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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: Code of Silence
The Gratuitous B-Movie Column Issue #467: Code of Silence
Hello, everyone, and welcome once again to the internets movie review column that has never been given access to a heavily armed experimental robot to do, well, anything, The Gratuitous B-Movie Column, and I am your host Bryan Kristopowitz. In this issue, issue number four hundred and sixty-seven, we celebrate the 4th of July with the Chuck Norris starring vehicle, Code of Silence, which hit movie theatres in early May 1985.
Code of Silence
Code of Silence, directed by Andrew Davis, is probably the least Chuck Norris Chuck Norris movie on Chuck Norris’s filmography. There’s nothing over the top about it, nothing ridiculous happens, and Chuck barely uses his martial arts skills in the plot. In fact, in the movie’s lone big hooha martial arts scene, Chuck loses the fight. Yes, big Chuck loses. How often do you see that in a Chuck Norris flick?
Exactly. It’s a rare occurrence.
Basically, Code of Silence is a serious minded, gritty cop action flick that just so happens to have Chuck Norris as its star. Chuck plays straight laced badass Chicago cop Sgt. Eddie Cusack, the head of an undercover unit that’s in the midst of staking out a major drug deal by noted criminal scumbag Victor Comacho (Ron Henriquez). Along with his partner Dorato (Dennis Farina), Cusack is posing as a garbage man while other members of his undercover crew (well- known Chicago movie character actors Ron Dean and Joseph F. Kosala are a part of this crew) watch the drug deal go down in cars and whatnot. Before moving in and making the necessary arrests, a team of shooters posing as painters led by rival criminal scumbag Tony Luna (Mike Genovese) show up and kill damn near everyone involved in the drug deal, causing Cusack’s operation to go to shit. Cusack and his team eventually hit the scene and try to fix the situation, but the Luna crew screwed everything up.
Now, while all of that is going on, old school drunk cop and asshole Cragie (Ralph Foody) and his partner Nick Kopalas (Joseph Guzaldo) hit the scene and Cragie “accidentally” shoots a Hispanic kid. Cragie then stages the scene and plants a gun on the dead kid. Kopalas witnesses all of this but doesn’t say anything to anyone because he’s a rookie and he has to adhere to all of that “blue wall of silence” shit. When Cusack is made aware of what happened, he immediately suspects that Cragie’s story is bogus and that he shot the kid on purpose. Cusack knows that Cragie shouldn’t be allowed to carry a gun and work the streets. He’s just too much of a liability.
So while all of that is going on, Luis Comacho (the incomparable Henry Silva), the head of the Comacho cartel, has decided to come to Chicago to find out what the hell happened with the drug deal. When Luis finds out, he declares war on the criminal gang Tony Luna works for and vows to take out everyone in the Luna family. And when I say everyone I mean everyone. Women, men, kids, it makes no difference; if they’re a Luna they’re fucking dead. The scene where we see multiple members of the Luna family gunned down in the street, including the kindly, plump mother Luna, is quite disturbing. All the poor woman wanted to do was to get her hands on some fresh vegetables from the back of the box truck and she ends cut to pieces by a Comacho thug with a machine gun. But then, you know, this kind of thing can happen when you’re related to major criminals.
There’s one Luna woman left, the head strong, college aged daughter of Tony Luna, Diana (Molly Hagan). She wants nothing to do with her father or the family business and just wants to be left alone. However, because she’s a Luna she’s fair game. Her father isn’t there to protect her (that chickenshit ran to Wisconsin) and Tony’s old pal Gamiani (Lou Damiani) is, well, old. What the fuck is he going to do in the event that Comacho’s people come after Diana?
And while all of that is going on, Cusack is partnered with Kopalas after Cragie is put on desk duty while his shooting incident is reviewed (Dorato was shot in the leg during the sting and has to wear a cast). Cusack would rather work alone, but his boss, Commander Kates (Bert Remsen), wants Kopalas at his side. So Cusack and Kopalas go looking for Diana, hoping to save her from certain death and perhaps catching some of Comacho’s thugs in the process.
And while all of that is going on (there’s a lot of plot in this movie), Brennan wants everyone on Cusack’s team to sign a petition of support for Cragie. Cusack refuses because, again, he knows that Cragie is a dangerous asshole and shouldn’t be a cop anymore. Cusack’s refusal irks Brennan big time and sets the stage for Brennan refusing to provide backup for Cusack later on in the movie (well, there’s the petition and the big review board scene where Cusack tells the board that Cragie is dangerous).
Goddamn, that’s a lot of shit happening. And there’s even more! As all of that shit is going on, Cusack’s team has to participate in a demonstration for a heavily armed robot that’s supposed to help the Chicago police do their job. Cusack wants nothing to do with the robot, so you know that, at the end of the movie, Cusack is going to end up using the robot to take on the bad guys in some fashion. And that isn’t a spoiler, by the way. It’s just stating the obvious. Why have a heavily armed experimental police robot in the movie if the star isn’t going to use it at the end? Not having that happen would just be bad screenwriting.
Now, this whole police robot thing could have been ridiculous. The situation could have been played for laughs, the robot could have been given “personality,” and the robot could have been used to pull a prank on someone. None of that happens. The closest thing to a “robot joke” in the movie is the bit where Cusack pulls his gun on the robot manufacturer’s representative played by John Mahoney. And the robot has a cool name, the “Prowler.” And when the robot is finally used, it’s used briefly, it kills tons of bad guys, and then it just stops being a part of the story. That’s how you use a police robot in a serious cop action flick.
The general lack of martial arts action is surprising as the movie has goddamn Chuck Norris in it. The only martial arts stuff we get is a quick training scene, where Cusack is working out in the precinct gym, and in the bar scene where Cusack walks into a bad guy bar ready to fight. And, as I already said, Chuck Norris loses the fight in this sequence. In a “normal” Chuck Norris flick those assholes in the bar would get destroyed. And then there’s the ending. In a “normal” Chuck Norris picture the Chuck Norris character would karate kick the bad guy into hell. That doesn’t happen in Code of Silence. There isn’t even a set up to potentially see that kind of thing. Eddie Cusack just shoots Henry Silva and that’s it. That’s freaking insane. I mean, Silva’s Luis attempts to attack a woman with a hammer. Why wouldn’t Chuck Norris eventually use that hammer on Luis after kicking him through a wall or something? That kind of thing just doesn’t happen in Code of Silence. It’s just not that kind of world.
Director Davis, in his first major action flick, knows exactly what he’s doing with every scene and manages to balance the mob war stuff and the police infighting stuff like a pro. There’s a terrific foot chase sequence and a great car chase that will have you on the edge of your seat. It’s a damn shame that we don’t get car chases like that anymore.
Norris is phenomenal as Eddie Cusack. He’s able to hold his own against some brilliant character actors and manages to show the world a different side to his typical bad ass big screen persona. Why the hell didn’t Norris get more movies like this one? Code of Silence, as far as I can tell, was a box office success and generated some of the best reviews of Norris’s career. Why didn’t Norris get more offers from directors outside of the “usual” Cannon Films roster? Don’t get me wrong, I’m a fan of damn near all of Chuck’s Cannon work, but it would have been interesting to see Chuck Norris in a few more “prestige” action flicks. In the right situation, Chuck Norris could act.
The great Henry Silva is barely in the movie as the ruthless mob boss Luis Comacho, but the stuff we do get from him is classic Silva. He will make your skin crawl while describing what a “Colombian neck tie” is. And his final scene with the hammer, while brief, will scare you. When he wants to Silva can creep you the hell out.
Ron Henriquez makes his Victor Comacho a real piece of garbage. At first, you almost feel some sympathy for him as he’s involved in that opening shootout. But then he’s okay with what Luis wants to do, killing the entire Luna family, and that’s just reprehensible. And Mike Genovese, as Tony Luna, is just a horrible human being. He tries to score big time but screws up instead and gets his family killed in the process. And Tony ran to Wisconsin. What a pussy. Some fucking badass mobster.
Ralph Foody makes Cragie the drunk cop the biggest piece of shit in the world. He’s arrogant, dangerous, and perpetually oblivious about how awful he really is. And Foody just oozes sleaze. It’s too damn bad Cusack didn’t get to kick the shit out of him. That would have been a hoot to see. Ron Dean does a fine job, too, as the quintessential Chicago character actor cop as Brennan. He switches back and forth between being an okay cop and being a spiteful sack of crap like an expert. And Joseph F. Kosala is his usual self as Kobas. What the hell is the deal with his gigantic handgun? It’s actually bigger than the gun Chuck Norris uses. Isn’t there a rule against that kind of thing?
