Before Under Siege made him an A-list action hero, Steven Seagal burst onto the screen in Above the Law, a surprisingly gritty conspiracy thriller that still ranks among his best movies. Now, Toy Robot Video, Arrow’s new sub-label, is giving his debut a spiffy 4K upgrade—and it’s a fascinating reminder of why Hollywood took a chance on him.
While Seagal gets a lot of hate nowadays, it can’t be denied that, in his early days, he took Hollywood by storm. He’s one of those rare stars who started out as a leading man, having been plucked out of obscurity by his student, super-agent Michael Ovitz, and the suits at Warner Bros. They handed him the reins of a decently budgeted action movie built around a story he helped develop.
It kicked off a run of five terrific action movies for Seagal, and it remains a fascinating film to revisit.
Above the Law gave Steven Seagal a different kind of debut
Above the Law is very much a movie of its time, drawing on the era’s controversies surrounding Manuel Noriega, Oliver North, and covert American operations abroad. Seagal plays Nico Toscani, a Chicago cop who previously worked for the CIA during the Vietnam War. He has family connections to the Mafia, although he’s incorruptible himself, and discovers that his former comrades are involved in a drug-trafficking operation tied to covert activities in Latin America.
It’s fairly different from Seagal’s later movies, playing more like a conspiracy thriller in the vein of Three Days of the Condor. The action is relatively low-key compared with what would follow, but you can still see why his aikido moves shook up audiences. The fights are quick, efficient, and shockingly brutal.
During this period, Seagal was tall and lanky, with an imposing manner that made him seem mysterious and perhaps even a little off-center. He was a compelling counterpoint to the other larger-than-life action heroes of the era.
He’s also paired with Pam Grier, who humanizes him somewhat and proves to be one of his most capable co-stars. By contrast, Sharon Stone, still at an early point in her career, is utterly wasted in the small role of Nico’s wife.
It helps that Above the Law was directed by Andrew Davis, one of the best filmmakers working in the mid-budget action sphere at the time. A few years earlier, he had directed Chuck Norris in what I’d argue is his best movie, Code of Silence. Davis and Seagal would eventually reunite for the much grander Under Siege, which propelled both men to another level. Davis followed that with the stone-cold classic The Fugitive.
How does Above the Law look on 4K?
Toy Robot Video’s 4K disc presents Above the Law with a sharp transfer, although, truth be told, the difference from its previous HD presentation didn’t strike me as dramatic. This was never the kind of movie I expected to become reference material for a home theater, but it looks good here.
The extras are thoughtful, with perhaps the most intriguing being a vintage interview with Seagal. He comes across much differently than he does now: humble, affable, and strikingly different in appearance. He sports a receding hairline, predating the fuller-haired, ponytailed look that became his trademark with Hard to Kill.
Of course, Seagal being Seagal, there’s still some mythmaking, including allusions to a shady intelligence background. Those claims are best taken with a grain of salt, although I suppose they’re part of his mythology at this point.
The disc also includes an interview with composer David Michael Frank, who openly admits that he was competing with Alan Silvestri for the job and was hired because he was cheaper. Still, he delivered a pretty effective score in my book.
Another fun inclusion is an early trailer advertising the movie under its original title, Nico, which is also how it was released in some international markets.
Is Above the Law worth buying on 4K?
For fans of early Seagal, Above the Law on 4K is an easy recommendation. The transfer is solid, the extras offer an entertaining look back at his arrival in Hollywood, and the movie holds up as one of his strongest outings.
Hopefully, this release opens the door for more of his early action movies to make their way to 4K.
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