It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

(58%) With a solid director at the helm this is maybe Chuck's best movie, or at the very least one of his best. Although the plot really doesn't know if it wants to be a police whistle blowing movie on a bent cop, or a organised crime "Untouchables" type of flick, and in the end it tries to do both, which overall makes for a quite cluttered action film. It's entertaining, and well put together enough for a decent watch, but don't expect it to last too long in the memory as I've seen it about 3 times now and each time it's felt like I'm watching something different, which is fine in something complex or layered, but not so much in an 1980's mid- budget Chuck Norris movie.

Chuck Norris...Chuck Norris. Thus ends my review...just kidding. In all seriousness I'll keep going but really, knowing Norris is in this should be enough of a selling point for anyone. This is some of his earliest work and by far some of his best.When a drug bust goes south, a mob war erupts and at the center of it all is an innocent girl who just happens to have the misfortune of being a mob bosses daughter. Enter Chuck Norris as a tough, gritty cop who not only wants to bring down the scum that is the mafia but also wants to protect the mobsters daughter from hit men who've already murdered her whole family. A simple enough story line but one that is played out so well you can't help but be captivated from start to finish.The situation worsens when Norris discovers that a burnt out cop in his squad accidentally killed a teenage boy and planted a gun on the body to cover up his crime. All of this leaves Norris to face insurmountable odds taking on the mob alone as his fellow cops abandon him as a traitor. Will that stop Chuck? The iceberg that sunk the Titanic couldn't stop Chuck...sorry, I can't help it. How many stars can be the core of a million jokes and yet still be so cool that he could freeze ice cream in the Mojave desert...see, I did it again.To put it simply, In this movie Chuck Norris does what he does best, he kicks ass. More importantly though, being as this is some of his finest work you can really see his acting talent. You can see that's he's much more than just another action star but that he's also a very capable actor. The supporting cast all around is excellent as well, especially Dennis Farina. Little tidbit there, Farina was in fact a cop in Chicago for eighteen years in real life. Just thought I'd toss that in for those who might not know.One film this movie could best be compared to is Raw Deal from 1986 or perhaps The French Connection from 1971. Code of Silence has that same rough gritty filming style with actors who play their roles so well it's astonishing. Everything from the vehicles used on set to the filming locations were brilliantly chosen and the whole look and feel of the movie just perfect. If your an action movie fan, put down the modern crap and pick this one up. You'll love it and if you don't already love Chuck Norris you will after watching this, that's a promise.

In 1985 Chicago cops like Sergeant Eddie Cusack (Chuck Norris) attempt to keep the streets clean of drug-pushing scum. His opponent in this drug war is none other than Luis Comacho (Henry Silva, in one of his token drug lord roles, commanding his legion of dregs, provided with plenty of miscreants for Norris to obliterate) who wants to monopolize the drug trade and needs to rid himself of the man standing in his way, Tony Luna (Mike Genovese). Eddie wants to find Tony Luna as well, but finds the Comacho family a major thorn in his side as they start gunning down any member of the Luna crime family, including the man's own wife and daughters. Eddie tries to keep one of Tony's daughters, Diana (Molly Hagan), safe from harm but Luis will not make that easy. Plain and simple, Luis wants Tony dead—and that includes all his offspring, not one Luna left alive. That's only part of Eddie's nagging problems. Like many of these 70s/80s cop movies, Eddie is breaking in a new, green partner, Nick (Joe Guzaldo) so training such a young man can carry a heavy burden (most of the time, Chuck tells him to stay in the car, though). Even worse, Nick sees an old veteran on Eddie's tactical team, Cragie (Ralph Foody), shoot an innocent kid, during a big shakedown with police chasing hoods in the Chicago streets, stunned and disturbed. Cragie plants a gun on the kid and claims it was self-defense, with Nick caught in a dilemma—should he tell the truth at the hearing for Cragie regarding what he truly saw (Cragie, of course, sticks to the story that he was only defending himself) or lie so that his cop brethren will not turn their backs on him. Eddie, a true man of honor and valor, tells Nick he should tell the truth and is honest during the hearing about wanting Cragie off his tactical unit. So when Eddie wages war with Comacho, his own police officers won't back him up, a code of silence prevailing so that Cragie remains a pillar among his cop peers. As a Norris vehicle, CODE OF SILENCE would probably have to be considered one of Chuck's finest action movies. He gets to use his fists, feet, police issued gun, and shot gun, and has a worthy adversary in Silva who gleefully smirks as his men finish off an entire family, four women among the slaughtered. Silva also serviced another Andrew Davis actioner with Steven Seagal as the cop hero and he once again as a crime kingpin, in ABOVE THE LAW. Lots of familiar faces in the cast, such as Dennis Farina and Bert Remsen, as cops. The Chicago street locations are always an asset in regards to cop dramas; the authenticity of city streets and the local color which occupy them only add weight to the storyline. Chuck's one man army act is once again used in an action film for which he stars, except this time he has an armored police tank which comes in handy when you need to take out thirty people in a giant warehouse. If you enjoy seeing men exploding through pallets or sent hurling fifty feet in the air after being hit by small missiles, this is your movie. And, of course, you have the standard bar fight where Chuck must combat like fifteen people, most of which outweigh him, as a pleased Silva looks on from a distance, enjoying the fact that even a warrior like Eddie has his limitations. Silva, who snarls and spits venom with the best villains, has a field day, while Chuck keeps a face of seriousness and determination.

And a sentimental favorite of mine because I love movies shot in my hometown, Chicago.Norris was never better than he is in this film, which would easily work with another lead. It's that good. It's not a schlock action hero vehicle for a non-actor champion of a physical sport.It moves at a terrific pace. There's not a wasted shot, and it uses its local cast and locations well in setting the mood and telling the story. It's about a drug bust gone bad and the war between rival mobsters that results. Norris is the undercover cop who singlehandedly ends the war and brings the bad guys down.Look for John Mahoney in an early film role (okay, a bit part) and a great fight sequence atop a moving El train.No kidding. this is a terrific action film.