Dennis Farina is so damn awesome as Dorato, Cusack’s partner. He’s funny, he’s obviously street smart (Farina was a real Chicago cop at the time the movie was made), and he has tremendous buddy cop chemistry with Chuck. Dorato’s potential “get rich quick” schemes are hilarious. It’s too bad he wasn’t Cusack’s active partner throughout the entire movie. I understand why Cusack is partnered with Joe Guzaldo’s Nick Kopalas (Guzaldo does a good job in the movie) but, man, Kopalas just doesn’t have the same chemistry with Cusack.
Bert Remsen does an awesome job as Cusack’s boss, Commander Kates. He’s your typical cop movie boss, yelling at our hero and giving him shit while also respecting him immensely, and Remsen does the part expertly.
And then there’s Molly Hagan as Diana Luna, the woman Cusack has to save from certain death. She’s headstrong and a badass. You may not think that because she gets captured and Cusack has to come and save her, but look at her performance again. How the heck is she supposed to react when heavily armed thugs come after her on the streets of Chicago? She isn’t a cop, a soldier, she’s just a young woman trying to live her life. Let’s see what you do when you go through what she goes through. Exactly.
Code of Silence is a great cop action flick. Everything about it is top notch and well made. Why the hell didn’t Chuck Norris get more movies like this one? It’s insane.
See Code of Silence. See it, see it, see it.
So what do we have here?
Dead bodies: 47
Explosions: A few, both big and small.
Nudity?: None.
Doobage: A great 1980’s cop movie theme, cops working undercover as garbage men, a guy with a killer mullet, a double pat down, money counting, several bags of drugs, a cocaine color test, a full on machine gun massacre, major league theft, a picture of Jesus on the wall, slow motion guy falling, bullet to the leg, shoe cutting, police interrogation, cake, a petition, a police robot, a rusted out muscle car, people doing cocaine in full view of everyone, a funeral procession, beating up a guy on a boat, a dead body, a full on family massacre, knife to the back, an insane walking on the top of a moving train stunt, big time diving, cast signing, a hilarious guys trying to rob a cop bar scene, tea, a police review board hearing, a very dead old friend, more people doing cocaine, a guy gets his face pressed into a mirror full of cocaine, 9 ball to the back of the head, a full on bar brawl, a cop gets pushed down a flight of stairs, leather gloves, an underground highway car chase, a graphic head shot, a wild flip, exploding car, police robot hooey, exploding gang member, LAWS rocket launcher hooey, shotgun hooey, Uzi hooey, attempted claw hammer attack, and an ending that sort of suggests there could be a sequel.
Kim Richards?: Big time.
Gratuitous: Chicago, Chuck Norris, Chuck Norris in Chicago, Dennis Farina, Chuck Norris and Dennis Farina posing as garbage men, Chuck Norris whistling, baseball centric cop talk, a Rubik’s cube, a guy complaining about another guy not shaking his hand, Dennis Farina complaining about how much he paid for his shoes, multiple Chicago movie character actors, Chuck Norris working on a Rubik’s cube in the middle of a police interrogation, Henry Silva, Henry Silva talking about giving Chuck Norris a Colombian neck tie, Chuck Norris working out, Chuck Norris refusing to sign a petition, a police robot, John Mahoney, kids looking at monkeys in a zoo, Chuck Norris walking around an art gallery, an old man marveling at what a computer can do, a major continuity error involving a woman’s purse, a guy trying on different pairs of sunglasses for some reason, Chuck Norris wearing a shirt that says “Illinois” on it, scrambled eggs, Chuck Norris getting his ass kicked in a bar, Chuck Norris putting on leather gloves, Chuck Norris using a robot to kill bad guys, Chuck Norris using a LAWS rocket, Valvoline barrels, Chuck Norris using a shotgun, and Chuck Norris and Dennis Farina driving off together to be cops another day.
Best lines: “Have a shot, kid, A little nerve tonic,” “Hey, man, these things will test your head,” “Ah! You goddamn Dr. Jekyll! He’s a butcher!,” “Hey, you want a tune up, fuck face?,” “Hey, Sarge? You wanna know why a Comacho is like a cue ball? Cus the harder you hit ‘em the better the English gets!,” “Hey! None of your lip today!,” “Hey, Eddie! You had a good set up. Too bad it went to hell,” “What the fuck’s the matter with you?,” “I’m Eddie Cusack,” “Hey! You comfortable?,” “Is that a bribe, Mr. Scalese?,” “What kind of people are these guys?,” “Leave your goddamn pants on!,” “What the fuck you doing?,” “Hey! Hurry up! I’ve got a lot of women that want to sign it!,” “Tell it like it is, Nick. I’ll back you up,” “It seems like the man has his tongue stuck to his asshole,” “If I want your opinion I’ll beat it out of you,” “I want Luis you fucking punk!,” “Who wants the first one?,” “When the sun comes up you give me Luna or the girl dies. Slowly,” “Hey! Cusack! Where you going with my car?,” “Where’s Cusack? He’s saving the world!,” “What’s this for, partner, your next fuck up?,” “Get the girl!,” Come on, Eddie, we told you we’d get ya!,” “You know where to find me,” and “Hey, partner, I got a great idea. Mail order Christmas trees. Think about it.”
