CompleteMartialArts.com - Above the Law
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List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $0.50
Your Save: $ 9.48 ( 95% )
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Steven Seagal, Pam Grier, Henry Silva, Ron Dean, Daniel Faraldo
Directed By: Andrew Davis
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9780790734507
Format: Closed-captioned
ISBN: 0790734508
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Release Date: 1998-04-28
Running Time: 99
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1988-04-08
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Editorial Reviews:
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Steven Seagal plays a Chicago cop who takes on CIA types in this action thriller from Andrew Davis (The Fugitive). Davis brings muscle to the project, including some strong set pieces that make Seagal (who also co-wrote and co-produced the film) look awfully good. Costars Pam Grier and Sharon Stone give a big assist in that department, too, yet nothing can really mitigate such ridiculous moments as Seagal's getting profound with a villain in his raspy monotone: "You think you're above the law. But you're not." The DVD release includes full-screen and widescreen presentations, production notes, trailers, optional Spanish soundtrack and optional French and Spanish subtitles. --Tom Keogh
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Superior fights & attitude make this a real quality flick
Comment: One of Seagal's best. A piece of work former CIA operative turned cop gets vicious with thugs who are, oo, very nasty pieces of work. There are some great fights & good lines, great supporting work from Pam Grier and Sharon Stone.
The martial arts work is top and there is plenty of high quality B movie cheese. Great stuff & superb entertainment.
Customer Rating:
Summary: "You guys think you're above the law... well you ain't above mine!"
Comment: For those who are unfamiliar with Steven Seagal's work, this is his first film debut. The movie received positive feedback after its initial screen test, resulting in a nation and world wide release. The film was a box office success and received positive critical reviews.
This was the first time we saw a different form of fighting style. Much different from other action heroes from that era. And this was due to Aikido, martial arts that uses the opponent's strength to defeat him, mostly through inertia. Seagal holds a 7th Dan in Aikido, making him a full expert in the arts.
The Story of the movie is a bit confusing for an action movie. As a matter of fact a review said " it contains 50 percent more plot than it needs, but that allows it room to grow in areas not ordinarily covered in action thrillers"(Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times=1988) and its true the movie is in a way unoriginal but it manages to be fresh by keeping the audience thinking and observing who is working for whom. The movie commences in Vietnam with the character of Nico Toscanni, he is recruited by the C.I.A to assist as an observant. Then we see the character as a cop investigating a drug ring. And it seems that everyone Nico busts comes out of jail quickly. Instead of being defended he is asked to back off. So it is obvious something is up...but what? The rest I leave to you to find out. Its a clever story that even though it's been used in various action movies of the 80's and 90's it still brings in a an extra punch. A must own by any Seagal enthusiastic
MY PERSONAL RATING: 3 ½ OUT OF 5
Customer Rating:
Summary: Above The Rest & Still The Best
Comment: Suck in the gut, remove those jowls, straighten the hair, and bring back commitment to the script and story: apply these steps to Steven Seagal and you end up with "Above the Law", our hero's 1988 breakout hit and possibly his best movie ever. While the action star's name hardly inspires thoughts of greatness, "Above the Law" reminds us what made him king of the hill back in his heyday: featuring at least twice as much story than most action vehicles of the time, our hero delivers big when in his element and handled by a competent director (Andrew Davis, who would also direct Seagal's top-grossing "Under Siege"), for the film has no shortage of thrills, shootouts, martial arts, and hammy characters to chew on whilst enjoying the best that 1980s celluloid had to deliver.
Nico Toscani (Seagal) is an ex-CIA vice cop working the drug rings of Chicago with his partner Jax (Pam Grier, "Jackie Brown") when he busts one of the biggest dealers in the region (Daniel Faraldo, "Trenchcoat"). But when the crook walks and a brick wall is thrown in front of Nico, he goes against jurisdiction to uncover a sinister plot involving an intercontinental drug cartel, an invasion of Nicaragua, the assassination of a US senator, and a sadistic CIA operative gone bad (Henry Silva, "Ghost Dog").
For starters, this is probably the best dramatic performance that Seagal has ever given. That's not saying much, but he pulls off the tough-guy persona without missing a bit, manages to display some definite emotion in the presence of his friends, and does a good job at pulling off a Sicilian-American accent. Not to be outdone, the supporting cast is probably the best that Seagal ever worked with, period: Pam Grier shines as a tough woman in a man's world, bad-guy Henry Silva is effectively hammy in his evilness, and Daniel Faraldo, Ron Dean ("The Dark Knight"), and Sharon Stone ("Basic Instinct") do their respective roles with an attention to detail absent from many of Seagal's later films.
