ANDREW DAVIS

Bil’s rating (out of 5):  BBB. 

USA/Hong Kong, 1988.  Warner Bros.  Story by Andrew Davis, Steven Seagal, Screenplay by Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, Andrew Davis.  Cinematography by Robert Steadman.  Produced by Andrew Davis, Steven Seagal.  Music by David Michael Frank.  Production Design by Maher Ahmad.  Costume Design by Hector Morales, Carolyn Schraut-Barczak.  Film Editing by Michael Brown.  

Ex-fight choreographer Steven Seagal’s first starring role was the movie that started it all (depending on your tastes that’s either a good or bad thing). In this simple, enjoyable cop thriller, he plays a former CIA operative in Vietnam and martial arts trainee in Japan who now works the vice squad in Chicago while maintaining a happy home life with wife (Sharon Stone with bad hair) and baby. He discovers information about a huge drug deal that turns out to actually be a sale of explosives where one of the interested parties is the CIA. Seagal and partner Pam Grier must survive by his well-toned Buddhist wits in order to survive the enemies that are coming at him from all angles. It’s a film so set in its genre that only those who like endless action and no character development will enjoy it, particularly those who don’t mind Seagal’s sleepy style of acting.