Above the Law appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though it showed signs of its era, the image largely seemed fine.
This meant some softness at times but not to an extreme degree. The majority of the film brought fairly solid accuracy.
Neither shimmering nor jaggies materialized, and I saw no edge haloes. Grain felt heavy but natural and I sensed no print flaws.
Law went with a fairly blue-influenced palettte, though it came across as reasonably natural much of the time. The hues didn’t excel but they held up well enough given the impact of all that grain.
Blacks appeared deep and shadows brought good clarity. Again, the movie looked like a product of its era but it still satisfied.
Similar thoughts greeted the more than passable DTS-HD MA 5.1 soundtrack of Law. The soundscape opened up in a moderate manner.
This emphasized the front soundstage. In that domain, music showed positive stereo spread.
Effects broadened somewhat in action scenes but could come across as somewhat restrained, and that meant we didn’t find a lot of material from the surrounds. Still, given the flick’s age and budget, the soundfield became respectable.
Audio quality worked fine, with speech that seemed reasonably natural and without edginess. Music showed largely appealing range.
Effects brought pretty good accuracy, though they didn’t boast a lot of bass punch. Nothing here compared with more modern mixes, but for a fairly low-budget effort from 1988, it worked fine.
We get a few extras here and these launch with an audio commentary from director Andrew Davis and actor Pam Grier. Both sit together for this running, screen-specific look at the film’s development, cast and performances, music, sets and locations, action and editing.
That topic summary implies Davis and Grier offer a pretty thorough examination of the production. That topic summary misleads.
Oh, Grier and Davis do touch on those subjects, though mainly Davis. Grier rarely does anything other than crack wise or make exclamations related to the on-screen action.
Davis gives us the occasional mildly informative tidbit but he mainly narrates the movie or simply says nothing at all, as the track comes with tons of dead air. We find maybe 10 minutes of information tops in this dull and forgettable commentary.
Two featurettes follow and The Sounds of Seagal runs 16 minutes, 39 seconds. Composer David Michael Frank becomes the subject here.
Frank talks about his youthful interest in music as well as aspects of his movie career and his work on Above the Law. He delivers a solid little overview.
An Archival Interview with actor Steven Seagal. This comes from the same era as Law and goes for 15 minutes, one second.
Seagal gets into his career as well as his reflections on Law and the related politics of the day. I don't think we learn a ton about any of these subjects but Seagal proves more likable and humble than expected.
The disc opens with ads for The Corruptor and Masters of the Universe (1987). We also find theatrical and home video trailers for Law.
Steven Seagal’s cinematic debut, Above the Law becomes a warning sign for bad movies yet to come. Seagal never could act and this turns into a strangely excitement-free and forgettable stab at an action flick. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio as well as a few supplements. Not much about this dud succeeds.
Note that this Toy Robot Blu-ray edition of Above the Law comes only as part of a two-disc set with a 4K UHD rendition of the film. Because fans without 4K UHD capabilities might want the package for the Blu-ray, I felt it deserved a review of its own.
