Out for Justice (1991) User Reviews

Seagal does it by the numbers, but still does it well

[lemon_magic · 5/10 · 4 June 2005]

IMO, this is at once the best AND the most formulaic of Seagal's endless string of beat-'em-ups. If you like Seagal, you will love this film; if you don't, OFJ probably will not convince you.

The fight scenes have a nice, bone-crunching kinetic energy to them, the plot has something of an urgent feel to it, and the soundtrack contributes greatly to the atmosphere and mood of the proceedings. I especially liked the placement and timing of 'No Sleep 'Til Brooklyn'. This played during the montage driving scene where 'Gino' (Seagal) drives through various ethnic neighborhoods and reacts to various sights and extras - to me this was the actual highlight of the film, giving the viewer a sense of place and humanity missing from most films of this type.

There are, of course, a couple of major problems with the film that keep it from being anything more than a typical Seagal action vehicle. The first one is that 'Gino' is such an unstoppable fighting machine that you never really worry about him or whether he will be a match for the villain once he finds him. And indeed, once Gino catches up with 'Ritchie' (William Forsythe, dreadfully miscast and not especially convincing), the denouement is a completely one-sided *ss-kicking that lacks any suspense whatsoever. Gino just mows Ritchie down like winter wheat and the scene comes to an end. At least Seagal had some trouble with Tommy Lee Jones and the terrorists in 'Under Siege' and with the voodoo gangster guy in 'Marked For Death' - you got the sense that he really was in danger. Not so here.

2ndly, and probably worse, Seagal seems to have decided that he wanted to stretch himself as an actor in this movie. So the script gives the movie way too many scenes where he delivers endless monologues - no, actually they are more like oratories - in a static talking head shot filmed over the shoulder of another actor (or extra). These scenes go on for literally minutes, and bring the film to a screeching halt, because Seagal just can't pull them off. Hell I'm not sure Deniro filmed by Scorcese could pull them off, because these speeches just go on and on until even the biggest Seagal fan is saying 'OK, Steven, we GET IT, you're ACTING, now can we PLEASE MOVE ALONG?!?!?"

Still this film, and the following film 'Under Siege', probably represent the peak of Seagal's career as an action star. After this he started going downhill, getting greasier and flabbier with each new release, and each new release was more and more unconvincing and badly made than the last, until finally he seems to have bottomed out with "Exit Wounds" and direct-to-video crap like "Out For A Kill".

So if you want to watch a GOOD Seagal film, consider this one. It holds up well over repeated viewings and over the decade since it was made.

Excellent, fast-paced action/thriller!

[FiendishDramaturgy · 7/10 · 20 January 2004]

This is one of those first few movies which represent Seagal's best. The story moves by quickly, the action never stops, and the quality is excellent.

Seagal's bombastic aikido style is a sure show-stopper. The action is so captivating that it almost renders the story unnecessary. The story consists of Seagal searching out the murderer of a friend. There are other elements to the plot, but that is the gist. It would do no good to attempt to detail the plot however, as the story is lost in a flurry of fists and knees.

If you are a fan of Seagal's bone-crunching, show-stopping, hard-hitting martial arts style, you will simply love this one.

Although this is quite pretentious and philosophically preachy, this has to be one of my absolute favorites of his older movies.

I love it!

It rates a 7.4 from...

the Fiend :.

"The one with the nipples you could dial a phone with" One of Seagal's better efforts.

[poolandrews · 7/10 · 29 July 2007]

Out for Justice is set in Brooklyn, New York & starts as high on crack American Italian gangster scumbag Richie Madano (William Forsythe) shoots dead a cop named Bobby Lupo (Joe Spataro) in the middle of the street in front of his wife & children. That was Richie's first big mistake because Bobby was hard as nails NYPD cop Gino Felino's (producer Steven Seagal) partner & best friend, Richie's second big mistake was thinking he could take Gino on & sticking around the neighbourhood because Gino is a man on a mission. Gino ask's his Captain (Jerry Orbach) for a shotgun & an unmarked which he gets & sets out to find Richie by any means necessary...

