History Film / CodeOfSilence

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: The fight in the bar shows how even a stone-cold badass with martial arts training is still just one man and doesn't have a chance against an entire room full of opponents as they can just rush him all at once. Cusack only leaves the place alive on the villain's orders.

* NotSoDifferent: The Mafia's ''Omerta'' or blood oath of loyalty, which is compared to the [[TitleDrop Code of Silence]] that police use to protect their own inept or corrupt cops. Underscored by the side-story of Cragie's drunken shooting of an unarmed Latino teen during a drug bust gone wrong, and how the rest of the department treats Cusack when he crosses the "Blue line" and testifies against Cragie at a public hearing. Lampshaded by the gang lords whenever Cusack interrogates them or tries to talk them out of the impending gang war.

* HeelFaceTurn: rookie detective Kopalas [[spoiler: who witnessed Cragie shooting an unarmed kid and planting a gun next to the body]], is torn between telling the truth and abiding by the "Blue line" mentality of his fellow cops to never rat out one of their own. [[spoiler: When it becomes clear that Cragie isn't worth it and that Cusack needs the police force to back his play against the Comachos, Kopalas admits to what he witnessed, turning the department against Cragie.]]

* MookChivalry: Averted. The guys in the bar fight initially attack one at a time but [[RealityEnsues quickly catch on and rush Cusack all at once, rendering him helpless.]]

* RealityEnsues: It's a familiar scene. A cop strolls into a bar looking for information and is forced into a fight. Oh and the cop here is played by [[MemeticBadass Chuck Norris]]. Surely, we're about to see an epic, [[CurbStompBattle one-sided]] [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown beatdown]] from which he'll [[InvincibleHero emerge with barely a scratch]]? Nope! Cusack takes out a few guys with his martial arts skills but the men catch on and he's quickly overwhelmed by sheer numbers and defeated, only leaving alive because the villain spared him. Even someone incredibly tough and skilled can be defeated when drastically outnumbered.

''Code of Silence'' is a 1985 action movie starring Creator/ChuckNorris.

* NotSoDifferent: The Mafia's ''Omerta'' or blood oath of loyalty, which is compared to the [[TitleDrop Code of Silence]] that police use to protect their own inept or corrupt cops. Underscored by the side-story of Cragie's drunken shooting of an unarmed Black teen during a drug bust gone wrong, and how the rest of the department treats Cusack when he crosses the "Blue line" and testifies against Cragie at a public hearing. Lampshaded by the gang lords whenever Cusack interrogates them or tries to talk them out of the impending gang war.

* NoKillLikeOverkill: One of the reasons this movie goes into a darker territory than previous mob-based action movies. The rising drug cartels from Colombia like the Comachos do not care about who's a civilian and who's a mobster, unlike the Mafia: they will wipe out ''entire families'' to enact revenge.
** The Prowler, when first presented, is pitched as a drone for police use... and it packs ''rocket launchers''

* AluminiumChristmasTrees: The Prowler was an actual robot built in TheEighties, though designed as an autonomous SentryGun rather than an aid to law enforcement.

* StupidCrooks: A pair of criminals try to hold up a bar they don't know is the local police precinct's hang-out place. The second they pull out their guns, [[CrowningMomentOfFunny about thirty off-duty officers present their own weapons]].

* NotSoDifferent: The Mafia's ''Omerta'' or blood oath of loyalty, which is compared to the [[TitleDrop Code of Silence]] that police use to protect their own inept or corrupt cops. Underscored by the side-story of Cragie's drunken shooting of an unarmed Black teen during a drug bust gone wrong, and how the rest of the department treats Cusask when he crosses the "Blue line" and testifies against Cragie at a public hearing. Lampshaded by the gang lords whenever Cusask interrogates them or tries to talk them out of the impending gang war.

* Retirony: Brought up as a possibility when Cusack's original partner Det. Dorato (Dennis Farina) starts chatting up things the two of them can do as businessmen down in Florida or elsewhere. Dorato gets his leg broken during the opening drug bust gone wrong. [[spoiler: Subverted in that Dorato survives, merely left out of most of the movie's action until the end... when he's [[UndyingLoyalty the only cop]] to show up to save Cusack when Cusack goes it alone against the Comachos.]]

-->'''Farina''': I swear they're getting dumber by the year.

* DramaticGunCock: Two thugs try to rob a bar. Only when they hear a chorus of gun cocks do they realize it's a bar where off-duty cops hang out.

* RevengeByProxy: Mafia guy Tony Luna kills members of the Comacho cartel to steal their drugs, then flees to Michigan to lay low. The Comachos respond by killing Luna's family, who have nothing to do with his criminal dealings. This is because Tony killed the younger brother of the Comacho's leader in the robbery.
* StupidCrooks: A pair of criminals try to hold up a bar they don't know is the local police precinct's hang-out place. The second they pull out their guns, about thirty off-duty officers present their own weapons.

* TheCartel: The Comachos are a Colombian drug syndicate involved in a MobWar with the Mafia.

* IHaveYourWife: The Comachos kidnap Diana Luna to force Sergeant Cusack to deliver mafia guy Tony Luna (Diana's father) to them. When Luna is killed along with his uncle, Cusack arranges a fake hostage exchange so he can take out the whole Comacho gang single-handedly.

* TheCartel: The Comachos are a Colombian drug syndicate operating in the U.S.