Above the Law (1988 film)

Above the Law (also known as Nico: Above the Law[3][4]) is a 1988 American action thriller film written, produced and directed by Andrew Davis. It marks the acting debut of Steven Seagal, who co-produced and co-wrote the film also starring Pam Grier, Sharon Stone, Daniel Faraldo and Henry Silva. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, an ex-CIA agent, Aikido specialist and a Chicago policeman who discovers a conspiracy upon investigating the mysterious shipment of military explosives seized from a narcotics dealer.

Above the Law
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Davis
Produced by
Screenplay by
Story by
  • Steven Seagal
  • Andrew Davis
Starring
Music byDavid Michael Frank
CinematographyRobert Steadman
Edited byMichael Brown
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
  • April 8, 1988 (1988-04-08) (United States)
Running time
99 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
Language
  • English
  • Spanish
Budget$7.5 million [2]
Box office$18.7 million

The film originated after a successful screen test, financed by Michael Ovitz, leading to Seagal being offered a contract by Warner Bros. The film was set and filmed on location in Chicago.[5]

Above the Law was released in the United States on April 8, 1988.

Plot

Raised in Palermo, Sicily, Italian-American Nico Toscani develops a fondness for Aikido martial arts, soon traveling to Japan for him to study the technique.

In 1969, Toscani is recruited by CIA agent Nelson Fox to participate in top-secret operations on the borders of Vietnam and Cambodia. Four years later, Toscani quits the force after being disturbed by his supervisor Kurt Zagon's use of torture. By 1988, he immigrates to Chicago with his mother Rosa and eventually marries his first wife Sara. Toscani also joins up with the Chicago Police Department, becoming a respected police sergeant and beat cop.

On one of his assignments, Toscani along with his partner Delores "Jacks" Jackson and Detectives Lukich and Henderson stop the shipment of alleged alkaloids to Salvadoran drug traffickers Tony Salvano and Chi Chi Ramon and discover in their contraband C-4 explosive charges. Federal agents take the matter to the command of Neeley and Halloran, but they are ordered to set the Salvadorans free, which makes Toscani angry. After discovering through Father Joseph Gennero that he has refugees in the church under the care of Father Tomasino and Sister Mary, Toscani and Jackson begin to have suspicions.

The next morning, a bomb detonates in the Church, resulting in dozens of injuries and deaths among the congregants, with Father Gennero as one of the fatalities. Concluding that it was Salvano and Chi Chi who planted the bomb, Toscani tries to report this to the FBI only to be rebuffed. At night, Toscani is contacted by Fox, who tells him that he is in danger and that if he wants to keep his family alive, he has to take them to a safe place, the police and the FBI arrive and take Toscani. Deputy Crowder and agents Neeley and Halloran decide to forcefully remove Toscani for meddling averse in Tony Salvano's affairs.

Jackson tells them, Toscani and Lukich that one of the victims turned out to be an assistant to Senator Ernest Harrison, who is investigating the drug trafficking network at the CIA, Toscani sends Lukich to take care of Sara and Rosa with Uncle Branca ,he and Jackson discover through sister Mary that Father Tomasino knew about the drug trade at the CIA and that he was going to hand over documents to the assistant from Harrison.

While Toscani takes Neeley at pistol-point to the weapons store and discovers the C4 shipment, the employee tells them that the CIA under the command of Nelson Fox is behind it all. Toscani decides to speak to an old intelligence friend named Watanabe ,Toscani and Watanabe discover that Fox is involved with Zagon. Jackson is contacted by Sister Mary to come to Father Tomasino and Jackson's apartment, alerting Toscani and Lukich

At night, Zagon's assistant and the rest of his thugs arrive at Father Tomasino's apartment and Zagon, Salvano and Chi Chi decide to interrogate him. The team arrives and Toscani and Lukich enter Father Tomasino's room, there, they have a fight With the CIA thugs and the Salvadorans, Chi Chi hurts Lukich but Jackson enters and kills him, Zagon shoots Jackson and Toscani has to flee but is chased by Zagon, Salvano and Zagon's assistant up to the subway.

Jackson survives thanks to her bulletproof vest and this information reaches the ears of Branca, who informs Nico. Toscani decides to watch the CIA offices but is caught by Fox. Toscani tells Fox that no CIA agent has ever been caught, much less tried, and they think they are "Above the Law".

The conversation between Toscani and Fox is interrupted when Zagon, Salvano, Zagon's assistant along with a bartender arrive at the scene. Fox is assassinated, Toscani kills Salvano by taking him behind the car and he falls from the trunk to the subway tracks, getting electrocuted and dying instantly, Toscani tries to escape Zagon and the rest of his men but is caught.

Toscani is taken to the hotel kitchen where Zagon intends to kill Harrison. Zagon tortures Toscani but he manages to free himself and kills Zagon's assistant, the bar waiter and the rest of his men, Toscani confronts Zagon and grabs him by the neck and breaks it; with all the CIA assassins dead, Nico meets up with Jacks, Lukich and Neeley.

