hey guys today's video is all about Steven Seagal Above The Law
1988 say what you want about the man but there's no denying there was a time
where he was the shit one of the top action stars for good reason so we're
gonna go do a retrospective if I'm gonna give you my commentary analysis on the
film gonna break it down give you some good facts and show some clips and
you'll see exactly why this film was so great and hopefully he'll get the
respect he deserves there's a lot of Seagal haters out there
come get some it's okay Steven put down the gun put down the gun Steven good
Steven good maybe this will change your mind or maybe this will make you a fan
even so make sure stay tuned I know you got to be curious first of all full
disclosure guys I was always a bigger Jean-Claude Van Damme fan but that
doesn't mean I couldn't appreciate Steven Seagal when I was growing up it was
kind of like the Super Nintendo vs. Sega Genesis there's no reason why you
couldn't like both the kids are stupid so usually chose a side and that was
kind of the same with the action heroes whether you were Stallone or Arnold fan
whether you were Van Damme or Seagal fan I was a Van Damme fan but later
later on in my 20s I really started appreciating Steven Seagal and that was
partly because my Kempo karate instructor at the time was a huge Steven
Seagal fan so he grew on me watching some of the classics like above the law
Out For Justice, Marked For Death etc he really peaked with Under Siege but
anything Under Siege and prior to that classic and you're gonna see that on
this channel oh and in case you're wondering why you should watch well I
might be kind of an expert I do after I'll have a masters in Seagalogy so
stay tuned on this channel for more Seagal in the future Oh make sure to
subscribe and hit the like button in the notification bell so you can make sure
you don't miss future Seagal comes in but let's go back to above the law I
find the most interesting thing about this film this was literally Siegel's
first acting gig he didn't do anything prior to this so to have a major
Hollywood studio Warner Brothers at the time backing them that just doesn't
happen it didn't happen back then it doesn't happen today probably won't
happen in the future but it did happen it's a goal made it happen so one of the
reasons he made it happen the man had legit martial art skills he
was actually a bodyguard for several actors including Kelly LeBrock whom he
later married but he was also the bodyguard of an agent Michael Orbitz and
Michael Orvis was so fascinated and impressed with Seagal that he ended up
getting him in this movie and as well as several other movies for mourner
brothers and Seagal had the charisma he had the talent the skills and he became
a star as a result so prior to this as far as Hollywood's
concern outside of being a bodyguard to Hollywood tell it he did choreograph
some fight scenes in several movies including one with Sean Connery when the
James Bond movies and there's a really funny story behind that I believe he
actually broke Sean Connery's wrist speaking of fight choreography that's
one of the things I really liked about this Seagal movie as well as a lot of
his earlier work so this was a first American film that actually showcased
Aikido for one for two Aikido does actually come across on
screen pretty well before prior to this we've seen Chuck Norris we've seen Bruce
Lee so karate conclu etcetera basically the striking arts Aikido is so different
it's more defensive it's more about positioning and using the opponent's
momentum and body movement against them all combined with a series of just
different joint locks so here's a classic live demonstration from the Merv
Griffin Show this was circa 1982 well before above the law was ever produced
the man just comes across very very graceful just beautiful technique that
up until this point we just really haven't seen
as it comes from me I don't I know you might scenes in the film are obviously
choreographed but they don't look over the choreographed and when I say that if
you look at some of the modern films you could tell the actors are already they
already know what techniques come and it's it's way too telegraphed where's
this go there's a sense of realism here I mean he knows what the people are
gonna do but when they feel this strike it comes off way more realistic as far
as I mean Seagal's just got masterful timing and they capture that in this
phone it just doesn't look overly choreographed as far as them getting the
timing just right you could see it's a goal really really just timing it as if
he were to in real life
besides co-producing co-writing and starring the film so gold was heavily
involved in choreographing the fights and stunts he chose every punch and
throw used in martial art scenes Seagal also personally selected every weapon
the sword fighting sequence was staged using Seagal's own martial arts students
Seagal says I truly feel the fights are more authentic than ever seen in film
the techniques are very simple very Street very lethal moves and I tend to
agree the techniques themselves aren't overly complicated
it's the masterfulness of the technique the perfection of it that's what really
sticks out and I think that really played a big role in the authenticity of
the film and making them a big star you really can't
you really cannot not be an Aikido master and come across like this I mean
you could get an actor with three months training or even New York turning he's
not going to come across like this now they can they can over choreograph it
cut it just right put a million cuts in the film and make the person look good
but they're still not gonna look like Steven
kind of similar Van Damme in Bloodsport especially on those pulled out shots
with him doing these high-flying jump kicks that kind of beautiful technique
like you can't learn that in three months or even a year necessarily you
really got to know it and that's what really made Van Damme Seagal so popular
back then because we didn't have things like the UFC we really didn't have
anything to showcase great martial artists outside of the silver screen
above la was perfect first goal in fact Steven Seagal himself chose a film from
a pile of scripts and Warner Brothers had been saving for Clint Eastwood it was
rewritten I actually focused on Seagal's actual backstory
the opening sequence is actually very biography like documentary like there's
actual photographs of Steven Seagal as he was growing up now when I first seen
the film I thought it was kind of a pseudo documentary on his life just the
way it came across and this was pre-internet days when it came out so
there's really no way to verify anything but this whole time I thought Seagal was
