My review was written in February 1989 after watching the movie on Diamond Entertainment video cassette.
"Tiger Shark" is a Filipino-lensed action pic that rarely rises above the routine but functions adequately as a throwback to the soldier of fortune pics popular in the '50s.
Mike Stone topliens (and collaborates behind the camera too) as Tava, nicknamed Tiger Shark, called from his Hawaiian martial arts academy to help war buddy John Quade rescue Stone's kidnapped girlfriend Pamela Bryant.
A subplot involving a Soviet communist leader (played as a lecherous caricature by Jimmy Fabrigas) providing military aid to rebels goes nowhere. Pic climaxes in a well-staged, to-the-death kickboxing contest, the combatant joined with a steel chain.
Acting is weak except for a very entertaining, salt-of-the-earth performance by Quade, a familiar good ol' boy character actor who rarely gets such a meaty role as here.
