41 Years Later, One of Chuck Norris' Highest-Rated Crime Classics Resurfaces as a Streaming Hit

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Chuck Norris without a shirt points and talks to Mike Genovese in Code of Silence, 1985.

Published Apr 1, 2026, 6:00 AM EDT

A cinematic obsessive with the filmic palate of a starving raccoon, Rob London will watch pretty much anything once. With a mind like a steel trap, he's an endless fount of movie and TV trivia, borne from a misspent youth of watching monster movies on TV, perusing the sun-faded goods at the local video rental shop, and staining his fingers with ink from the Video Movie Guide. Areas of interest include science fiction, film noir, horror flicks, '70s disaster pictures, Bond movies, '90s action, giant robots, dinosaurs, super heroes, and the exuberantly schlocky output of Cannon Films. He also enjoys both Star Trek and Star Wars when they're good, and maybe even more when they're bad. As a Canadian, he also has a vested interest in Canadian movies and TV shows, especially the cheesier ones dubbed "Canuxploitation."

An expert on Marvel Comics, he has also written for the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe, and is a member of the Marvel Research Team. He can frequently be found pontificating on comic-book continuity or bemoaning the misfortunes of the Toronto Maple Leafs on his Twitter account.

Chuck Norris, b-movie action king of the 1980s, died last month at age 86. While most of Norris' filmography was scorned by critics, one star vehicle for Norris' high-kicking charm was well reviewed, and it's finding a new audience on streaming. Code of Silence, Norris' 1985 neo-noir thriller, has become a hit on streaming services.

Code of Silence was almost a very different movie. Michael Butler and Dennis Shryack penned the script, intending it to be the fourth film in the Dirty Harry series; however, Warner Bros. rejected it, and Sudden Impact became Harry Callahan's next adventure, instead. The script ended up at Orion Pictures; a number of stars turned the film down, including Kris Kristofferson, Harrison Ford, and Kurt Russell. Eventually, Norris was cast in the lead role, a departure from his previous martial-arts-heavy films. However, he ended up getting some of the best reviews of his career, with the film earning a 68% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes — not to mention $20 million USD for Orion Pictures. Want to see for yourself? You'd better check out free, ad-supported streamer Tubi, where Code of Silence recently hit #9 on the streaming charts.

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What Is 'Code of Silence' About?

Norris stars as Chicago cop Eddie Cusack, who's on the trail of a cocaine ring run by kingpin Luis Comacho (Henry Silva, The Manchurian Candidate). However, a bust goes wrong when mobster Crazy Tony Luna (Mike Genovese, Point Break) intervenes; Cusack's partner (Dennis Farina, Manhunter) is badly hurt, and aging cop Cragie (Ralph Foody, best known as movie mobster Johnny in the Home Alone movies) accidentally shoots an innocent bystander. When he refuses to lie to protect Cragie, Cusack becomes an outcast among his fellow cops, but soon he has to deal with a war between the Mafia and Comacho's drug gang, with Luna's innocent daughter, Diana (Molly Hagan, iZombie), caught in the middle. Also, would you believe Chuck Norris teams up with a robot in the climax?

Director Andrew Davis filmed Code of Silence on location in Chicago, establishing him as a skilled action director. He would go on to work with Steven Seagal in Above the Law and Under Siege before helming one of the best thrillers of the 1990s in the form of The Fugitive. It garnered seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture.

Code of Silence is now streaming for free on Tubi. Stay tuned to Collider for future updates.