Rating: 9.0/10.0
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The Gratuitous B-Movie Column: The Facebook Page!
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Things to Watch Out For This Week
–Another Wolfcop: I loved the first Wolfcop (I reviewed it way back here). I didn’t like the ending but, for the most part, the movie was a hoot. Now, three years later, we have the sequel, which looks just as good. I’m a little worried about the presence of Kevin Smith, but it looks like everyone who was involved in the first one is back for the sequel. And you gotta love that poster/DVD cover that resembles Cobra. A full on review for this flick is forthcoming, so be on the lookout for that. Another Wolfcop! Yeah!
–Escape Plan 2: Hades: Now, the early reviews I’ve seen for this flick are a tad worrisome. It sounds like Stallone isn’t in it all that much, it’s “cheap,” and, like plenty of other straight-to-DVD action flicks, just isn’t very exciting. I still want to see it, though. I want to see if it’s really as bad as has been alleged, and, at the same time, I want to support everyone involved in it anyway. Plus, there’s a part 3 coming, and do you really want to be out of the loop when that movie finally shows up? Of course you don’t, so be sure to check it out no matter what.
–The Jurassic Games: This is some sort of mega low budget sci-fi action horror flick from the fine folks at High Octane Pictures. It looks like it’s a mash-up of The Running Man, Gamer, The Condemned, and modern dinosaur movies, with death row inmates forced to “play a game” against virtual reality dinosaurs in order to win their freedom. Sound kind of ridiculous? Yeah, maybe a little, but I bet it rocks nonetheless. Definitely plan on checking this out. This, and The Jurassic Dead.
–A Breed Apart: This home video release comes to us from the fine folks at Shout! Factory and is something that came out in 1984. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it, though. I’ve watched the trailer multiple times now and the damn thing doesn’t ring a bell at all. Anyway, Rutger Hauer stars in this alongside a truly terrific cast including Powers Boothe, Kathleen Turner, Donald Pleasance, and the immortal Brion James. This Blu-ray has special features on it, too, with an interview with and a commentary by director Philippe Mora. Perhaps we’ll find out what the heck happened with this movie. Where did it go? Anyone out there see this? Anyone at all?
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Did you check out Cult TV?
The 1970’s TV thriller Kolchak: The Night Stalker is first up! Check out what I think about the show with the links below!
Issue #3 and #4… coming soon!
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B-Movie News
–The Last Drive-In featuring Joe Bob Briggs on Shudder on Friday the 13th!: Yes, finally, we have some news as to when drive-in movie critic Joe Bob Briggs returns to television, or as close to television as the modern world allows. Joe Bob will be hosting a 24 hour horror movie marathon on Friday the 13th on Shudder, starting at 9pm EST (6 PM PST). Now, as the Shudder promo below states, this 24 hour marathon may end up being more like 26 hours because Joe Bob’s presence will make the movies run longer than usual. Shudder doesn’t have commercials, but for this marathon the channel will “act” like it has commercials so Joe Bob can periodically talk about the movie and whatnot. It sounds like “The Last Drive In” will resemble Monstervision more than Joe Bob’s Drive-In Theater, his old show on The Movie Channel. And I’m okay with that. Heck, it would have been fine if Shudder just had Joe Bob doing intros for each movie. But with this scheme we’re getting intros, interruptions, and much, much more.
So, yeah, I’m okay with all of it. It’s the return of Joe Bob, and that’s all that really matters.
At the moment, we know three of the twelve/thirteen movies Joe Bob will be hosting: Tourist Trap, Sleepaway Camp, and Basket Case. I’m going to assume that the Sleepaway Camp portion of the marathon will have Felissa Rose as a special guest, and maybe Frank Henenlotter for Basket Case. It will be interesting to see who else shows up.
