Code of Silence (1985)
Pardon us while we indulge in a little bit of a sentimental journey......thinking back to our freewheeling days as a movie buyer for video store inventories.....(back in the days when the newly arrived homevideo industry enacted an earth-shattering change in how people accessed their entertainment choices.)
"Code of Silence" arrived as a huge hit for martial arts star Chuck Norris because the film opened as a major release from a prominent studio (Orion) and produced with the same kind of Class A professionalism you'd expect to see in a movie with Steve McQueen, Paul Newman or Robert Redford.
Norris himself counted it among his favorite films and we can easily understand why. The film elevated him out of the Cannon Films ghetto of Grindhouse Kung Fu bonecrunchers and briefly pushed him directly into the A-List spotlight.
But as fate would have it, Norris returned to the Cannon lineup of action stars and his subsequent films degraded into the usual one-two-three-kick Kung Foolishness. Through the decades, he did establish himself a beloved icon among his fans, but his fling with a career filled with big movies and major stardom began and ended with of "Code of Silence".
Originally conceived as another 'Dirty Harry' entry for Clint Eastwood, 'Code' fell to director Andrew Davis who energized this non stop carnival of carnage with stripped down no frills gritty muscularity. (Davis instantly thrived as the go-to director for high profile action hits like "The Fugitive", "Under Siege" and "Above the Law")
Norris plays tougher-than-tough Chicago cop Sgt. Eddie Cusack. He and his team are about to bust a Latino gang's drug deal when Mafia thugs bust in with a hail of bullets and grab the drugs and money for themselves.
During the chaos, one of Norris's men, Cregie, an aging corrupt burnout, kills a bystander and plants a gun on his victim to clear himself. (He's played by Chicago character actor Ralph Foody, forever immortalized as "Home Alone"s late-nite movie goon who snarls on TV, 'Keep the change, you filthy animal!')
Cusack, disgusted with this murder of an innocent, finds himself ostracized by his fellow cops for not lying on Cregie's behalf. Which doesn't help him much with all out bloody war breaking out between the Latino and Mafia factions. Cusack finds himself becoming the lone protector of the Mafia chief's daughter Diane (Molly Hagan) who's been targeted for hostage kidnapping by ruthless Latino drug lord Camacho (the always scary cadaverous Henry Silva).
The bodies pile up to catastrophic heights as the man-of-few words Cusack shoots, punches and swift kicks his way through a veritable army of assailants.....(and with the help of an actual remote control SWAT war machine that looks like one of Robocop's recreational vehicles.)
The film's loaded with Chicago atmosphere and plays out on the town's real ice cold winter streets, alleys and elevated trains. Wonder of wonders, both audiences and critics embraced it equally....(a personal first for Norris). Rewatching it all these years later, we're glad to report that it still holds up as a lean mean take-no-prisoners machine.......)
"Code of Silence" could only make us sigh and wish that it had led to Chuck Norris working with more top directors, more well crafted scripts and more major films from the big studios. But such is life in the up and down industry of filmmaking.
It's still a 4 star (****) treat, especially for younger action fans who haven't encountered it yet. There's nothing more fun than watching evil gangbangers get a big Chuck You from the quiet but deadly Mr. Norris.
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