Above the Law

Summary

“Alright… who else wants some.”

In 1988, Warner Brothers took a risk on an unknown actor and Aikido instructor named Steven Seagal. Iconic CAA agent Michael Ovitz managed to get Seagal a deal with Warner because Seagal was his Aikido trainer and friend. Ovitz put together a screen test for Warner, who then built the film Above the Law around him. Warner paired Seagal with director and writer Andrew Davis who was coming off of a successful collaboration with action star Chuck Norris called Code of Silence. Warner made the film for $7.5 million, and it grossed a totally respectable $18 million. This was the beginning of one of the great action film runs. Above the Law was followed by Hard to Kill, Marked For Death, Out For Justice, and Under Siege – and for many fans of Seagal, Above the Law remains his best picture. My personal favorite is Out For Justice, but I am definitely a fan of Above the Law. When I saw that Toy Robot Video was bringing the film to 4K UHD, I was elated because I could check off yet another one of my most wanted upgrades. As soon as my copy arrived, I was ready to watch the film again.

The movie begins with a montage that gives the background on Nico Tuscany (Steven Seagal.) He was born in Sicily, raised in America, trained in Aikido in Japan in his late teens, and was asked to joined the C.I.A. in 1968 at the age of 22. In Vietnam, Nico is backing some C.I.A. Agents as a doctor and interrogation expert named Zagon (Henry Silva) arrives. Nico’s friend Nelson Fox (Chelcie Ross) asks Nico if he has ever seen a chemical interrogation. Nico questions the savagery of his techniques when he sees them being used on a bound prisoner. Nico and Zagon have a fistfight and Nico leaves the service behind. In Chicago, in 1988, Nico and his wife Sara (Sharon Stone) baptize their baby in the Catholic Church. Nico is now a police officer who is loved by both the Italian gangsters in his neighborhood and by his partners on the police force. While trying to locate a daughter of a friend, he is told by a low level Italian gangster about a big score being delivered to a lawyer involved in the coke trade. Based on that intel, Nico performs an illegal wiretap alongside his partner Delores Jackson (Pam Grier) and finds out when the drop will be. They interrupt the drop, but, to their surprise what they intercept isn’t drugs. It’s C-4. Soon Nico is up against morally compromised F.B.I. Agents, the mob, rogue C.I.A. Agents and his old nemesis, Zagon. 

Above the Law introduced the world to Steven Seagal. Like many other action film fans who grew up in the Eighties and Nineties, I have a true soft spot for the cocky Aikido-practicing action star. There is something special about his early films that keep me coming back to them over and over again. For Above The Law, Seagal worked on the story which drew on numerous elements from his own life….. or ….it may have drawn on numerous lies which he perpetrated about his early life. Regardless, Seagal contributed to the story of the film with Andrew Davis, who found himself impressed with some of Seagal’s overtly political ideas. Davis went on to write the screenplay with Steven Pressfield and Ronald Shusett. The script for the picture does a great job of highlighting all the unique qualities of its star with special emphasis placed on his anti-authoritarian and skeptical approach to our government, his particular brand of martial arts skills, and his rough and cocky personality. The script has some elements that don’t fully work for me, but largely it succeeds at setting up great action moments for the star and a great showdown with the villains. The dialogue in the picture is particularly well crafted with a lot of great lines. 

Andrew Davis is a gifted director who worked with a talented crew out of Chicago for several successful pictures including the critically and commercially successful pictures Under Siege and The Fugitive. He draws good performances from his cast for what this film aims to be. It could be argued that he is the best director of Seagal. That would make sense given his closer relationship to Seagal at the time and his understanding of the material from a story standpoint on both of their collaborations. In the case of Above the Law, the cast is stacked with solid supporting players including Pam Grier, Ron Dean, Sharon Stone, and the wonderful Henry Silva. Seagal is in pretty good shape in the picture, and, aside from an often memed running sequence, he is an imposing physical presence. The action scenes play to his strengths and feel more fluid and realistic than some of the more over-the-top martial arts in other action films of that era. Seagal seems more practical than many action stars, fighting somewhat dirty and fast to win against opponents. The fight scenes are well choreographed and so are the numerous stunts in the film. The cinematography is well considered even with the fairly tight budget. While I like some of his other films even better, Above the Law remains extremely entertaining and enjoyable for me. I am grateful to have it on 4K! 

Video

Presented in Native 4K in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1, Above the Law looks pretty good in its UHD presentation. The liner notes state:

“Above the Law has been restored by Toy Robot Video and is presented in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. The original 2.0 stereo and a legacy 5.1 track are included. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned at 4K / 16 bit resolution at Warner Brothers Motion Picture Imaging on the Warner Brothers lot. The film was restored in 4K and color graded at Duplitech (Burbank/Torrance, CA). The new master was approved by director Andrew Davis.”

For myself, I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that the 4K transfer for Above the Law looks better than prior releases. That said, this did not blow me away as much as the recent Warner/Arrow Video collaborations on Under Siege and Falling Down. Fine detail is the best it has ever been and the color timing feels true to its source. That said, this film is grainier than I had anticipated. I am not immune to grain, and that should be evidenced by my love of Arrow releases over the years, but I would be lying if I maybe didn’t expect the picture to pop just a little bit more. As it stands, I will give it a very solid 4/5.

Audio

On Blu-ray, Above the Law was presented with a lossy Dolby Digital 5.1 track which I have listened to several times over the years and always thought it could use a little more oomph. Above the Law has been given a solid lossless DTS-HD MA 5.1 track which is a solid improvement. It is still front heavy, but I was happy with the track. For those who prefer LPCM tracks, Arrow has also provided an LPCM 2.0 stereo track. 

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary by Andrew Davis and Pam Grier – this new commentary track find the writer-director having a fun time discussing the film with legendary screen queen Pam Grier.  
• Sounds of Seagal – composer David Michael Frank gives a lively and engaging interview about his career and how he found himself composing for Andrew Davis and for some of Seagal’s best films – Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Out For Justice. This guy is a legend in my eyes. Look up his career. Unbelievable.
• Archival Interview with Steven Seagal – this interview which has an interesting watermark for a site called Ask Jimmy Carter showcases Seagal discussing Above the Law and alluding to some form of experience working for the government. If you find Seagal as perplexing as me, this interview is essentially catnip.
• Theatrical Trailer
• Home Video Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video – 4/5 

Audio – 4.25/5

Supplements – 4/5

Overall – 4.25/5

Above the Law birthed the career of divisive action star Steven Seagal. For many of us who grew up in the Eighties and Nineties he was a big part of our childhood. I revisit his early pictures often, and I never fail to have a blast watching them. I completely understand that his films serve only a niche of the population at this point, which is why I am so thankful that Arrow Video, and now its offshoot Toy Robot Video, have been bringing his films to 4K UHD this year. In my opinion, Above the Law is one of Seagal’s better films, so I looked forward to this release more than almost any other this year. If you come into this release expecting it to look as beautiful as the recent Under Siege 4K transfer, I need you to adjust your expectations. The film looks better than ever, but does not quite reach those heights. Grain is prevalent and may distract some viewers. That said, fans of the picture should still pull out their wallets and buy this edition. The new special features are very enjoyable and the audio is improved from prior releases. For those who love Seagal, highly recommended.