Martial Law

"Brothers... Cops. One enforces the law, the other breaks it."

1990 1h 29m EN

😐

6.2

MID

★6.2TMDB · 97

ActionCrimeDrama

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Officer Sean Thompson is a martial-arts expert and a cop. He and his partner are working to stop a gang of arms dealers and car thieves, but their efforts are complicated by his younger brother being a member of the gang.

“Brothers... Cops. One enforces the law, the other breaks it.”

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Cast

Chad McQueen
Sean Thompson
Cynthia Rothrock
Billie Blake
David Carradine
Dalton Rhodes
Andy McCutcheon
Michael Thompson
Philip Tan
Wu Han
Tony Longo
Booker
Vincent Craig Dupree
Faster Brown
Jim Malinda
Captain Sykes

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Steve Cohen
Writers: Richard Brandes
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

89 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Martial Law Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Steve Cohen, shot by John Huneck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Thibault shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock and David Carradine carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Brothers... Cops. One enforces the law, the other breaks it.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0104822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Steve Cohen directs. John Huneck behind the camera. Michael Thibault cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

189 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "Martial Law Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Steve Cohen, shot by John Huneck. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Editor Michael Thibault shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Chad McQueen and Cynthia Rothrock and David Carradine carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "Brothers... Cops. One enforces the law, the other breaks it.".
8IMDB entry: tt0104822 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Only 97 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
10Classified under 9 themes, including "martial arts", "showdown", "police", "undercover".

The technical file

Cinematography: John Huneck
Editing: Michael Thibault
Production design: James R. Shumaker
Makeup / hair: Robin Slater
Stunt coordinator: Philip Tan
Runtime: 89 min · 1h 29m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Martial Law (1990)

Part of

Martial Law Collection

Martial Law is a 1990 martial arts action film. This was followed by a sequel in 1991 called Martial Law II: Undercover (also known as Karate Cop and Martial Law 2). Mission of Justice was released in 1992, and is considered part of the trilogy even though it is basically unrelated plot-wise. Cynthia Rothrock starred in the first two films, while Jeff Wincott starred in the final two films (but as two different characters).