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

1 nomination.

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

Nico learned martial arts in Japan, and was in Vietnam for the CIA, and now is a cop in the vice squad of Chicago. A junkie tells him about a big drug deal; However it turns out that the deal was about C4 explosives and that one of the parties was the CIA. Nico gets ordered to keep out of it, but can't imagine why the CIA would sell C4, so he investigates further. While risking his and his young family's life, he discovers that the CIA tries to cover it's connections to drug dealers in Middle America and wouldn't even stop from murder.

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Plot Keywords:

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

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Taglines:

He's a cop who believes no one is above the law.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Seagal personally selected every weapon seen in the film.

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Goofs

When Lukich passes Jacks on the stairs during the saving the priest scene and Jacks gets shot with 12-gage, you can see the holes in the shirt before she falls down the stairs. Briefly right after she starts to fall, you can see the shirt no longer has the holes from the gunshot.

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Quotes

Delores Jackson: Isn't this your mother's church?
Nico Toscani: Yeah,but I bet you she doesn't see these boys in the choir.

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Alternate Versions

Although the UK cinema version was passed uncut, video versions were cut by 15 secs by the BBFC to edit shots of a man's nose being punched from a bar fight, drug use and an arm break during the final fight scene. The DVD features the same cut print. The uncut version was released on Blu-ray in the UK in 2009, but had not been officially classified by the BBFC, and was thus pulled from sale.

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Connections

Referenced in Intimate Portrait: Pam Grier (1999)

User Reviews

Steven Seagal's bone crunching debut

back in 1988,a new action hero emerged on the scene.exploded is a more apt description i guess.that action hero was named Steven Seagal.he makes quite an impression in his first film,exposing the masses to a little known fighting style known as Aikido.Seagal shows some acting promise as well,in this film,and even in a few more subsequent films.one thing is certain he captured the public's interest,in a big way,for awhile at least.as for this film,it has all the ingredients that are necessary for a good action film.is it his best film to date?i don't think so,but it does rate fairly high among his films nevertheless.for me,Above the Law is a 7/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

Release Date:

22 April 1988 (USA)

Also Known As:

Above the Law

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

Gross USA:

$18,869,631

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$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

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1