Directed by John Flynn this was early Seagal, only his fourth film in fact & I have to admit that it's pretty good by Seagal standards. The script by David Lee Henry doesn't take any prisoners as it's an incredibly violent & brutal action flick with Seagal impaling guy's to walls with meat cleavers, a pool ball wrapped in a towel to knock some guy's teeth out, a bad guy has his lower leg blown off with a shotgun, Richie who is constantly high on crack throughout the entire film dragging a woman out of the window of her car & shooting her point blank in the head & a constant barrage of profanity & bad language, I don't know what the profanity count on Out for Justice is but it seems like every sentence has some form of abusive terminology. I haven't mentioned the story yet have I? Well, I don't think I really need to as there isn't much of one, I mean someone kills one of Seagal's buddy's & Seagal either kills or beats up just about everyone he meets to get to the scumbag who did it, what more do you want? Forget about any meaningful character's or dialogue as Out for Justice is all about it's brutal set-pieces & that in itself isn't necessarily a bad thing as you can just forget about the silly story, the bad dialogue & Seagal's silly ponytail & enjoy Out for Justice for what it is, a foul mouthed excessively violent 90's action flick like the kind they just don't make anymore. Just make sure you pick up an uncut version, as far as the UK is concerned the Warner Bros. DVD is uncut while all other previously released VHS copies here were cut by about a minute.

Director Flynn does alright, there are no cheesy one-liners here & Out for Justice is as serious & deadpan in tone as they come. As already mentioned the violence here is brutal with a fight in a butcher's & a pool bar both being very violent as Seagal takes no prisoners & has no mercy. Most of the action revolves around fights or shoot outs although there is a decent car chase at the start, there aren't many big stunts & disappointingly nothing blows up. I must admit I thought the accents were bad especially Seagal who, lets face it, can't act at all. He sort of mumbles his way through Out for Justice but then the dialogue is secondary to the action anyway so it's bearable. I don't understand why everyone has to swear so much though, it becomes silly & distracting after a while as entire sentences seem made up of profanity.

Technically the film is fine although one suspects the budget wasn't anything amazing, it's well made enough if somewhat unspectacular. Some of it was actually shot in Brooklyn while Los Angeles was also used as a location. The acting isn't too bad, Seagal is Seagal while Forsythe makes for a suitably scumbag villain, John Leguizamo turns up in a small role while Gina Gershon provides the glamour.

Out for Justice is definitely one of Seagal's better efforts, he still looks a bit on the flabby side but he looks tough here unlike his more recent efforts. A hard, fast moving & brutal action flick that's worth a watch if you don't mind the violence & profanity. Made under the title of The Price of Our Blood which is just crap really & it's a good job they changed it to Out for Justice for it's release.

"I know the neighbourhood better than anyone else"

[lost-in-limbo · 7/10 · 14 August 2010]

Now this is action! Out for justice is more like out for revenge on home turf. Bloody, gritty, relentless, pulpy and whispering Steven Seagal (…at his concise best). Nice, but making it work is that action maestro John Flynn is at the helm where he makes great use of the authentic Brooklyn backdrop and implements some cracking in-your-face set-pieces of Seagal harassing, causing a mess (that's property damage) and then effortlessly busting body parts. Oh it's a great sound! He even manages a few amusing wisecracks or so, although I could have heard less of his character's moving childhood stories with some sort of philosophical message, but we're just seeing the sincere reflective side of the man. Even taking time out to look after a dumped puppy, while after an elusive criminal (that he knew through childhood) that's roaming Brooklyn and who brutally killed his partner / friend in cold-blood. I guess this is to counter balance the violence… and there's a lot of it. However Seagal is overshadowed by William Forsythe's dominating, hot-headed and vicious drug fuelled gangster. Definitely one of the most insane villains put on screen and Forsythe milks out every opportunity to display it. When these two characters finally come to blows, it doesn't disappoint. Director John Flynn keeps it lean, mean and quite explosive in a familiar but well done manner, as he knows when to up the ante and to let it settle. The music soundtrack was the only thing I found to get in the way at times, trying to be hip in its flavour. The rest of the cast is reasonably good with the likes of Jerry Orbach, Gina Gershon and Julianna Margulies showing up. An entertainingly unapologetic action joint

I'll Do this Film "Justice"...

