Above the Law (1988)

A former Special Operations Vietnam vet works as a Chicago cop, and uncovers C.I.A. wrongdoing.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writers:

Andrew Davis (story), Steven Seagal (story)

Stars:

Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Henry Silva

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steven Seagal	...	Nico Toscani
Pam Grier	...	Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
Henry Silva	...	Kurt Zagon
Ron Dean	...	Detective Lukich
Daniel Faraldo	...	Tony Salvano
Sharon Stone	...	Sara Toscani
Miguel Nino	...	Chi Chi Ramon
Nicholas Kusenko	...	FBI Agent Neeley
Joe Greco	...	Father Joseph Gennaro (as Joe V. Greco)
Chelcie Ross	...	Nelson Fox
Gregory Alan Williams	...	FBI Agent Halloran (as Gregory Alan-Williams)
Jack Wallace	...	Uncle Branca
Metta Davis	...	Rosa Toscani
Joseph F. Kosala	...	Lieutenant Strozah (as Joseph Kosala)
Ronnie Barron	...	CIA Bartender

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 ...

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Plot Keywords:

forced to strip | sadist | police brutality | cia | drugs | 

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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.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Release Date:

22 April 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Nico

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,500,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,037,938, 10 April 1988, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$18,869,631

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min 94 min (cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Andrew Davis was hired to direct, because Steven Seagal liked Code of Silence (1985).

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Goofs

(at around 38 mins) as mass ends, the Priest and Alter Boys walk down a side aisle. In the Catholic tradition, the Recessional takes place down the center aisle.

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Quotes

Nico Toscani: Is that what Zagon is; one of your basement boys?
Nelson Fox: Zagon's a rancher. 4000 acres in Costa Rica. Beautiful place.
Nico Toscani: Beautiful place, huh? And tell me, was that bought with opium money from the triangle?
Nelson Fox: And a ton of coke a week from other places.
Nico Toscani: Which he funnels here through Salvano, The Company getting it's cut, of course.
Nelson Fox: Legal tender.
Nico Toscani: Yeah. So war is still the greatest business, huh Nelson? I mean, these guys have financed & started every war we've ever fought. But you know something, nobody ...
[...]

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Connections

Featured in Sharon Stone - Una mujer de 100 caras (1998)

User Reviews

Seagal goes above the law in "Above the Law"

Before he was "out for justice" on the mean Brooklyn streets and "under siege" by terrorists on a U.S. Navy battleship, he was above the law. Yes, I'm talking about that quick-fisted, pony-tailed martial arts hero Steven Seagal and his 1988 starring debut "Above the Law."

Though his career hasn't panned out the way this debut promised, it is nonetheless a dynamic introduction to the mysterious world of Seagal, who plays Nico Toscani, a Chicago cop who as a child took up the Japanese martial art of Aikido and was some time later recruited by the CIA for covert operations in Vietnam.

After witnessing the cruel torture and executions of some Vietnamese hostages by ruthless CIA chemical interrogator Zagon (Henry Silva) and his cohorts, who also seem in on a secret drug running operation, he walks away from his career and retires to life as a cop on the streets of Chicago with wife Sara (Sharon Stone) and partner Jacks (Pam Grier). Things get dicey when two suspects collared in a recent drug bust are allowed to go free. The department silences concerns by announcing that the two men are part of a huge undercover investigation. But Nico doesn't buy it.

He suspects that something bigger is underway, and he's right. It isn't long before he stumbles onto a covert drug running operation right under his nose that involves his old CIA buddies, a local drug kingpin, some corrupt FBI officials and old nemesis Zagon, who is also involved in a political assassination plot. So Toscani, Jacks, and his Aikido fists of fury go to work on some really bad guys.

Directed by Andrew Davis and co-produced by Seagal (who also shares a story credit), "Above the Law" promises a mean and gritty portrait of law enforcement with the magnetic screen presence of the charismatic (if not necessarily wooden) Seagal in the lead. The picture opens with some black & white home movie footage of Toscani and accompanying narration, showing us this mysterious man's history. Seagal, who became the first American to open an Aikido dojo in Japan and at the time held a sixth-degree black belt in the art, was a world-renowned security expert before he started appearing in the movies and snapping necks, bending limbs, and using his opponents' own momentum and strength against them.

"Above the Law" does has some script problems, but it's balanced out by some rough & tumble action shoot-outs and nasty fights where Seagal throws his opponents into things and breaks and twists limbs 180 degrees in the opposite direction. But that is what his chosen sport Aikido does, as it employs joint locks, pins, and other methods meant to redirect and utilize an attacker's own strength and power against him. And Seagal does it perfectly.

Is "Above the Law" a sensational debut for Steven Seagal? Certainly, at least for his loyalists. As a casual fan, he has certainly made better movies since then and improved his "acting" skills but what will always dazzle us are the nifty arm-twists and breaks that prove he is a master of his Aikido craft.

8/10