“An Eye for an Eye” is a 1981 American crime action film directed by Steve Carver and starring Chuck Norris, Christopher Lee, Richard Roundtree, Matt Clark, Mako Iwamatsu, and Maggie Cooper. The film follows Sean Kane (Chuck Norris), a San Francisco police officer who quits the force to avenge his partner’s murder by Asian drug dealers. Kane teams up with a Japanese-American cop named James Chan (Mako Iwamatsu) to take down the drug ring. Christopher Lee plays Morgan Canfield, a wealthy businessman who is secretly the head of the drug ring. Matt Clark plays Pierce, a corrupt police officer who is in league with the drug dealers. Harold Sakata plays a henchman named “The Black Star Ninja” who is hired by Canfield to kill Kane and Chan.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. Janet Maslin of The New York Times wrote, “As martial arts movies go, it’s pretty tame.” Variety called the film “an effective martial arts actioner for the current champ of the genre, Chuck Norris…. This guy needs a charisma transplant.” Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called the film “a solidly crafted no-nonsense exploitation picture that delivers the goods to Norris’ …”.
Harold Sakata’s character, “The Black Star Ninja,” is a skilled martial artist and assassin who is hired by Christopher Lee’s character to kill Kane and Chan. Sakata is best known for his role as Oddjob in the James Bond film “Goldfinger.” Mako Iwamatsu’s character, James Chan, is a Japanese-American cop who teams up with Kane to take down the drug ring. Mako was a prolific actor who appeared in over 200 films and TV shows throughout his career. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in the film “The Sand Pebbles.”
