DVD Review: Above the Law

What comes to mind when you here the title Above the Law? Is it perpetually constipated action actor Steven Seagal? That's who would come to my mind, but in this case you, and I would be wrong. This is a different Above the Law, one that actually predates the Seagal flick by two years and was originally called Righting Wrongs. This is a film from Hong Kong starring martial arts stars Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, and directed by Corey Yuen. Believe it or not, the Seagal film is the better of the two when it comes to having a story, however, as good as Seagal was in his heyday, the Hong Kong film may have that one beat in terms of quality fights. This Above the Law is filled with impressive combat by those who know how to deliver the goods. On a side note, the Seagal film had its title changed in the UK to Nico to avoid confusion with the Biao film.

The story concerns a young prosecutor, played by Biao, who has become fed up with the way the laws seem to protect the criminals more than they are used to imprison them and protect the innocent. The movie gets off to an explosive start before we even get to his verbalized desire to do more than just prosecute the bad guys. Biao is present at the assassination of one of his mentors that he is unable to prevent. So, in true hero fashion, he jumps in a car and takes off in pursuit of the assassins, where he succeeds in his intended task, and thus setting up his intent to take on the bad guys in a much more direct fashion.

Biao is next seen in a court proceeding, where he learns that his witnesses have been murdered, which allows a couple of nasty fellows go free. Now, what crimes they are accused of, I do not know, and for the purpose of this movie it doesn't really matter. Above the Law isn't so much about the bad guys, as it is on the idea of vigilantism and the choices made by said vigilante wanna-be. Following the delay in the trial, Biao, with the veiled blessing of the trial judge, he heads out to take care of the two defendants himself.

As he goes about his side work, a new wrinkle is thrown into the mix. Cynthia Rothrock, playing a member of the Hong King police force, is assigned to investigate a murder of one of the defendants. So, we get these two good guys butting heads as they have differing opinions on the pursuit of justice. Of course, as the movie progresses, it shifts a bit from the vigilantism, which is still a big thing, but there is the reveal of a certain high profile villain in a position of power who takes some focus for his attempts to clean up the wrongdoings.

That is pretty much the story, yes not a lot to it, but this is a Hong Kong martial arts action flick, and that is what you are going to watch it for. Intermixed with the drama and the broad comedy are some great fights. The fights include one on one battles between Yuen Biao and Cynthia Rothrock, Biao and Peter Cunningham (a world champion kickboxer from Canada), Cynthia and Karen Sheperd, and Biao and Melvin Wong. There are a couple of others, but these are the main fights. Now the fight between Rothrock and Shepard is spectacular, the two knew each other from being in martial arts competitions togethers and worked together to put on a great fight using acrobatics and weapons, particularly a belt that is actually a chain link weapon with a blade on the end. The fights are incredible and really show what Biao can do, I think this may be the first time I have seen Biao away from his action star brethren Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung.

So, while the story is rather simplistic and relies on a string of handy coincidences, I found it easy to ignore in the face of the great fights and stunts. There is a great sequence that ends up in a fight, but starts as a battle of cars against Biao. Again, do not watch this for the story, watch it for the great fights which are invigorating and inventive.

Audio/Video. The 80's era Hong Kong films were not known for being cared for all that well, but this transfer looks very good. The colors are muted, but it is free of any major defects and retains a good amount of detail. The 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen looks very good. The audio is decent , but since everything is dubbed it has a disconnect to the dialog, but overall it is decent and definitely does the trick.

Extras. This Dragon Dynasty release has a nice selection of extras.

• Commentary. There is a commentary track with Bey Logan, a Hong Kong cinema expert. I have heard a few of his tracks, and they are always quite good. He offers a lot of good information about the film, the actors, and a lot of surrounding information. There is never dead air, and he is an enagaging speaker.
• Interviews: There are a trio of new interviews, averaging 15 minutes each, with Yuen Biao, Cynthia Rothrock, and Peter Cunningham. They are all quite good as they reminisce on the making of the film and their careers. Very nice inclusions.
• Alternate Ending. As is the case with many Hong Kong films, there have been a number of different versions of the film. This film had a Mandarin version and a Cantonese version whose differences not only in language, but in content with different endings. This is a twenty minute segment beginning with the Rothrock/Sheperd fight and runs right through the end showing the way the ending differed. While the fights are pretty much the same, though the fates of the stars are rather different. As for other changes, listen to the commentary track as many other changes are pointed out.

Bottomline. This is a great action film, lacking in story, but fortunately that is not what I was watching this for. It shows a number of performers at the top of their game. The fights are fantastic, and are really the thing you want to watch in this movie. The story is kind of fun in a goofy kind of way, and director Corey Yuen plays up the comedy aspect onscreen as Rothrock's bumbling sidekick. If you are a fan of martial arts movies, this is one not to miss.

Recommended.