in a rare heroic role. "Eye of the Tiger" is clichéd and heavily derivative stuff, but it's just a simply irresistible action flick with stereotypical small townsfolk and over- the-top cheesy bits of violence. Around that particular 80's period, it was extremely popular in movies and TV-shows for the hero characters to move around in hi-tech vehicles chock-full of hidden armory and mechanical gimmicks. So, yes, Gary Busey also has one: a beautiful black bulletproof Dodge pick-up truck with enough artillery to armor a middle-sized ghetto!

Buck Matthews is a former Vietnam veteran and ex-convict (why choose just one clichéd background if you can have two!) who returns to his beloved hometown, only to discover that a lot of things have changed. The little town is overrun by a gang of criminal bikers, who are running a drug lab in the nearby desert, and they cause amok and raise fear among the villagers. The local sheriff is as corrupt as the pest and even the rest of the police force is too afraid to make an arrest. When Buck prevents the bikers from gang-raping a nurse one night, he involuntarily declares war. The bikers respond by destroying his house, killing his wife and traumatizing his 6-year-old daughter. The only thing for Buck left to do is wipe them all out, with the help of his old friend J.B. and some useful four-wheel-driven donations from his rich and influential former prison buddy. Admittedly this is just another action/revenge movie like there are thirteen in a dozen, but it's nevertheless great fun to watch. "Eye of the Tiger" is full of raunchy sequences that you've seen numerous times before, but remain awesome, like biker-decapitation through wires across the road and dynamite sticks up someone's pooper. The film is very mundane, cheap and trashy- looking, but you're still likely to have a great time. Director Richard C. Sarafian also made "Vanishing Point", which is arguably the coolest and most brilliant 70's car chasing movie ever made, and could here rely on a pretty solid cast. There's Busey, obviously, but also stellar performances from Yaphet Kotto ("Alien", "Across 110th Street") and super-creep William Smith ("Nam's Angels", "The Swinging Barmaids"). My favorite role comes from Seymour Cassel as the Sheriff. He's a sleazy, arrogant and utterly corrupt racist bastard and Cassel depicts him wondrously.

Absurdity Runs Amok

[ct-golfer · 2/10 · 19 January 2020]

I'm not sure why I continued to watch this movie to the end, has to be habit. It is as cheesy-cheap and predictable as they come. If that was what they were going for, then they nailed it. I wouldn't even call this a B movie, it is more of a C- movie. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the accomplished actors- Busey, Kotto, Cassel and Smith but this movie did not serve them well. If anything it took away from them. It is nothing more than a bad made-for-TV movie with a little gore and a couple of F-bombs, I'm assuming, to achieve the R rating in an effort to bring in more viewership. Yes it can be said it has lots of action, but it is lame, network TV quality action even for mid-1980s action movies. My guess is that the 3 million budget directly reflects the quality of effects and predictable same old done and redone family-harm and revenge story and hopefully the bulk went to the real talent. I would have liked to see how much the movie grossed but oddly enough, it is not listed, maybe because it didn't even bring in enough to cover the expense. Maybe I've gotten too accustomed to the more modern higher standards of B movie making today. If so, disregard this review.

deserves a better rating

[nomoons11 · 6/10 · 12 April 2010]

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.

A classic 80's B-movie

[ehilmarsen · 2/10 · 18 June 2001]

Gary Busey in the role he is born to play! A Vietvet who comes back to the town he left and then the riot is on.. With he's "been drinking whiskey since childhood" voice and bad guy look he crushes all resistance!. A must see for all action B-movie lovers. Gary rules.....

Grade A B-movie

[jzastrow-3 · 8/10 · 9 November 2007]

This just came on late-night television and I was captivated. It's everything you want in a B-movie. Bikers getting decapitated, hilarious fistfights, and GARY BUSEY. Clearly not a comedy, but I was laughing for half the movie.

If you're one of those people (like me) who enjoy brainless 80's action movies, especially ones with non-sequiturs and the most unbelievable dialogue ever written, then you would enjoy EYE OF THE TIGER. I was entertained.

I really don't know what else there is to say about this movie. So in closing: Gary Busey.

