Dent pour dent

What a cast "An Eye For An Eye" has! There's Christopher Lee, Mako, Professor Toru Tanaka, Richard Roundtree, and Terry Kiser. Oh, and there is also Chuck Norris, and unfortunately once again he gives a performance that is pretty lacklustre, especially since the supporting players give pretty lively performances. But I'm sure that Norris' inadequate acting doesn't matter to many people, since they are more concerned if the movie delivers some solid action. Well, there are some good action sequences. The martial arts, while not as breathtaking as those found in Hong Kong movies, do come across as believable and exciting. The problem is that we often have to wait for a considerable amount of time for the action sequences, and this surrounding plot is familiar and predictable. The movie is fairly well produced, looking a lot better than Norris' low budget movies made in the 1970s. In the end, this movie is only so-so, but if you've ever wanted to see a martial arts movie produced by Frank Capra Junior, here it is.

This early Chuck Norris fare is one of his entertaining and exciting one to view. Done by Steve Carver who later did the sightly better Lone Wolf McQuade(1983). Its about a Police officer who quits the force to find the people responsible for his partner's death. He ends up joining forces with James Chan played by Mako when he battles some Triad organization. The Triads are portrayed differently in this film then they would be during the mid to late 1980s. This was before gunplay became a big part of the Triad pictures from the Heroic Bloodshed genre in Hong Kong cinema. An Eye for An Eye(1981) is much better then any of Chuck Norris's movies from the 1990s.

The battle between Chuck Norris and Professor Toru Tanako is one of the top martial arts match ups in any Norris flick. Chris Lee makes a great villain as the diabolical Morgan Canfield. Mako adds to the already good cast with his presence and wisdom. Mako is probably the only person to have appeared in a movie or TV show with Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, and Sammo Hung. An Eye for An Eye(1981) must have been the inspiration for the Steven Seagal film, Hard to Kill(1990) because the plots are almost identical. Anohter memorable character is The Professor. Future Cythnia Rothrock co star, Richard Norton provides some of the stunts for the film.

This was chuck's 2nd best film, Lone Wolf McQuade being his 1st. Chuck just walks through this movie without jumping into any form of acting ability, an ability which he has never had. but what you see a Norris movie for is his Martial Arts, and he delivers here!!! Some great fights (Lots in slow mo) and a great soundtrack. It also boasts one of the worst WAKING UP FROM A NIGHTMARE pieces of acting in the history of film. Mako is great, Christopher Lee doesn't do a lot and Chuck has NO BEARD, which makes him look about 4 (Although that would make him the hairiest 4 year old ever!!!) All in all a great early 80s actioner which is never dull. Chuck Norris should have made all his movies with Steve Carver.

In my review of Forced Vengeance, I mentioned that there are three looks to Chuck Norris: smooth-faced, moustache, and bearded. I'd call "Forced Vengeance" Moustache-Norris' best, "The Hit-man" Bearded-Norris' best, "The Delta Force" Norris' best in general and "An Eye For An Eye" Smooth-Faced-Norris' Best.

Despite being a sold action movie that is very fun and thrilling, the acting is bad and story is unoriginal. Chuck Norris plays a cop who witnesses his partner being murdered after being set up, quits the force and seek vengeance. There's really nothing more to it than that. And as I mentioned earlier, the acting is bad (for the most part). Chuck Norris is simply a bad actor. I've seen better acting by first-time high schoolers in a drama class. He has gotten better over the years, rising from terrible to just okay. I laughed at Norris during a few parts. Nobody else is necessarily "bad," but everybody really is cheesy. Every martial-arts film is cheesy-as-can-be! Christopher Lee is the only real actor in this that can be taken seriously. But due to an all-around corny movie, it affects him. A movie with good acting was not what they were trying to get at. This is a straight-up action movie that stirs-up smart thrills and excellent action. This features some of Norris' best physical fight scenes and gun fights. Easily top 5 for Norris in terms of action and suspense. The build-up of mayhem and destruction that comes is exciting. Even though its cheesy, its the good kind; the over-the-top, cartoony cheese. There can't be a strong sense of danger and not be thrilling. Actually it can be dull, but this isn't a bad movie. The action is fabulous and danger is lots of fun. Props to Christopher Lee too.

3.5/4

Chuck Norris has gotten a bit of a bad rap over the years, but watching some of his earlier films, it's hard to understand why. No, he's not the best actor of all time, but his fighting skills are pretty impressive. This movie gives him a lot of room to do what he does best, and it's great fun to watch him take out bad guy after bad guy with his amazing kung fu kicks. There are also good performances by Mako and Christopher Lee, both of whom make any movie worth watching, and the director has some cool camera shots throughout.

That said, I have to admit it has plenty of unintentionally hilarious parts, and I'm not just talking about the cheesy 80's soundtrack and polyester suits. For one thing, it seems like something is a little wrong with ol' Chuck. He does some genuinely odd things throughout the movie that make you wonder if he's OK in the head. The most shocking example is when a guy asks him, "Kane, do you know what is permeating this room?", and he sniffs the guy's face, rubs his cheek, and says, "Is it your cologne?" Then there's the scene where he knocks a man out, then places a pillow behind his head and pats his hair. He also spends a lot of time talking to his dog, Mort... and not just in a friendly way, but in a maybe-he's-hearing-the-dog-talking-back sort of way.

The character of the Professor is funny too (funny-odd, not funny-haha). The scene where he gets hit by a car and responds by beating the car up is not easy to forget.

These things are a bit unsettling, but where the film really loses it is at the end, when everything goes unexpectedly and completely bonkers. I am referring to the surreal scene where dozens of businessmen who all look like Ron Burgundy have a full-scale war with the police. It's like watching "Die Hard" with the terrorists being played by the entire cast of "Dallas." Cheesiness aside, however, this is an enjoyable, action-packed film that any fan of Norris is sure to love.

7/10 stars.