The budget may be loftier, but
Eye of the Tiger is essentially an up-to-date AIP motorcycle flick. Ex-convict Buck Mathews (
Gary Busey) lives as quietly as possible in his old home town. The corrupt local sheriff (
Seymour Cassel) would give anything to drive Buck out of town: thus, the sheriff looks the other way when a motorcycle gang headed by Blade (
William Smith, who else?) invades the community and targets Buck for extermination. With no one else on his side, Buck turns to honest cop J.B. Deveraux (
Yaphet Kotto), but he's a few days away from retirement and doesn't want to get involved. It turns out that the only "good guy" Buck can depend upon is a "bad guy": A well-connected Latino drug lord who owes Buck a favor. When the chips are down and Buck's daughter is kidnapped, Deveraux joins in the climactic offensive against the bikers--which, of course, boils down to a mano-y-mano struggle between Buck and Blade. You've seen it all before, but in this case familiarity does
not breed contempt. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide