Above the Law

"He's a cop who believes no one is above the law."

1988 1h 39m EN

😐

6.1

MID

🥫

50%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

IMDB

★6.1TMDB · 827🥫50%Rotten Tomatoes●45Metacritic★6IMDB · 36,556

ActionCrimeMysteryThriller

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“He's a cop who believes no one is above the law.”

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Cast

Steven Seagal
Nico Toscani
Pam Grier
Delores 'Jacks' Jackson
Henry Silva
Kurt Zagon
Sharon Stone
Sara Toscani
Ron Dean
Detective Lukich
Daniel Faraldo
Tony Salvano
Joe Greco
Father Joseph Gennaro
Vince Viverito
Giuseppe

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Andrew Davis
Writers: Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, Andrew Davis
Languages: English, Spanish
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

ERA

Did you know

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

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Andrew Davis, shot by Robert Steadman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by David Michael Frank. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Michael Brown 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

Steven Seagal and Pam Grier and Henry Silva carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He's a cop who believes no one is above the law.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0094602 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Andrew Davis directs. Robert Steadman behind the camera. David Michael Frank scores. Michael Brown cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

138 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
2Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Spanish.
3Directed by Andrew Davis, shot by Robert Steadman. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by David Michael Frank. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Michael Brown shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Steven Seagal and Pam Grier and Henry Silva carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "He's a cop who believes no one is above the law.".
8IMDB entry: tt0094602 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 9 themes, including "chicago, illinois", "martial arts", "vietnam", "central intelligence agency (cia)".

The technical file

Cinematography: Robert Steadman
Original score: David Michael Frank
Editing: Michael Brown
Production design: Maher Ahmad
Makeup / hair: Jean Austin
Stunt coordinator: Mickey Gilbert
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $7,500,000
Box office: $18,869,631
Return: 252% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Above the Law (1988)
Rotten Tomatoes: 50% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 45/100
IMDB rating: 6/10 · 36,556 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 nomination total

Also by

Andrew Davis

Stills · wallpapers

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

Wuchak2025-03-29
★ 7/10
The next generation in Eastwood cop thrillers An ex-CIA martial artist, is now a vice squad detective in Chicago (Steven Seagal) where he and his new partner (Pam Grier) investigate a drug ring, but are shocked when the drug lord (Tony Salvano) is let go by the Feds, which can be traced to his nemesis in the CIA (Henry Silva). "Above the Law” (1988) was Seagal’s cinematic debut. He claimed he picked the movie from a pile of scripts that Warner Brothers had lying around for Clint Eastwood. I bring that up because the film is basically the next generation in Eastwood’s detective thrillers, just mixed with the martial arts and general plot of “Code of Silence” from three years earlier. That one had the same director, as well as the same actor in the villain role, Silva. Sharon Stone is on hand as the protagonist’s wife and she looks great, but her role is decidedly peripheral since she was still fairly unknown when the film was shot in the spring/early summer of 1987. Grier has a much bigger part and she said this is one of her personal favorites in her oeuvre because she actually got to act. Seagal proved right out of the gate that he had the masculine screen presence to star in an action thriller. His movies kept making more money until he achieved his greatest box office success with “Under Siege” four years later, followed by “Under Siege 2” and “Executive Decision” in the mid-90s. His career then took a downturn to mostly direct-to-video productions. The story gets a little convoluted, involving the assassination of a nosey Chicago Senator, but at least no one can say it’s a simpleminded action flick. It’s thought to be the first American film to feature Aikido in fight sequences. It runs 1 hour, 39 minutes, and was shot in Chicago. The aerial scenes of the Southeast Asian jungle were filmed in O'ahu while the jungle scenes featuring the actors were done at Warner Brothers’ backlot in Burbank. GRADE: B/B-

Production companies