Above the Law

Above the Law was released in 1988 and directed by Andrew Davis. Rather than simply retelling the plot, the film is worth revisiting for the characters, conflicts and ideas that give its story its identity.

Freedom emerge through what the characters face and the choices they make, giving the story more to explore beyond its immediate plot.

Det. Sgt. Nicolo "Nico" Toscani, Det. Delores "Jacks" Jackson and Kurt Zagon do not begin the film seeing one another clearly, and watching those first impressions break down is a big part of why Above the Law still works.

Nicolo "Nico" Toscani is an expert martial artist, who is recruited by the CIA during the Vietnam War.

A stand-off occurs when Toscani tries to stop him, and he leaves the CIA. From there, the film can concentrate less on explaining the setup and more on what happens between the people inside it.

Years later, Toscani is now married and a detective in the CPD’s vice squad.

Toscani and his new partner, Delores "Jacks" Jackson, are investigating a drug ring, and after busting two of the dealers, including Salvadorian kingpin Tony Salvano, Toscani finds C-4 explosives.

Shortly afterward, the men that Toscani and Jackson arrested are released at the request of federal officials, and Toscani is ordered to stand down.

Later, the priest of Toscani's parish is killed in an explosion during Mass.

Toscani's old CIA handler, Nelson Fox, contacts him and tells him to move his family to a safer location, saying that he is in danger.

Under pressure from the feds, Toscani is asked to turn in his badge.

While Zagon is torturing the priest, Toscani bursts in, and a gun battle ensues.

He eventually discovers that the dealers he busted are linked to Kurt Zagon, who is still with the CIA, and who is being accused of human rights violations by a Central American priest who was being sheltered by Toscani's priest.

Detectives Jackson and Lukich are wounded during the shootout, and Toscani has to flee.

Senator Ernest Harrison is investigating Zagon's group to reveal their ties to drug trafficking.

When Toscani finds out that Zagon killed the priest and is planning to kill Harrison, he goes after him.

Above the Law has more on its mind than the basic setup suggests. freedom sits close to the centre of the film, but it is explored through the characters rather than treated like a lesson.

Above the Law could hardly be separated from the decade that produced it. Released in 1988, it carries the attitudes, style and filmmaking rhythms of the 1980s without needing to announce them.

It also sits comfortably within the era's action, martial arts and crime filmmaking, even if the movie itself is more interesting than any single genre label suggests.

That is part of why it still appears in conversations about 1980s movies and 1980s action movies. The film has become tied not only to its own story but to the wider memory of what 1980s movies felt like.

Watching Above the Law now means seeing both what has lasted and what unmistakably belongs to 1988.

What still works best is the human material. Ideas around freedom have not stopped being relevant simply because the clothes, language and cultural references belong to another era.

Some moments inevitably land differently for a modern audience. Revisiting an older film properly means enjoying what still works without pretending every choice has aged equally well.

While serving in covert operations on the Vietnamese-Cambodian border, he became disgusted with agent Kurt Zagon, who tortured prisoners.

A large part of that staying power comes from the characters. Det. Sgt. Nicolo "Nico" Toscani, Det. Delores "Jacks" Jackson and Kurt Zagon are still useful shorthand for the personalities and pressures the film explores.

Above the Law has lasted because people continue to recognise something in it. Nostalgia helps, but nostalgia alone does not keep a movie in the conversation for decades.