* * * Out Of Five

[bronsonskull72 · 6/10 · 18 March 2006]

Gary Busey stars as Buck Matthews a reformed ex-con and ex-Vietnam vet who wages war on bikers responsible for the murder of his wife, Busey resorts to the usual manner in dispatching these bikers, often playing grisly practical jokes that involve using wire at neck level, to decapitate his foes. The fight really reaches the boiling point when the bikers snatch Matthews' daughter (Judith Barsi) and therefore even Buck Matthews turns to his fellow Vietnam vet buddy J.B Deveraux (Yaphet Kotto) and together they blitz the biker's stronghold in this more fun than you would expect one man army thriller. If you really need an accurate description, just picture Death Wish 3 with Gary Busey instead of Charles Bronson. However what makes this biker entry so much fun is watching the traps Busey sets up for the bikers, which always have grisly (and hilarious) results.

3/5 Matt Bronson

Yeah, Right.

[DeepFriedJello · 4/10 · 18 June 2021]

Known hard-ass thugs on motocross bikes. Raping, murdering and pillaging, without the sheriff lifting a finger to investigate, but evidently it isn't alarming enough to bring in higher authorities. But that wouldn't make for much of a movie.

Gary Busey is in his element here, and makes the movie worth watching. He's one pissed off dude with a plan.

It has its moments but it's quite cheap

[Rodrigo_Amaro · 5/10 · 3 April 2023]

I didn't know anything about this movie until recently, and just seeing the cast assembled in it I went after it. But all high hopes were lost while watching it because it's a towering pile of cliche after cliche yet it fails to generate after a while, plus some implausible things going on. It's fun to see eternal Gary Busey playing the hero for a change, that certainly also sells, but truth is he's always better as a villain. I'm not saying he isn't good, he's pretty good and quite charismatic in his mysterious manner but there isn't much he can work with a dull script.

Busey plays a Vietnam veteran/ex-convict just recently released from jail after an act of self-defense that didn't go well who returns to his small town to get his life back on track with his wife and kid (Judith Barsi). It's an obvious device, he's considered as a troublemaker by the sheriff (Seymour Cassell) and the police officers except for a friend (Yaphet Kotto) in the enforcement who is about to retire. But there's a problem there: the city was taken over by a criminal gang of bikers who terrorize the place, vandalize everything, attack women or go extremely violent against anyone opposed to their presence. As for authorities, they just sit on their hands. And that's when Busey's character become a man of the action.

I won't complain about the action sequences and the humor used in some bits - specially coming from Kotto's character, he's lots of fun - but I had a hard time trying to figure out the ultimate purpose of the bad guys. I mean, they trash the town, rape women (at least the dumb brother of the leader tries that, we're not exactly sure of their actions extremity), have the support from the crooked sheriff but...where's the gain? They're not robbing the city bank, the people or the businesses, just talk ride their bikes in a very loud manner and attack people but we're not seeing them as the mighty power who really controls everything and live on some riches - they're still stuck on a camping trailer, and the only major threat in their actions comes when they attack Busey and his family (a tense yet pathetic scene).

It's not a total waste even though it gives the impression of being such. The action is awesome, the thrilling scenes are really compelling and the acting is fine (William Smith as the gang chief is very menacing and I love the irony on him playing such role right after "Rumble Fish" where he played a cop who had a beef against Motorcycle Boy). Yet it's a painful experience because it doesn't have anything to say, anything new to show and they "stole" the theme from "Rocky III" without an enlightning purpose for it, I mean, this isn't a martial art or a boxing movie where such title seems more fitting. 5/10.

Decent 80s action.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 15 April 2013]

Overall, "Eye of the Tiger" basically gets by thanks to its cast. It's a pretty routine revenge saga of one good man (here played by Gary Busey) going up against forces of evil who institute a reign of terror in his peaceable small town. The antagonists in question are a lethal biker gang who of course aren't happy when Buck Matthews (Busey) intervenes when they attempt to rape a nurse (Kimberlin Brown). So they retaliate by invading Bucks' house and murdering his wife (Denise Galik), traumatizing Bucks' young daughter Jennifer (Judith Barsi) in the process. Fed up with an ineffectual jerk sheriff (Seymour Cassel) who's out to get *him*, Buck takes the fight to the bikers, but at least he won't be completely alone: his good friend J.B. Deveraux (Yaphet Kotto) joins him, albeit reluctantly.

