Code of Silence

A Chicago police operation against a South American drug ring goes wrong when a rival gang turns up at the exchange. A shootout leaves officers dead, the gang leader Comacho wounded and a large shipment of narcotics missing. The investigation falls to Sergeant Eddie Cusack, who works his own way through a city divided between the two organizations. At the same time, his fellow officers keep their distance because he is willing to move against a corrupt colleague, leaving him to fight largely alone.

Andrew Davis directed Code of Silence, released in 1985, placing it first among the features he went on to make, ahead of Above the Law, Under Siege and The Fugitive. Dennis Shryack, Michael Butler and Mike Gray wrote the screenplay, and Raymond Wagner produced it for Orion Pictures. Chuck Norris heads the cast as Cusack, with Henry Silva as Comacho, Mike Genovese as Tony Luna and Bert Remsen as Commander Kates among the credited performers.

Made for about seven million dollars, the film returned roughly twenty million worldwide. It holds a 5.9 rating on TMDB from 273 votes, while a smaller pool of critics' reviews gives it 6.1. The two figures sit close together, suggesting the film has found a comparable level of acceptance with reviewers and with the wider audience.