Eye of the Tiger

Holy crap! This movie blew my mind! Action? TOO MUCH OF IT (almost)! Acting? TRULY OSCAR WORTHY! Theme Song? GREATEST SONG EVER! It's a shame that there aren't more movies out there with "Eye of the Tiger" as the theme song. I honestly believe it would go great with some movie where this guy has to face a huge challenge and he seems like an underdog however in the end, due to his amazing conditioning and training he overcomes his challenges and beats the favorite in a boxing match.

Usually when the Eye of the Tiger song comes on your mind naturally brings you to picture Rocky and Apollo Creed duking it out ever so fake in the middle of the ring. However from this very day all we will see is a giant toothed Gary Busey who has just earned himself a top spot in Sid's ultimate action heroes. Over the years we have been huge fans of Busey (Brian, Brian, look. I'm Gary Busey. I'm frequently aggressive in situations that don't call for it) and all his crazy antics from B movies or celebrity rehab clips, but had no idea the action fury that dwells deep within him. We found this masterpiece on the Impact on-demand channel (yes the very same that brought us Ninja Vengeance [VHS]) so going into it the expectations were somewhat high. No matter how high the expectations Eye of the Tiger surpassed them with ease by actually being an awesome action flick. It even went beyond the realm of B by making itself enjoyed on more of an actual movie basis. Fantastic!

Gary plays newly paroled Buck Matthews who was wrongly sent away by crooked hick sheriff Seymour Cassel. Buck is a well respected Vietnam Vet around his old town and is looking forward to reuniting with his wife and daughter. What he doesn't realize is there's now a drug pushing motorcycle gang, led by a guy that looks like he's part of a Judas Priest cover band, whose wreaking havoc around his old stomping grounds. Once buck takes the law into his own hands against the gang the war begins. Once the gang takes his wives life Buck enlists the help of cop buddy J.B. Deveraux and prison pal Sal Pachino (who just happens to do the most hilarious Tony Montana impression). From here on out Buck starts taking down the hundreds of gang members one at a time with furious passion. We've always said you don't f*** with Chuck but that may have to be swapped out with Gary Busey who proved he's one of the kings out there.

Eye of the Tiger really had everything a great b action should have. Going into it we were figuring a hilarious B was on the way, but much like Death Ring [VHS] it proved to be so much more then that by being an edge of your seat, kick butt, action masterpiece. At this point in Busey's career you could easily give him the Fulton and say "this guy's got it" in the acting department. Much like his role in Point Break he nailed it with ease. In fact we loved this one so much the only proper way to close it out with the iconic Joe Bob Drive In Totals:

1 Sal Pachino

3 Decapitations at one time

Great Spy Hunter video game music when biker gang comes around

Buck and J.B air strike on biker gang

Bullet Proof 4x4 equiped with Machine guns and grenade launchers

7 Bikers Driving through the windows and walls of Busey's house

84 Dead bodies

and the most springboard launched gang members since Death Ring

Eye of the Tiger (1986) has Gary Busey as the main drawing card,
coupled with an action-film content or genre. It is notable and
above the mainstream, from its pure-raw scenarios, having viewers
"connect" to the action, with suspense, tension and a euphoria that
is buildt from start to finish. At the same time, there's a surreal
"hero" and "against all odds" story.

Here, a Joe Schmoe rises above the gangster element present in the
small town, that is bullying the local impassive sheriff, played by
Seymour Cassel. Cassel's character is outplayed time and again by
the gang leader, who doesn't negotiate, or take into consideration
earlier agreements, according to which he would left the town folk
alone in exchange for 'carte blanche' in operating an airfield that
deals in substances.

At the outset, Busey's character is released from a sentence from a
run-in with that same gang, occurred from lack of willingness of the
town folk to testify against the gang.

When Busey settles in once more, his inpulse to set things right in
terms of a multitude of gang abuses (rape, aggression, intimidation,
kidnapping) results in the use of a double barreled shotgun and
vigilantism.

Yaphet Kotto is caught in the middle, between desiring his
retirement pension from the force, months away and his friendship
with Busey and doing what's right from a job point of view and
human, as well.

Kimberlin Brown (spouse) and Denise Galik (nurse) are low-key,
which is appropriate, as to now overshador Busey.

The cinematography is some of the best I've seen in DVD releases,
with the wide-screen and audio above and beyond a crystal clear
quality, reminiscent of Enzo G. Castellari's filming quality which
is always incredible.

The surreal aspect is underlined with Busey's 4x4 vehicle, in the
tradition of Kit from Knight Rider, that has mortar and grenade
launchers, machine guns and bullet proofing built-in the pickup,
with the commands all reachable from the driver's seat.

Being a Vietnam vet, Busey pulls a few rabbits from out of his hat,
such as trip wires, decoys, remote detonated IED's, and skill in
man-to-man combats, facing William Smith.

The lesson learned, is not necessarily that vigilantism is
appropriate or that it works, but rather, that in a group, there
will always be the wild-card element, that perhaps it's only a
matter of time before an equal and opposite reaction is generated in
response to a gangster action, with town folk coming to a consensus
on the need for change.

Motocross fans will especially appreciate the stunts shown by the
horse of 25+ bikers.

For those seeking a raw, outdoor, filmed mostly in the desert action
movie (think Genghis Khan), this is a good one.

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