Just like my 411 colleague and fellow Joe Bob nerd Joseph Lee said in the latest A Bloody Good Time, I’ll be watching as much of the marathon as I physically can and plan on doing some sort of write up about the event. And this is an event.
And, at the moment, it looks like it’s going to be a one-time only deal, although you have to believe that if the marathon is popular that Shudder will invite Joe Bob back to do something again. My ultimate dream, though, is that “The Last Drive-In” leads to Joe Bob hosting Fear Fest on AMC this October. Shudder is owned by AMC, and since AMC is still very much in the “showing horror movies” business because of The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, why not have Joe Bob get back into the “hosting a movie show on basic cable” business?
Yeah, the odds of that happening are slim, but I can dream, can’t I?
Anyway, be sure to check out “The Last Drive-In” on Shudder on Friday, July 13th. It’s going to be awesome.
–Alexander Nevsky is the Break Out Action Star of the Year!: Yes, the great Alexander Nevsky, actor, director, bodybuilder, Hollywood Foreign Press Association member, and general badass has been named the Break Out Action Star of the Year 2018 by the Action on Film International Film Festival. Nevsky has starred in action flicks like Moscow Heat, Treasure Raiders, and Showdown in Manila (check out my review of that flick here) and made his directorial debut with Black Rose (check out my review of that flick here). He has a charismatic screen presence that international audiences have embraced and is, without question, a major star on the rise.
Check out the official press release here, and then be sure to check out one or more of his movies. Showdown in Manila is on DVD and various digital platforms, and Black Rose is currently on Netflix, so you can easily check out those two movies.
And be sure to keep an eye out for Nevsky’s upcoming action-comedy Maximum Impact, which should be out soon.
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Who is the Douchebag of the Week? Go here and find out!
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Next Issue: It’s Braddock: Missing in Action III with Chuck Norris!
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Interviews
david j. moore
Jino Kang
Vladimir Kulich
Paul Mormando
Michael Matteo Rossi
Tyrone Magnus
Hector Barron
Jeffrey Orgill
Michael Baumgarten
R. Marcos Taylor
Don “The Dragon” Wilson
Paul Kyriazi
Eric Jacobus
Juju Chan
Luke LaFontaine
Marco Siedlemann
Sam Firstenberg
Amariah Olson
Alexander Nevsky
Mathias Hues
Kristanna Loken
Steve Mitchell
Albert Pyun
Brad Thornton
Mathieu Ratthe
Damien Power
Kelsey Carlisle
Mike Dwyer
Nicholas Bushman
Brahim Achabbakhe
Etcetera
Richard LeMay
Andrew David Barker
Cynthia Rothrock
Leslie Simpson
C. Courtney Joyner
Eric Miller
Alexander Nevsky (2)
Christopher Lawrence Chapman
James Mark
Casper Van Dien
Chris Mark
James E. Wilson
Barry Hunt
Vincent J. Roth
Mathew Ziff
Brandon Tyler Russell
Barry Hunt (2)
Lobsang Tenzin
Dylan Reynolds
Paul Kyriazi(2)
Lincoln Bevers
Nassasin Nuri
Hannah Janssen
Harry Mok
Daniel Roebuck
Sage Croft
Stephen van Vuuren
Cheryl Wheeler Sanders
Eric Jacobus (2)
David William No
Nicholas Verdi
Luke LaFontaine (2)
Roger Yuan
Dominik Starck
Tamas Nadas
Tyler Savage
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Well, I think that’ll be about it for now. Don’t forget to sign up with disqus if you want to comment on this article and any other 411 article. You know you want to, so just go do it.
B-movies rule. Always remember that.
Code of Silence
Chuck Norris– Eddie Cusack
Henry Silva– Luis Comacho
Bert Remsen– Commander Kates
Mike Genovese– Tony Luna
Nathan Davis– Felix Scalese
Ralph Foody– Cragie
Ron Henriquez– Victor Comacho
Joseph Guzaldo– Nick Kopalas
Molly Hagan– Diana Luna
Ron Dean– Brennan
Dennis Farina– Dorato
Joe Kosala– Kobas
John Mahoney– Prowler Representative
Directed by Andrew Davis
Screenplay by Michael Butler, Dennis Shyrack, and Mike Gray, based on a story by Michael Butler and Dennis Shyrack
Distributed by Orion Pictures, Good Times Home Video, MGM Home Entertainment, and Kino Lorber
Rated R for graphic violence, language, adult situations, and some drug use.
Runtime– 101 minutes
Buy it here
