Out for Justice (1991)

Blu For Justice!!! One of Seagal's best!!!

This is a great inexpensive Blu title,features a nice transfer of the film as well nice sound too!!! If you have a Blu Ray player and a Steven Seagal fan,than this a great purchase,the only extra is a trailer for the film,but it's still good,and one of Seagal's best movies,action packed! A+ December 20, 2008

"Justice" Was Served, And It Was Brutal

As far as showing what a tough guy Steven Seagal can be, "Out for Justice" is without a doubt our hero's most intense and violent offering to date. You want Seagal to impress you? - let him put on his beret and start blowing peoples' limbs off with a shotgun. To simplify it, "Justice" is the more vulgar version of "Above the Law", with Seagal forgetting about family and friends in favor of some of his meanest action ever. If nothing, this film reminds us why Seagal is an adult's action hero, and thus effectively puts the actor's overweight, Zen-spouting personas to shame with his most no-nonsense show yet.

When policeman Bobby Lupo is gunned down in broad daylight on a shopping street by drug dealer Richie Madano (William Forsythe, "The Waterdance"), Det. Gino Felino (Seagal) convinces the authorities to let him hunt down Madano on his own, on account of having known both the killer and the victim since childhood. So begins the hunt of a lifetime, with Gino taking on anybody who gets in his way as he attempts to nab Madano before he kills again in a drug-induced rage.

As said before, the action is a bloody success - quite literally: Seagal nails an opponent's hand to the wall with a meat cleaver, knocks a guy's teeth out with a cue ball in a sling, and scores a kill with a wine opener to the head. Not enough? - well, bank on the scene where he blows off a man's leg with a shotgun to raise your eyebrows. Without flaunting it, nobody but hardened gore hounds will remain unfazed by the film's amount of violence. With that being said, the film is Seagal's first departure from using strictly aikido in his non-gun fights: there's a flip here and there, but mostly punch-kick. This doesn't mean that the hand-to-hand encounters are bad, but it's a bit disappointing for folks who were fascinated by the martial art. Still, there's a cool stick fight to keep us wide-eyed.

This is probably Seagal's best attempt at acting - as in, creating a believable character and expressing emotion convincingly: Casey Ryback may be Seagal's most well-known character, but Gino Felino is the most expressive. True, it's mostly rage that's on display, but in no other film is Seagal quite as intimidating as when he sees red at the murder of his friend. Even before the following brawl, his scene in Vinnie Madano's (Anthony DeSando, "Ciao America") is Seagal at his most menacing.
Without wanting to make them out as any less stars than Seagal, the supporting cast does a fine job, as well: William Forsythe is the most hateable villain of any of Seagal's films, Jo Champa ("The Mesmerist") is realistically feisty, Julianna Marguiles ("ER") makes the very most of her limited screen time, and Jerry Orbach ("Law & Order") is simply Jerry Orbach.

However, if there is one thing to criticize, it's the story: since the film's tone and setting is so similar to the smart "Above the Law", it would have been nice to see a bit more brains behind the violence, rather than the simple motive behind the initial murder. Also, this is the film where Seagal begins the trend of pandering to his own character too much: aside from being an unstoppable killing machine (though he gets struck and shot once apiece - a record for Invincible Steven?), he enjoys espressos in the company of old-school dons and even has the heart to rescue an abandoned puppy. While the self-worshipping isn't nearly as bad as what fans would have to put up with on a movie-to-movie basis in the future, it keeps the picture from achieving greatness.

In all, this is one fiery feather in the cap of underrated genre-director John Flynn ("Rolling Thunder", "Brainscan") and one of Seagal's very best flicks. I have no doubt that with a bigger-name cast, this would've preceded "Under Siege" as Seagal's most famous outing. Fans mustn't wait to purchase this; use it to introduce your blood-loving buddies to our hero. October 8, 2008

Hmmm

So personally this is one of my least favorite Steven Seagal movies, maybe cause I think it reflects the worst in the character. But I guess that's the character of Gino. I've read interviews and watched interviews of Seagal Sensei's and he speaks about manners of peace and harmony. I am an Aikido student myself and when I watch this movie, I believe he goes against a lot of the philosophies that he gives when teaching. Yes, I know that this is not an Aikido film nor is the character Seagal sensei. However, there is a part of me that does wonder why Seagal Sensei would play a cop like Gino who in my opinion is a horrible, brutal cop. I like to think the whole movie is a twist of irony because there is no true "Justice" in this movie. lol August 12, 2008

Has Anybody Seen Richie?

I recall seeing this movie and Marked for Death for the first time on cable T.V. At the time I didn't notice it was censored; I actually thought both were Seagal's least violent films...but when I bought the DVD and re-watched it...let me tell you if I am asked which is the most Brutal Seagal movie I've seen I would say now that it's Out For Justice and Marked For Death. Both of them are two blood thirsty movies. This one in particularly is a guilty pleasure. The drug content and the violence is way over the top; especially the profanity, The "F" word is said 114 times through the movie. That's a WOW to me, and that's excluding the other hundreds of cursing that is spurred on to the screen.

The movie begins with a bang and ends with a bang. A no good criminal shoots an officer down in front of his wife and children. He leaves as if nothing happened. Seagal plays Gino, a cop, with an attitude, who knows this criminal very well; He knows he has no conscience and will do anything...And he is not kidding, there is a scene that I didn't see in the cable version, which caught me by surprise; I won't say what it is so you can take a look at it. Any how the man responsible for shooting this officer is a criminal named Richie Madano ( William Forsythe) He grew up with Gino,he was never a good sport. Now Gino is going out for justice in search of clues, and answers as to why Richie killed his partner in front of his wife and kid.

The best thing about the movie is Seagal, he may not be an extraordinary actor but he does a pretty darn good job here. Don't get me wrong Seagal is a good actor, just that his acting went down as he gained weight and got older. Here he gives his character a cockiness that is acceptable and enjoyable. Also the fight in the bar is classic "Has Anybody Seen Richie? ...Gosh it's beautiful. Definitely worth owning.

PERSONAL RATING: 5 OUT OF 5
July 6, 2008

Another Seagal action film

You must see "Above The Law" and "Marked For Death". Along the same lines, very action packed. January 25, 2008

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