Italian apparently he's Irish and Russian of Irish and Russian descent but
he plays an Italian character named Nico Toscani
funny thing is there's actually a toy line and if what I really like about
this it says ages 4 and up this is a really gritty action police crime drama
so I don't know well then again I had the Rambo to toy when I was like 8 years
old and that's not exactly a kids movie either but but anyway I digress
now the backstory between Steven Seagal his own life and above the law are very
similar it actually did move to Japan at a very young age and did actually have
his own dojo in Japan as well which is very interesting being a westerner and
all that just doesn't happen having you own school in Japan
now that was partly most likely related to the fact that he was married at the
time to the daughter of an Aikido instructor so I'm sure that helped him
get his own school there but regardless the man's lived a fascinating life he'd
also claimed ties to being a CIA operative which they delve into that in
the film but as far as where life goes it's really hard to say now but the law
falls in the golden era of Seagal films which is no surprise since this was his
first official film the golden era took place between 1988 and 1991 and
encompassed four different films above the law
hard to kill mark for death and it ended without for justice one commonality
you'll find in all the Seagel's golden era films are the titles they all
consist of three words simple straight to the point
surprisingly one thing you won't find in common is his iconic ponytail above
the law he actually does not have his ponytail which has become synonymous
with Steven Seagal's image that'll make its official debut in his next film hard
to kill speaking of hard to kill not the movie but the actual phrase one of the
complaints I heard and Ashley had an argument with one of my friends in
colleges Seagal seems too invincible which it partly makes sense because of
Aikido if he was a great Aikido master he's getting hit and beat up on he's not
that great of an Aikido master so the art form is all about the fence now
Seagal has his he does actually make a more brutal version of it with a series
of strikes which makes sense especially in an action film
but if he were getting beat up by different opponents and enemies his
vaquita skills obviously would suck and there's no way he'd want to portray that
in a film above the law does a good overall job of explaining why Seagal
became so popular he's fast he's quick the Aikido looks convincing the
quickness of the fights make them stand out from other action pictures of the
time the fights are also more Romford all the many martial arts films
especially American ones his style is not as much about looking cool as it is
about dispatching opponents as quickly brouilly as possible the story for above
the law was from the director Andrew Davis as well as a goal both men also
produced the film if you don't have Andrew Davis's he actually ended up
directing the fugitive so pretty big name in Hollywood overall Andrew Davis
was hired to direct because Steven Seagal liked Code Of Silence a Chuck
Norris movie that Andrew Davis directed the film had a lot in common both movies
started martial artists both about Chicago cops corruption and drug lords
and both even had the same main villain Henry Silva the man just looks like a
villain to quickly summarize the plot of the film a martial arts expert and
former CIA agent Nico Toscani played by Stevensville of
course he's working as a Chicago cop when a relatively routine drug
trafficking investigation leads to an international conspiracies
soon Nico and his partner Dolores Jackson played by Pam Grier are the
targets of the mysterious and powerful criminals but he refuses to back down as
Nico gets deeper into the case he must contend with an old adversary corrupt
CIA operative kurt sagen played by Henry Silva the title above the law actually
refers to the CIA who think they are Above Ahe law but not for Steven Seagal
they're not. Seagal actually took the politics of the movie pretty seriously saying in
the press notes that this is not a martial arts film it's based on a true
story about CIA complicity in narcotics trafficking for the purpose of funding
covert operations this is as much a movie about the abuse
of power about government corruption as well as pretty badass Aikido moves
shootouts and awesome car chases Seagal CIA in Aikido background as well as a
theme of corrupt intelligence agencies can be seen in many of the goals films
throughout the years with that said this film has a sense of outrage that
eventually does disappear from his later work early on in his film work he was
able to be more punishing about wrongdoing as clearly evidenced here I
can make you disappear
later on he mostly plays cynical characters who pretty much seen it all
in her just plain cynics at that point in life above the law goes out of its
way to show Nico's close relationship to his family
many early Seagal films actually have sweet bonding moments like this to show
his love for his son or his wife in later films he mostly plays single
loners who have little connection to other people though he often does hook
up briefly with a pretty younger woman by the end of the film you dirty old dog
Steven according to Vern in the book Seagalogy, more than any other action star I know of Seagal puts his imprint on every
movie he makes whether he's writing and producing it or just appearing in it he
brings a certain personality formula and set of motifs to pretty much every
picture he ever does most actors try to find scripts that can work with Seagal
seams have scripts grow out of them Seagal once said I haven't always been
dealt scripts that were palatable and movies that I thought were even makeable
and I think one of the secrets of my success is that I changed them and is
something that was almost watchable these scripts are written for him or by
him or they are rewritten to fit him so they always end up featuring some of his
obsessions enlightened men with shadowy CIA pasts Westerners with expertise in
Asian ways various types of mafia music much of it performed were written by
Seagal himself in the production of animals are
environment much of it you'll see later on particular in the films from this
silver era overall there is probably not a more polarizing action hero out there
love him or hate him there's probably nobody who's indifferent towards him but
without him we clearly be missing out on some great action cinema so that's the
video guys hopefully he got a little more new appreciation for Seagal at
least for his earlier work he's got some really legit beautiful Aikido skills and
hopefully you can appreciate that anyways see you guys next time.