Harrison and his entire commission arrive at Toscani's house and the senator promises that justice will be done for what happened. The film ends with Toscani saying in his clarifications that there will be agents who are doing illegal things behind their supervisors and they believe that they will have gotten away with it and that they are above the law.

Cast
  • Steven Seagal as Sergeant Nicolo 'Nico' Toscani
  • Pam Grier as Detective Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
  • Henry Silva as CIA Agent Kurt Zagon
  • Ron Dean as Detective Lukich
  • Daniel Faraldo as Bautista 'Tony' Salvano
  • Sharon Stone as Sara Toscani
  • Gene Barge as Detective Henderson
  • Mike James as Officer O'Hara
  • Chelcie Ross as CIA Agent Nelson Fox
  • Miguel Nino as 'Chi-Chi' Ramon
  • Rafael Gonzalez as Carlos Abandano
  • Nicholas Kusenko as FBI Agent Neeley
  • Joe V. Greco as Father Joseph Gennaro
  • Ronnie Barron as CIA Bartender
  • Gregory Alan Williams as FBI Agent Halloran
  • Jack Wallace as Uncle Branca
  • Joe D.Lauck as Senator Ernest Harrison
  • Ralph Foody as Federal Clerk
  • Metta Davis as Rosa Toscani
  • Toni Fleming as Grandma Zingaro
  • Michelle Hoard as Lucy, Nico's cousin
  • Christopher Peditto as Alex, the pimp
  • Juan Ramirez as Machete Man
  • Nydia Rodriguez Terracina as Female Bomber
  • Richard Nixon as Self (Uncredited)
  • Joseph Kosala as Lieutenant Fred Strozah
  • Danny Goldring as Zagon's Aide
  • Thalmus Rasulala as Deputy Superintendent Crowder
  • Clare Peck as Judge Roberta Alspaugh
  • Cheryl Hamada as Watanabe
  • Henry Godinez as Father Tomasino
  • India Cooper as Sister Mary
  • Lee de Broux as CIA Interrogator
  • Patrick Gorman as CIA Interrogator
  • Michael Rooker as Man In Bar
  • Gene Hartline as Thug In Bar
  • John C. Reilly as Thug In Bar (uncredited)

Production

It has been reported that Seagal was asked to make the film by his former aikido pupil, agent Michael Ovitz, who believed that he could make anyone a movie star. It was set and filmed in Chicago, Illinois, over 60 days between April 27 and June 26, 1987.[6]

Release

Home media

Warner Bros. released the Region 1 DVD in the United States on 28 January 1998.[7] The Region 2 DVD was released in the United Kingdom on 26 April 1999.[8] The Region-free Blu-ray Disc was released on 7 April 2009.[9]

Reception

Box office

The film grossed $18,869,631 in the U.S.[10]

Critical response

Above the Law received mixed reviews. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 53%, based on reviews from 17 critics.[11] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B" on an A+ to F scale.[12]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times stated "It contains 50 percent more plot than it needs, but that allows it room to grow in areas not ordinarily covered in action thrillers."[13] In a negative review, Hal Hinson of The Washington Post criticized it as "woefully short on originality."[14][15]

Legacy

Above the Law is regarded as the first American film to feature Aikido in fight sequences.[16]

References
  1. "NICO". British Board of Film Classification.
  2. Goldstein, Patrick (1988-02-14). "Steven Seagal Gets a Shot at Stardom". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-11-25.
  3. "Nico - Above the Law (1988)". MovieZine.
  4. "Above the Law (Nico) (1988)". FilmAffinity.
  5. Canby, Vincent (April 8, 1988). "'Above the Law,' a Detective's Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved September 10, 2010.
  6. "Perfect People". perfectpeople.net.
  7. "Above the Law DVD Release Date January 28, 1998". Blu-ray.com.
  8. "Nico: Above the Law DVD Release Date April 26, 1999". Blu-ray.com.
  9. "Above the Law Blu-ray release date April 7, 2009". Blu-ray.com.
  10. "ABOVE THE LAW". Box Office Mojo. Archived from the original on 19 December 2009. Retrieved November 22, 2009.
  11. "Above the Law". Rotten Tomatoes/Flixster. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  12. "CinemaScore". cinemascore.com.
  13. Roger Ebert. "Above the Law". Rogerebert.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  14. "Above the Law". The Washington Post. 1988-04-09. Retrieved 2010-09-10.
  15. Canby, Vincent (1988-04-08). "Review/Film; 'Above the Law,' a Detective's Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-12-14.
  16. Bill Palmer; Karen Palmer; Ric Meyers. The Encyclopedia of Martial Arts Movies. Scarecrow Press, 1995. p. 2. ISBN 1461672759.
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