An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		4.0

An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf June 7, 2015

The year is 1981, and at this point in the career of martial art superstar Chuck Norris, things were looking promising. Developing his big screen brand name with a string of actioners in the late 1970s, Norris graduated to more streetwise entertainment in the early 1980s, widening his appeal in the pre-beard days, when all heroism required were a pair of tight jeans and a Members Only jacket. “An Eye for an Eye” is Norris’s move to Steve McQueen territory, put into the driver’s seat for this revenge thriller, mixing broad kick-happy confrontations with dour investigative movements. Amusement remains with the picture’s concentration on exaggerated performances and waves of dim-witted baddies, and while “An Eye for an Eye” isn’t a shining example of the genre or even Norris, it remains perfectly approachable, with a satisfying level of violence and squinty acts of intimidation to make the run time fly by.

A cop assigned to the narcotics unit in San Francisco, Sean Kane (Chuck Norris) is devastated when he loses partner Pierce (Terry Kiser) to a set-up organized by drug stooge Montoya (Mel Novak). Reaching out to comfort Pierce’s girlfriend, television reporter Linda (Rosalind Chao), Kane’s nightmare continues when she’s targeted for assassination as well, hiding a key that could crack open the case and expose corrupt individuals. Turning in his badge and gun to Captain Stevens (Richard Roundtree), Kane elects to mount his own investigation into the crimes, going to his martial art master, Chan (Mako), for help. Working his way through levels of organized crime in the city, Kane receives assistance from Heather (Maggie Cooper), one of Linda’s co-workers and a woman with her own sleuthing instinct. Slapping around suspects and meeting with Linda’s boss, station owner Canfield (Christopher Lee), Kane inches close to answers, lacking only concrete evidence to close the case.

Although it’s hardly a thrilling travelogue, “An Eye for an Eye” does retain the flavors of San Francisco, which adds to the picture’s personality. Kane’s oceanside home is especially location-specific, living in a fortified compound covered in prison bars and protected with a sensitive alarm system, while his only means of travel to the city is a boat, which he uses to get to his car, parked in a garage. When trouble comes for Kane, it’s not easy for him to act quickly. Using San Francisco is the only real visual firepower director Steve Carver (“Lone Wolf McQuade”) has, with chases staged in BART stations and around the hilly streets, keeping the Golden Gate Bridge in the background for numerous shots. It’s a welcome fingerprint in an otherwise routine thriller, finding Kane’s navigation of the city oddly appealing, giving the story some grit and expanse.

Kane is a haunted character, unable to shut the deaths of Pierce and Linda out of his whirring mind, hungry to unleash on those who took the lives of innocent people. As one character mentions, Kane doesn’t need weapons, “he is a weapon,” calling on his physical power to investigate the few clues left behind at the scene of the crimes, on the prowl for an unknown object Linda was guarding during her final moments. The set-up is passable, establishing Kane’s inability to take gruff from anyone, including Captain Stevens, immediately resigning when lawful limitations are set. The role plays to Norris’s strengths, providing the actor a chance to emote (grieving the loss of his friends), intimidate (yeah, YOU try to tow Kane’s car after he departs from a crime scene after a long night), and romance, finding the screenplay failing to come up with a decent opportunity for the ex-cop to make a little heat with Heather. Instead of respecting the moment, allowing the characters to heal after traumatic incidents, “An Eye for an Eye” pushes the pair together, with Heather practically purring in Kane’s lap while he studies clues. Because when friends have been killed and the Chinese Triad is actively on the hunt to finish the job, there’s always time for sex.

“An Eye for an Eye” is clunky but never dull, filling the adventure with enough strange encounters to keep the search fresh. Beyond Canfield and his pipe-smoking authority at the T.V. station, Kane is confronted with greasy pimp LaBelle (Stuart Pankin at his hammiest, which is quite an achievement) and his slappable face, tears up an opium den to find Montoya, and there’s The Professor (pro wrestler Professor Toru Tanaka), a sort of final boss in this urban video game, hulking through scenes with uneven legs, terrorizing all. When personalities bore Carver, he sends in the stuntmen, watching waves of Triads attempt to kill Kane with thousands of bullets fired from the ground and high in the air on a helicopter. Keeping up with B-movie traditions, there’s not a marksman in the gang, with these uniformed boobs unable to pick off Kane despite their point blank range. Adding a dash of oddity, Kane infiltrates a shipping freighter while looking for leads, discovering boxes of fireworks that he ignites as a distraction while pummeling enemies, creating a pleasingly chaotic background to a fight sequence.

An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation holds steady throughout the viewing experience, offering a certain level of sharpness that keeps locations defined and pauseable, while detail on the actors remains appealing, offering a clean look at costumes and facial quirks. Colors are secure and true, with pleasing strength on city paint jobs and clothing, also showing life with blue skies. Skintones are natural. Filmic texture remains with managed grain. Blacks are largely open for inspection, delivering frame information during evening infiltration sequences and distances. Print displays some speckling and scratches, but looks clean overall.

An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix is perfectly serviceable but unremarkable, carrying "An Eye for an Eye" with attention to atmospherics, finding urban bustle, flowing water, and weather making a defined impression. Dialogue exchanges are passable, occasionally threatened by background activity, making a few passages difficult to understand. Scoring is active, going from broad hero themes to more careful investigative support, and while instrumentation isn't crisp, mood is communicated satisfactorily.

An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Commentary features director Steve Carver.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (1:52, HD) is included.

An Eye for an Eye Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Acting isn't very detailed in "An Eye for an Eye," watching most of the cast reach for the back row with their performances (Lee walks through the effort with minimal impact, waiting patiently for a paycheck). In a bizarre development, it's Norris who delivers the most subtle work in the film, partially due to inherent limitations with his screen charisma. Of course, it's silly to concentrate on thespian achievements when dealing with a Norris actioner, leaving the appeal of "An Eye for an Eye" to the showdowns between Kane and his killer. Punches are plenty, roundhouse kicks are used for punctuation, and bullets are easily dodged. Violence and mayhem make up the feature's comfort zone, and when Norris locks into self-defense mode, the movie finds a reliable source of entertainment. One doesn't come to a picture like this for the narrative challenge (though effort would be nice), only the beatdowns.