Above the Law

Above the Law centres on Nico Toscani, a Chicago police officer and martial arts expert whose past as a CIA operative in Vietnam returns to haunt him. When his investigations uncover a drug trafficking operation with ties to the agency he once served, he is pulled off the case and the suspects are released. Behind the network stands Kurt Zagon, a brutal figure from Nico's intelligence days, and the deeper Nico digs, the more he finds powerful people who believe they answer to no law. He sets out to settle the matter himself.

The film is Andrew Davis's second feature in the chronological list of his work, following Code of Silence in 1985 and preceding The Package in 1989. Davis directed and produced, and wrote the screenplay with Ronald Shusett and Steven Pressfield. Steven Seagal, who also produced, takes the lead as Nico, with Pam Grier as Delores Jackson, Henry Silva as Zagon, Sharon Stone as Sara Toscani, Ron Dean as Detective Lukich and Daniel Faraldo as Tony Salvano. Fifty cast and forty-four crew members are credited.

Made on a budget of about seven million dollars, the film took roughly nineteen million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 6 out of 10 from around 37,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.1 out of 10 from 824 votes. A critics' rating of 5.4 out of 10 from twenty reviews places it somewhat below the audience scores.