[Guardia · 7/10 · 8 December 2007]

This is a gritty and violent action film that spends it's time unequivocally building towards a final confrontation between Gino (Seagal) and Ritchie (Forsythe).

Gino, the plainclothes policeman, and Ritchie the drug-crazed criminal are (mostly) equaling opposing forces. Their activities take place in Brooklyn , the borough where they both grew up. Now, as adults, their incompatible lifestyles must face off, (preferably in the final reel, please).

This film shows Seagal as a kind of "Death Wish" type character, and he is intent on tracking Ritchie down. So much so, that he is leaning on anyone who knows anything about him. These are probably the best scenes in the film - where Gino confronts Ritchie's brother in a great bar fight sequence.

Although the film is a little bit unbalanced in it's pacing, and the criminals are too comic-book-like for my tastes, this film does make use of it's background setting well. We are taken to all sorts of down-market dives, hotels, mob-boss meetings, and brothels. It's a living slice of New York.

Seagal is surprisingly convincing, and his naturalistic style here really does work for the film. Again, like elements of "Marked for Death", there is a slight echo of that "Walking Tall" idea; where a man single-handedly cleans up his own territory - against the odds, and at any cost.

"Justice" was the very last thing on Steven Seagal's, Det. Gino Felino, mind in this movie

[sol-kay · 9 September 2004]

****SPOILERS**** Outrageously violent, even for a Steven Seagal movie, as our "hero" Steven Seagal, Det. Gino Felino, is out looking for a coke-crazed hood Richie Madano, William Forsythe, and his not-too-bright gang who were responsible for murdering his partner Bobby Lupo, Joe Spatago, on a Brooklyn street in front of his wife and little boy. During the run of the movie Gino breaks every code of justice conduct and police department regulation on the books by busting up some two dozen hoods. Who for the most part tried to avoid the unstable and dangerous out of control policemen. Steven Seagal's Gino Felino even made the cop in the movie "Maniac Cop" look normal.

You wondered why Gino's boss Capt Donziger, Jerry Orbach, never as much as complained, much less suspended, the obviously crazed and homicidal detective and where was the citizens police review board in the movie, where they out to lunch or asleep? Even women weren't safe from the off-the-wall Gino with his brutalizing and humiliating Richie's sister Patti, Gina Gershon, and a bar girl who worked in her nightclub Terry, Shannon Whirry, who were totally innocent and had nothing to do with Bobby Lupo's murder. Even Richie's elderly parents were terrorized by the uncouth Gino even though later Gino apologized to them after the damage was already done, nice man that Gino. Like thats what it would take to make him a good guy in the movie.As for the coke-sniffing and crazy Richie he seemed to want to get caught and never made any attempt to get out of the city and just waited for the end to come partying in a hooker's apartment with his drugged out gang.

Watching Gino in action you wondered if even the Mafia would want him to work for them as a muscle man or enforcer? The Mob was far more civil professional and kinder when they dealt with the same hoods that Gino worked over in the movie.

It turned out that Gino's partner Bobby Lupo was killed by Richie for cheating on his wife by having an affair with Richie's woman Roxanne Ford, Julie Strain, and also, surprise, Bobby was a dirty cop on the take to, thats right, Richie's drug gang.

The final shoot out at Richie's "pad" was as ridicules as the rest of the movie with Gino taking on the entire Madano gang who were dangerous and armed to the teeth single handily and getting a bullet in his gut for the effort. Gino was either too crazy or stupid, or both, to bother to call the police to come to his aid. In fact it was the Mafia who came to the "rescue" after almost everyone of Richie's gang were killed.

Having it out with Richie Gino beats him to a pulp and then instead of trying to arrest the almost dead Richie drives what looks like a sharp screwdriver through his brain killing him. So much for Gino being "Out for Justice" like the movie title says.