Taking its name from the famous Survivor song popularized by its use in "Rocky III", it's very nicely shot (by Peter Lyons Collister), who creates some great visuals using the headlights on the bikers' motorcycles. Its small town atmosphere is enjoyable; it was filmed on location in Valencia, California. The stunts are good, Buck is equipped with a badass truck, and there's plenty of explosions to ensure the audience remains interested. There's also a real mean streak here that gives the movie some much needed edge. For one thing, the bikers dig up the wife's coffin and parade it in front of Bucks' home. For another, Buck displays some ingenious ruthlessness, sticking a lit stick of dynamite up a bikers' ass to get him to spill information.

The acting and directing talent involved guarantees some curiosity value. Richard Sarafian of "Vanishing Point" fame guides a cast including the spirited Busey and such consistently solid performers as Kotto, Cassel, and Bert Remsen. It's also hard to resist any movie with the almighty William Smith in a bad guy role, and he's perfectly cast as Blade, the leader of the gang. The final fight between him and Busey is worth waiting for.

Despite its predictable nature, this is a watchable B movie. For some viewers, it may not matter that it's not inspired stuff. Sometimes formulaic action fare is all you want, and that's what "Eye of the Tiger" delivers. Fortunately, at the very least it's never boring.

Seven out of 10.

Middling '80s Actioner

[utgard14 · 5/10 · 10 December 2013]

Gary Busey gets released from prison and returns to his wife and daughter to live in his hometown. Unfortunately for Gary, his town is now overrun by a biker gang, helped by a corrupt sheriff who is giving Gary a hard time from the first moment he steps foot in town. Then Gary saves a nurse from being gangraped by the bikers and all hell breaks loose. They attack his home and kill his wife. So there we have the setup for an '80s revenge movie. Busey calls in a favor from a drug-lord he saved in prison and gets a weaponized pickup truck. Yeah I said that. Then, because he's a Vietnam vet in an '80s action movie and must be a one-man war machine, he goes about attacking the bikers with guerilla tactics. This, of course, just pisses the biker leader Blade off more. Eventually we head to the showdown between Busey and his buddy Yaphet Kotto in their super truck versus the bikers.

It's a by-the-numbers action revenge movie from the '80s. Not one of the best but not the worst either. Somewhere in the middle. The inclusion of the Survivor song is baffling. They even named the movie after it. It really has nothing to do with the movie at all.

I'm praying for vengeance......

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 27 September 2022]

Buck Matthews is a former Vietnam vet recently released from the state prison. He returns to the small Midwest town where he grew up only to discover the place overrun by a motorcycle gang causing trouble. When the bikers murder his wife and traumatise his young daughter, Buck finds himself all alone.

The sheriff is unwilling to help Buck, so he decides to take matters into his own hands, With the help from a fellow Vietnam vet, Deputy J. B. Deveraux, as well as Buck's former cell-mate, a drug kingpin living in Miami, Buck arms himself and wages a one-man war against the motorcyclists to destroy them once and for all........

It's the eighties, and everyone loves a good old action film featuring the bad guy who was in everything at that time. But I never thought that Busey would cut it as an action star, let alone a husband and father (sorry Jake).

So what we get is a by the numbers action film that pretty much hits the the spot if you're looking for ninety minutes of hammy hokum.

Busey is surprisingly great as the lead, but when it comes to the loss of his wife, his acting is a little bit stretched. Yaphet Kotto turns up when ever James Browns' Gravity is playing diegetically, and Seymour Cassell turns in a good performance as the sweaty, dastardly Sheriff.

The film plays like an extended episode of the A-Team. Gut comes home to a small town that is being hassled by a gang of bikers, something life changing happens to our protagonist, and he gets a modified van, and takes out the minions, before fighting the end of game boss, with all of his friends looking on.

There are a few scenes that cause unintentional hilarity. The house siege, as emotionally gripping as it should be, you can't help but laugh whenever another bike enters the house. There must be at least twelve bikers in the house at one point, and Busey disguised as a Doctor when trying to interrogate a member of the gang.

It's not going to win any awards, and it's not surprising that it's fallen off the radar. But if like me, you love a big slice of eighties cheese, then you could do far worse than this.

And yes, they use the song.....

The A-Team Copycat

[megoobee · 2/10 · 27 October 2006]

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.

You go out after them your going alone

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 6 December 2009]

***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!

Killer instinct...

