Eye of the Tiger (1986)

Director:

Richard C. Sarafian

Writer:

Michael Thomas Montgomery (written by)

Release Date:

28 November 1986 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Tagline:

'Nam was hell... Prison unbearable... But coming home meant murder.

Plot:

Gary Busey plays Buck, a former Vietnam veteran/ex-con recently released from the state prison. He returns...

Plot Keywords:

Biker | Murder | Decapitation | Animal In Title | Rape

Cast

Gary Busey	...	Buck Matthews
Yaphet Kotto	...	J.B. Deveraux
Seymour Cassel	...	Sheriff
Bert Remsen	...	Father Healey
Denise Galik	...	Christie Matthews
William Smith	...	Blade
Kimberlin Brown	...	Dawn
Judith Barsi	...	Jennifer Matthews
Eric Boles	...	Doctor (as Eric Bolles)
Joe Brooks	...	Jake
Douglas Dirkson	...	Jimmy
Kathryn Fuller	...	Bingo Lady
Jorge Gil	...	Jamie
Amelia Haas	...	Melody / Mini-Cam Reporter
Ray Habercorn	...	Police Officer

Runtime:

USA:92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | West Germany:18 (nf: 16) | Australia:R | USA:R | Norway:18 (video premiere) | Norway:(Banned) (1987-2003) (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Valencia, California, USA

Company:

Action Brothers

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In the scene with the dead paramedics, the bottom paramedic clearly blinks right before the camera passes by him.

A Fun Movie! In my opinion, it's possibly Busey's best role.

I recently purchased this, well not purchased, but my dear mom was nice enough to buy this DVD at Ross today for the low price of just $4.00. At first, I actually had no freakin' idea that this was on DVD to begin with. I thought the only available copy was the OOP VHS from USA Home Video (Which is now Lions Gate). It had a cooler cover than the DVD, but before I get back to the movie, I would just like to make a little rant about how the big Hollywood studios (And the greedy sharks that own them) keep changing the cover art (Or force the art department to do so) for DVD releases. This one's a good example. The cover art for the original VHS of this movie made it look fun and imo, somehow dramatic, but this cover looks like it's been made over at MGM using Photoshop. It just doesn't make the movie look good to a buyer. It seems like these studios could really care less about nostalgia and just only care about making it appeal to today's youth. I guess you could also say that the cover for this made it look like a Transporter Rip-Off or a John Woo- type movie from 2001.

Anyway, back to the movie. It's about a Vietnam Vet/Ex-Con (He had been convicted for a crime he didn't commit) named Buck Matthews (Played by Gary Busey in as I stated, quite possibly his best role.) who had just been granted parole and he goes back to his hometown to move on with his life and his family, his wife Christie (Played by Denise Galik) and Jennifer (Played by Judith Barsi from the awful "Jaws 4: The Revenge", may god rest her poor soul). We then see Buck at the police station, where he meets the corrput sheriff (Played by Seymour Cassel) and meets up with J.B. (Played by Yaphet Kotto) Also, Buck encounters a biker gang (The leader Blade, being played by the always awesome William Smith from "Maniac Cop") attacking a nurse, and saves her life and he becomes a town hero. However, it isn't long before the gang attacks Buck's house and kills Christie. Then, the movie starts to move into Death Wish territory.

I do not feel like going further for the moment (I really don't want to spoil anything for anybody), but I will say the rest gets more exciting every minute. That's just my opinion though.

As for the DVD itself, there really isn't much, although MGM did do a good job with the very beautiful widescreen quality. There is a trailer, but that's pretty much it for extras. There could have been like a director's commentary or even a commentary by either Busey or Kotto or all 3, but I really don't know.