Simply A Masterpiece

Absolutely Brilliant!

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Code of Silence (1985) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Chuck Norris stars as Chicago cop Eddie Cusack who finds himself in the middle of a gang war. While the two sides of the gang are seeking revenge against each other, Cusack must try and save an innocent victim from one of the family's. While all of that is going on Eddie becomes a target in his own department when he refuses to stand up for a dirty cop.CODE OF SILENCE was sold as another Chuck Norris vehicle but it's far from just that. This is in fact an Andrew Davis film that manages to be better than his future hit UNDER SIEGE and in fact I'd say it's right on the same level as his film THE FUGITIVE. Sure, this film contains a lot of action and martial arts but the picture is so much more than just that. This is really a rather intense thriller about a moral officer standing up to do what's right even if he has to take on a gang war by himself.I must admit that I went into the film just expecting some mindless action but it didn't take long for this to really take form and impress. A lot of times routine action movies remain just routine because the director's just want to deliver the same old thing in an attempt to make money. That's certainly not the case with Davis because he wants to deliver suspense and tension and that's exactly what he does. There are some extremely effective scenes here including a court room scene where we wonder if the dirty cop is going to be exposed. Yet another sequence deals with a chase where the innocent victim is trying to get away from her death.The film also benefits from having some very good action scenes. This includes the ending, which goes 100% full throttle as Norris must take on an entire gang. This was proceeded by a great sequence inside a bar where Norris gets worked up. There are some great car chases, a great sting operation and an impressive mob hit. The action scenes are extremely well done and they mix quite well with the main story as well as the personal drama for the lead character. Norris turns in a fine performance here and manages to really turn in a character and not just martial arts. Henry Silva and Dennis Farina lead a nice supporting cast.CODE OF SILENCE is certainly one of the more memorable action films from the decade. It doesn't get enough credit for what it does, which is a shame but fans of the genre should really enjoy it.

"Code of Silence" is a lacklustre Chuck Norris vehicle that goes nowhere interesting. It's also confusingly plotted, with half hour gaps in between sequential events so that you forget what led to what you are currently seeing.The employment of action movie clichés is at least a source of unintentional comedy. Norris is the typical lone wolf cop whose actions serve as an indication to why police are supposed to have partners. Norris leaves his own partner behind constantly, and then gets involved in situations that wouldn't have occurred if he hadn't been so selfish, like a girl being taken hostage by a thug while he has to quickly use his martial arts skills to incapacitate a bunch of others, unrealistically, before giving chase. If his partner had been with him the girl probably wouldn't have been taken. The fact that she was taken means she could have easily been killed or otherwise injured. Nice going, Chuck.The movie also doesn't let Chuck play to his strengths, or, er, strength. Apart from the scene mentioned above, he only really breaks out his martial arts skills once in the whole movie, in a fight that is admittedly impressive, but ends with Chuck getting his butt kicked. This will be unbelievable to anyone who remembers those jokes floating around about him back in the mid 2000s.Chuck without martial arts isn't much of a Chuck at all. He doesn't have the personality to come off as anything other than a weirdo as he wanders around leaving his partner behind and pulling guns on a police robot. The superb character actor, Henry Silva, barely does anything as a villain we hardly get to see. Two wastes in one movie.

Like many others, I agree, this may be Chuck's best film, alongside Silent Rage. Here in a undercover operation gone to s..t, taking shouting abuse from his captain, he's left to clean up the mess. And to add further headache, one of his own is been put on the stand, for mistakenly blowing away an Hispanic kid. This cop, Creggie was drinking before too. Creggie has f....d up before too, so this could be his last chance. His younger more nervous partner, Gonzalez, is sworn to silence, therefore letting his partner get away with this again. While his other colleges vouch for him, Chuckie goes up against him, and also the baddies of these two gangs, Italians and Columbians. Chuck's stakeout was sabotaged, when his two undercover cops, about to make a drug purchase, bought it, as the opposing Italian gang arrived dressed as painters, no less. This is a great ten minute opening-shootout here that really went down well in this. Chuck again here, kicks, well you know, not as much than most of his movies, but some great chunks of action and an involving story almost make us forget Chuckie's karate talents. It's also one of Chuck's better performances. We see a real human side to his character, like when he takes the only surviving victim of the Italian mob, an innocent girl, in his care. The train scene is great with Chuckie making one hell of a dive into the river, this recurring music theme attached, with successive clicking in bits of it, worked great. We too also have a robotic tank that in the end becomes Chuck's best friend. At first in a demonstration scene Chuck laughs this off, calling it "Another machine without a brain". He also overthrows it, when it turns on him, the whole station of cops looking like fools as this scene fades out into the next. He also too backs up his younger partner, Gonzalez in telling the real truth that day the s..t went down, and that innocent Hispanic lost his life, even though the title wrongly refers the main story here. A thoroughly enjoyable drama, ala Chuck Norris, you may still find bits of this lacking in the brains department, but it's much better than a lot of Chuck's other s..t, I mean films. Henry Silva again makes the villain an art form as the merciless head of the Columbian family.

OK I know Chuck Norris isn't the best actor in the business but he's good enough to be convincing. This is the same director who brought us The Fugitive, which was a hit thriller, and Under Siege, a successful Seagal action/Thriller. Is Steven Seagal a better actor than Chuck Norris?!! I don't think so. Norris aside the movie has a gripping story, interesting characters, and a good build up. The ending is a little cliché with the typical one man army thing but its a solid thriller. My only complaint is there just wasn't enough spin kicks and roundhouses to suit my tastes for a Chuck movie. Let me give a message to all the Chuck non-believers. If you don't like him so much then ignore the fact that he is Chuck Norris and focus more on the characters and the story. Sheesh! Anyways it was great but nowhere near as exciting as Lone Wolf McQuade which is probably my favorite movie of his.