20 Reasons Why You Rock: Eye of the Tiger
One of the goals we had in mind for Bulletproof Action from the very beginning was to use this platform as a way to shine the spotlight on some action movies we felt don’t get the love and attention they deserve… like 1986’s Eye of the Tiger starring Gary Busey.
I felt so strongly about sharing with the world the awesomeness of Eye of the Tiger that it was actually the first movie I ever reviewed for the site. And I can only hope that the 14 people who read my review back then were compelled to check it out.
Now nearly five years later and with a much larger audience, I once again want to profess my love for this under the radar revenge flick from the golden era of action movies… a movie that most definitely rocks!
#1- If the name of your movie is Eye of the Tiger and it does not include Survivor’s Billboard Hot 100 topping “Eye of the Tiger”, then what is the freakin’ point of calling your movie Eye of the Tiger? Fortunately, 1986’s Eye of the Tiger does feature Survivor’s rock anthem “Eye of the Tiger” so the movie quite literally ROCKS!
#2- In addition to being a kick ass revenge flick, Eye of the Tiger is also a time capsule look at a pre-motorcycle accident/ pre-cocaine overdose Gary Busey… which in itself is a cautionary tale about motorcycle helmets and drug use.
#3- When your first impression of your protagonist is him getting out of prison, it was important that the they establish Buck Matthews as a good guy and a hero as early as possible. Eye of the Tiger does it in classic exploitation film style, with Buck saving Dawn the nurse from being gang raped.
#4- The incomparable Yaphet Kotto plays Buck Matthews’ best friend, J.B. Deveraux and if there is one thing I’ve learned over the years it is that Yaphet Kotto makes anything he is in better.
#5- The local yokels hamming it up behind the news woman when she is reporting on Buck Matthews saving the day.
#6- With his 6’2″ frame, gravely voice and tough guy looks… William Smith was the perfect choice to play Eye of the Tiger’s main antagonist, Blade.
#7- The scene where Blade and his gang trash the Matthews’ home by crashing through the walls and driving their motorcycles inside the house, creating all sorts of motorcycle mayhem, killing Buck’s wife in the process and leaving Buck’s daughter in a catatonic state is the type of scene that grabs you by the throat. If you were channel surfing and started watching the movie at that very moment you have to wonder why this is happening? And more so, what is going to happen next?
#8- With his daughter hospitalized and his wife now dead, Buck Matthews goes to the hospital chapel and prays… but not for the speedy recovery of his daughter, but instead Buck prays for VENGEANCE!
#9- Quality Kill – Buck decapitates Blade’s brother with a trap that came straight out of Wile E. Coyote’s Acme catalog.
#10 – In another quality piece of casting, Seymour Cassel was delightful as the slime ball sheriff that was in the pocket of Blade and his gang.
#11- You really can’t expect a guy like Blade, a drug dealing thug, to have much in the way of manners, so it is no surprise when Blade and his boys crash the funeral of Buck’s wife. But that pales in comparison for what is to come… Blade has his minions exhume the casket and then drag it behind their motorcycles and drop the casket off at Buck’s doorstep… as the kids might say that was SAVAGE AF!
#12- The weaponized truck that Buck receives from his prison buddy Jamie (Jorge Gil) is not only a sweet ride but it helps Buck cause some major damage.
#13- The exploding dummy that made dead dummies out of some of the bad guys.
#14 Epic fail – The biker on the hood of Buck’s truck who totally botches his plan to kill Buck with a grenade.
#15 The dynamite scene where Buck disguises himself as a doctor in order to interrogate a member of Blade’s crew who has been hospitalized with a caved in larynx.
#16- “Judo” Gene LeBell… ’nuff said.
#17- Blade’s drug manufacturing camp out in the desert complete with air strip was most impressive.
#18- J.B. Deveraux’s attack from the sky in his airplane is a real thing of beauty. When J.B. wasn’t tossing grenades out of his plane, he was using his cigar to light sticks of dynamite to drop on the enemy camp below.
#19- The exchange of pleasantries between Buck Matthews and J.B. Deveraux at the end of the film, as if they just bumped into each other at the grocery store and not battled a band of cocaine smuggling bikers.
#20- I mentioned J.B. Deveraux had his own airplane. But I didn’t mention the fact that J.B. Deveraux’s airplane has its own theme song… “Gravity” by “The Godfather of Soul” James Brown.