The action scenes are no slouch, either: Seagal has never been in better shape than when he rides the roof of a moving car and performs what are probably his most technically-sound fight scenes done without a stunt double (the convenience store brawl is probably the best demonstration of practical aikido that's ever been filmed). There isn't a single disappointing gunfight in the film - all four of them are top-notch.
What makes this movie stand out, however, is the fact that Seagal's character is able to exist without either ruining the film with his invincibility or appearing too restrained. Nico Toscani is tough, but he's grounded by his very-defined family and friends. He makes very clear what he feels is right and wrong, but doesn't ever appear to be delivering a social sermon (a'la "On Deadly Ground"). He dishes out the violence in gratuitous amounts, but even the most pacifistic viewer will be hard-pressed not to agree that they deserved it (SPOILER: when he slowly snaps Henry Silva's arm, the only thing louder than groans of the disgusted will be cheers).
Also, aesthetic aspects that Seagal has since omitted from his films play a part in the story: family, friendship, religion, race, and parenthood are prevalent and handled in a manner that they don't become attractions - they're simply essential parts of building a world that's more intricate than one would expect from our hero, and this era of action films in general.
As far as I'm concerned, this is Seagal's magnum opus - deeper than "Under Siege", more realistic than "Exit Wounds", better moderated than "Out for Justice", and more of a definitive `Seagal movie' than "Hard to Kill". Action fans of any sort won't go wrong here. As for Seagal fans, this is definitely the film to introduce Master Steven to your friends with.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Segal's First And One Of His Best
Comment: Like many bargain priced eighties Above The Law is a bare bones DVD with no features to speak of. However at 9.99 no one is going to buy this movie for the features even though a commentary would have been nice. As for the movie,Above The Law is a hands down action classic. This was the debut of one the early nineties biggest action stars Stevn Segal. The direction by Andrew Davis was tense and the fight sequences are cool. Steven Segal's first is still one of his best.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Segal uncorks the film world and takes it for the very first time!
Comment: This was a hugely significant moment in film history. Above the Law was the first ever film of the now ledgendary Steven Segal. Yeah, this was his first film, but the man looked like he was in the zone from the first second of the film when we see him in his karate getup with two of the most ferocious sideburns to ever grace the big screen. To set the scene, the movie was made in 1988, and it was set in Chicago. And to top it all off, Segal's name in the film was Nico Toscani. So, basically, this film stared Segal, a few other people we know, and about 35 Bernie Kosar look-alikes with black curly A.C. Slater mullets and all.
One of the people we knew was the infamous Sharon Stone. She was about 4 years away from her breakout role in Basic Instinct here, and clearly fell into the category of Not Ready For Prime-Time. She was far from hot. Actually, she looked "a little chubby." (direct quote from an honorary Sid the Elf member for part of the movie) They even had her play the wet blanket wife in this one. Another person we knew was Segal's buddy from Vietnam who later became the CIA guy. It was the guy who played Eddie Harris in Major League and the bum that tried to run Coach Norman Dale out of Hickory in Hoosiers. This guy's got it. When he was having his terribly acted argument with Segal, Sid was waiting for him to break character and say, "Are you saying Jesus Christ can't hit a curve ball?" But it never happened.
That's one of the reasons we, Sid the Elf, could only give Above the Law 4 stars. Don't misunderstand, this is a terrific action B. But, it just was missing something. Sid's theory is that the lack of the Segal ponytail, double chin, and big gut made this one feel different. So, Segal was skinny and ponytailless but he did have what appeared to be the begining stages of the Myers hair we all saw in Urban Justice. Also, Segal didn't have the role of goomba rouge cop perfected yet. This was the only role he played in his early movies, so he had enough practice to get it down by the time he nailed it perfectly in Out for Justice. While Nico was not as tough as Gino Felino, he was still man enough to take on the main villan who was played by Henry Silva wearing a Chevy Chase mask. One other thing, Segal DID kick a multitude of butt in Above the Law, but there was a serious lack of explosions. You don't get 5 stars as an action flick with no explosions. Not gonna happen.
Finally, like any good B Above the law was floating along and ended abruptly. It also had a few "wait, what's going on here?" moments and enough physically impossible things happening to make it certified B. Like when Segal was hanging onto the roof of the car going like 30 mph while choking the guy in the passenger seat. Sid loved that. It pushed the film into the upper echelon of action B and enabled us, Sid the Elf, to give Above the Law our Watchability Seal of Approval.
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