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Above the Law (1988)

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A former Special Operations Vietnam vet works as a Chicago cop and uncovers CIA wrongdoing.

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(story), (story) | 3 more credits »
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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
...
...
...
...
Detective Lukich
...
Tony Salvano
...
Sara Toscani
Miguel Nino ...
Chi Chi Ramon
Nicholas Kusenko ...
FBI Agent Neeley
Joe Greco ...
Father Joseph Gennaro (as Joe V. Greco)
...
Nelson Fox
...
FBI Agent Halloran (as Gregory Alan-Williams)
...
Uncle Branca
Metta Davis ...
Rosa Toscani
Joseph F. Kosala ...
Lieutenant Strozah (as Joseph Kosala)
Ronnie Barron ...
CIA Bartender
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Storyline

In Japan, the Sicilian martial arts expert Nicolo "Nico" Toscani is recruited by the CIA Special Agent Nelson Fox to join the Special Operations Forces in the border of the Vietnam and Cambodia. In 1973, Nico witnesses the torturer Kurt Zagon interrogating prisoners of war and he is disgusted and quits the CIA, returning to Chicago. Fifteen years later, Nico is married with a baby with his wife Sarah and they live in the same house of his mother. Nico is a tough and incorruptible narcotics detective of the Chicago Police Department very close to his partner and friend Delores 'Jacks' Jackson and his friend Detective Lukich. When Nico and Jacks investigate a drug traffic operation, they arrest the gang of the drug dealer Tony Salvano but they find that they are smuggling the plastic explosive C4 instead. However there is an interference of the FBI and Salvano and his partner are released by FBI Agent Neeley (Nicholas Kusenko) and the detectives are forbidden of proceed with the ... Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Plot Summary | Add Synopsis

Taglines:

He was a covert agent trained in Vietnam. He has a master 6th degree black belt in Aikido... and family in the Mafia. He's a cop with an attitude. See more »


Certificate:

R | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

 »
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Details

Country:

Release Date:

22 April 1988 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Nico  »

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$18,869,631 (USA)
 »

Company Credits

Production Co:

 »
Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

(4 channels)

Color:

(Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The pictures in the opening credits (including the one of the baby Nico) are actually real pictures of Steven Seagal in his youth. See more »

Goofs

During the shootout in the garage, the second car that Nico drives changes from a Plymouth Gran Fury to a Dodge Diplomat. See more »

Quotes

Nico Toscani: Who sent you?
Punk: Jimmy Costansas.
Nico Toscani: If I find out you're lying, I'll come back and kill you in your own kitchen.
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
his best movie
23 April 2005 | by (Seattle, USA) – See all my reviews

This was Steven Seagal's best movie. It was the only one where he focuses mainly on his outstanding Aikido ability. His fight's always look real in this movie and it's not overdone with automatic weapons like his latter films. The story is very believable because the CIA was covertly involved in illicit operations in Vietnam and Cambodia and Laos. One of the best scenes (martial arts) is a simple one: In the middle of the movie he chases a suspect (thug) through the streets to finally catch up with him and get some information out of him . A friend of the thug is walking towards them and says to Seagal " get your hands off him" or words to that effect. Seagal walks casually towards him and drops him with a very realistic punch to the stomach. Fight over. If you've ever done Martial arts you know that the punch was realistic. Seagal can really do that. Watch this scene and believe me, it's how it really is after practicing to Seagal's level (many, many years).


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