[fmarkland32 · 5/10 · 13 June 2006]

Gary Busey stars as Buck Matthews a Vietnam vet just out of prison and looking to spend some me-time with the wife and daughter only to have his life of peace shattered by a pack of bikers who have taken over the town and have basically turned it into a hell, Busey keeps a cool head at first but when the bikers kill his wife and then dig her up and put her coffin on the front porch (Hands down the film's silliest moment) Gary Busey becomes a one man army with the help of his friend Yappet Kotto. Eye Of The Tiger was of course the song sung by Survivor which is supposed to symbolize your killer instinct. Naturally if you base a movie on a Survivor song, the results will hardly be life altering. For some reason I received this movie from the movie company which I am a member of, I never asked for this one so I was surprised to get it. Indeed even when I was a teenager I never had even heard of this movie. Not that i'm complaining, Eye Of The Tiger is the definition of dumb action fare which often times produced a smile on my face. Especially when Gary Busey captures a biker and shoves TNT where the sun don't shine which leads to the humiliated and bewildered biker's weak response of information needed. This probably inspired the similar scene in Man On Fire. Of course i'm not one to speculate.

* * out of 4-(Fair)

Overlooked, Superb 80's Action Flick

[hammerfan1 · 8/10 · 8 October 2006]

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.

Decent 80's action movie

[sveknu · 6/10 · 21 February 2010]

I had never heard of this movie before, but it had Gary Busey, a decent plot, a great cover, and most importantly: It's an 80's movie. So I decided to check it out, and I don't regret it. Although not overloaded with action, it has enough to make the fans happy. The action scenes were great, lots of explosions and over the top stuff in general. Busey is good in this, even though he is better as a bad guy. When he is a good guy, he's an anti-hero at best. The story is nothing special, it has been done before and will be done again at a later time. But the action scenes and some great characters (e.g. the main bad guy, plus Busey's buddy ) made it interesting. Sitting through this is not a waste of time.

Generic 80s actioner

[Sandcooler · 5/10 · 22 April 2014]

I don't fully get why I didn't adore this movie, because it has so many things that I enjoy. Firstly it has Gary Busey in one of his few lead roles, but he's so good at playing action villains ("Under Siege" would be his highlight) that you don't really buy him as the straight man. This is most obvious in the infamous bingo hall scene, where he gets to do a long monologue that just doesn't go over at all. This isn't what Busey is good at, and a more competent director would have used his talents more and hid his limitations better. Secondly you have my favorite villain cliché of the 80s: an oddball motorcycle gang that rules a small town. Sadly we only really get to know the leader and everyone else is just an extra standing around doing nothing, which seems like a missed opportunity to me. But the biggest letdown was probably just the lack of action. Logically you'd assume that Busey is going to kill every single biker thus saving the town, but if that's what you expect you're in for a real anticlimax. There are some explosions and gunfights here and there, but you just keep waiting for Busey to go postal which never happens. In fact, for a Vietnam veteran (which in action movies usually makes you Superman) he's really not that tough at all. If the motorcycle gang had any common sense, this movie would be twenty minutes long. "Eye Of The Tiger" isn't the worst movie I've ever seen, but damn I expected so much more.

Low budget rendition of "First Blood and "Mad Max"

[jordondave-28085 · 5/10 · 7 February 2023]

Starring Gary Busey, he plays ex Vietnam Nam vet, Buck Matthews coming back from serving prison time to his child hood home. At the same token a drug cartel, Jamie (Jorge Gil ) is also released at the same time. And feels he is obligated to owe Buck as a result of something that happened when they were in prison. All is okay until he felt obligated to save this nurse from getting assaulted by motorcycle bike riders. And as a result of buck saving this nurse, the leader of this gang, Blade (William Smith) retaliates by smashing into his home killing his wife and paralyzing his 5 yr old daughter. Making life much more difficult for Buck is the fact that the town's head sheriff (Seymour Cassel) happens to be on the payroll of the biker gang., turning a blind eye to their illegal dealings with cocaine and guns. It was at this point he seeks the aid of his former Vietnam vet and friend, JB (Yaphet Kotto) as well as the cartel Buck interacted who offered him a favor at the opening. He does this by having a former relative send him an one-of-a-kind bullet proof pick-up truck with machine gun fire both at the front and cannon bombs installed at the back. The end action sequence is reminiscent of those low budgeted futuristic action movies David Carradine is so accustomed to making with explosions and all studios looking for a quick buck.