1
- Footage from the beginning of the film, including newborn Nico Toscani, real footage from Steven Seagal’s home archive.
2.
Nico Toscani is Steven Seagal’s favorite character.
3
Actor Henry Silva broke Steven Seagal’s nose while filming the final fight. Segal went to the hospital, but returned to the site the very next day. To minimize the effects of the blow on his face, he smeared his face and nose all night with various Chinese ointments and ice in order to get rid of bruises.RELATED:
Above the Law (1988) Movie Review
4
The script for “Above the Law” was selected by Seagal from Warner Bros’ extensive selection of scripts intended for Clint Eastwood.5
Several violent scenes had to be cut from the film in order for the film to receive an R rating.
6
Steven Seagal and Daniel Faraldo went on field trips with the Chicago police. Faraldo claims that Seagal scared the criminals much more than the police.7
The film Above the Law (1988), directed by Andrew Davis, was made immediately after working on The Code of Silence (1985), in which the main role was played by Chuck Norris. Films are often described as being very similar. It was Steven Seagal who invited Andrew Davis to the film Above the Law. And he did this because he really liked the Code of Silence.
8
Steven Seagal not only starred in the film, but also took part in writing the script and worked as a producer.9
Students of the Steven Seagal school took part in the sword fight.RELATED:
Above The Law: The Ultimate Action Introduction To Steven Seagal.
10
To get a role in the film, Segal had to demonstrate the level of his combat training to the management of the Warner Bros. studio. The Warner bosses were horrified to see Seagal throw thirty students from his aikido school into the ring. The Citizens were so impressed with Seagal’s dominance over several sparring partners at the same time that they immediately agreed to sign him for the lead role. Segal later admitted that it took him several days to stage the play.
11
Steven Seagal personally chose all the weapons that can be seen in the film.12
After the success of Above the Law in theaters, there was a real boom in aikido in America. Realizing that he would not be able to work in the cinema and the school at the same time, Segal sold off all his assets.
13
Steven Seagal was persuaded to go into films by agent and producer Michael Ovitz, who trained at Steven Seagal’s school for several years.14
The original script for the film was about fighting corruption in the Port of San Francisco. Steven Seagal and director Andrew Davis did not like this idea, so they heavily reworked the existing script.