Above the Law

1988

Action / Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller

38
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 48% · 20 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 48% · 25K ratings
IMDb Rating 6.0/10 10 36783 36.8K

chicago, illinois martial arts vietnam cia central intelligence agency (cia) corruption

Plot summary

Nico Toscani is an Italian immigrant, American patriot, ex-CIA agent, aikido specialist and unorthodox Chicago policeman. He is as committed to his job as he is to his personalized brand of justice—expert and thorough bone-crushing.

Director

Andrew Davis Photo
Andrew Davis

Top cast

Patrick Gorman Photo
Patrick Gorman as CIA Interrogator
Sandy Holt Photo
Sandy Holt as Hostess
Ron Dean Photo
Ron Dean as Detective Lukich
Sharon Stone Photo
Sharon Stone as Sara Toscani
720p.BluRay 1080p.BluRay
839.7 MB
1280*720
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 8
1.58 GB
1904*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 39 min
Seeds 26

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by Moses-7 7 / 10

Fun for action fans

Although I have never been a big Steven Seagal fan, I instantly liked this film when my uncle gave it to me for Christmas one year. It is one wild ride. I enjoyed the awesome stunts and action scenes in the film, and I had to laugh out loud at some of the scenes because it was fun to watch. Although I didn't care for Sharon Stone's acting in the film (she seemed to be too much of a weakwilled whiner, as opposed to her later films), Steven Seagal and Pam Grier were excellent as the main heroes. The film reminded me of the fun I had watching cop movies like Dirty Harry mixed with martial arts movies, so I recommend it to fans of those kinds of films.
Reviewed by CuriosityKilledShawn 6 / 10

Below the hairline.

Before the hair transplant, before he ate all the pies, before he went mad, and before everything was uttered in an inaudible whisper Seagal made his debut with this confusing, over-plotted thriller directed by Andrew Davis. Seagal plays Nicola Toscani, a ludicrously-named ex-CIA cop (as are virtually all Seagal characters) with family in the Mafia. Seagal conjured up the story (which was then expanded, of all people, by Steven Pressfield and Ronald Shusett) and it's probably his first effort at ego-massage. The opening narration is semi-biographical and the beginning of Seagal confusing fantasy and reality.The plot, despite being from 1988, still comes across as contemporary and relevant. Nico quits the CIA in the 'Nam after witnessing a crooked superior taking advantage of the war to become a drug baron. Many years later he encounters that same villain who is abusing his status of being 'above the law' to seize more drug territory and pump more drug money into the CIA. War is always profitable.It would be an intriguing plot for a 135-minute movie. But Above the Law tries to cram it all into 99 minutes and in the style of early 80s Charles Bronson. Don't get me wrong, Andrew Davis has always had muscular direction and takes the material seriously, but the heavy story and ambitious commentary are mostly squandered for the sake of making sure the credits roll after an hour and a half. The ending seems rushed, leaving just a little to much confusion and too many dots unconnected.Still, it's interesting to see Seagal young, thin, and talking clearly.
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