For all his viciousness Gino did have his good points but they were at the very beginning and end of the movie. At the start of the movie "Out for Justice" Gino slams a vicious pimp against a brick wall and then throws him head-first into a car windshield. After the pimp brutalized one of his streetwalker for getting pregnant by one of her customers. At the end of the movie Gino let a guy have it who threw a puppy, that Gino later adopted, out of his moving car window by kicking him in his family jewels. As Gino and his wife walked away the puppy showed the creep who tried to kill him just what he thought of him.

Pretty good.

[wkozak221 · 6/10 · 13 September 2020]

I don't like all Seagal movies. I like this one. The script is good, the action is good. The music is above average. The only big problem I have is Seagal can't do accents. Why he tried I don't know. Could have been better. Also, why is he wearing a beret? Also, he talks to wife about his dad like he was someone else. Another thing it seems his dad went around sharpening tools on a wheel. My grandparents came from Europe. Each got a good paying job except for my mom's mom. She had 5 kids to care for.

Tough, suspenseful ,action filled and super-violent cop thriller

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 12 May 2008]

This violent cop thriller begins when a Brooklyn police named Gino(Steven Seagal) is alerted when his best friend Bobby has been murdered by Richie(William Forsythe), a childhood ex-friend from old Brooklyn neighborhood. Gino tells his chief(Jerry Orbach) which he can encounter Richie and he set off in pursuit . Meanwhile,the Gino's spouse(Jo Champa) ask him the divorce . A doped Richie doesn't mind if he lives or dies and kills everybody around. The Italian mobsters are upset with him and they are looking for him, too. Richie is accompanied by his band(Jay Acanove, Robert Lasardo) taking the law on their own hands.

The film packs thrills, excessive violence, gory killing, profanity and bad language. N.Y. cop doesn't hesitate to utilize his martial arts skills as he fights violent drug dealing and battles corrupts killers and using his usual snapping wrists. This Seagal movie reveals the real-life Aikido master to be more of the Van Damme, Stallone style than the Stanislawski school of acting. Appear as secondary Jerry Orbach, recently deceased, and Shannon Whirry, a soft core star, who holds an alike countenance to Kelly Lebrock, Seagal's former wife. Furthermore, an uncredited, almost extras, John Leguizano, Raymond Cruz and Julie Strain. The Karate expert Seagal co-wrote the script, and co-produced along with Arnold Konpelson . Noisy musical score by means of synthesize, is in charge of David Marshall Frank. Director John Flynn who gave excellent performances to Tommy Lee Jones(Rolling Thunder), Robert Duval(Outfit), Jan Michael Vincent(Defiance), James Woods(Best seller), here gave credibility to Steven Seagal. The result is a strong outing for action enthusiastic.

One of Seagal's best

[shortround8391 · 8/10 · 11 April 2009]

Alright guys, I'm gonna be straight with you. In this review, I'm gonna be praising "Out for Justice" and will be recommending it to anyone, but the truth is, Steven Seagal's best movie to me is always gonna be "Under Siege", period. "Out for Justice" to me is more like his second best, even though you might think that saying that might not be saying much at all, the truth is "Out for Justice" is an a great martial arts film that is worth your time.

During Steven Seagal's ponytail years and before "Under Siege" came out, Seagal was basically putting out a few martial arts films that were considered to be something new at the time. And because of that, they were box-office successes and other actors such as Jean Claude Van Damme and Wesley Snipes started doing what Seagal was doing and the three of them rose to stardom. But during the course of the 1990's and the 2000's, the mainstream culture started to look to other martial artists (like Jason Statham in his ridiculous Transporter films) and Seagal, Van Damme and Snipes started doing their thing in the straight-to-DVD way and things will never be the same again.

But thank god we still have the movies to watch forever, and "Out for Justice" does Seagal's career a whole lot of true justice. In this, he plays a Gino Felino, a tough as nails cop who grew up on the streets of Brooklyn and with Mafia ties. But one day, his best friend Bobby is ruthlessly shot and killed in daylight and in front of his wife and kids by a wannabe wise-guy named Richie (William Forsythe). And Gino happens to know him since those two were kids, and he's willing to do anything to get to Richie, such as arresting his sister to get information and even being rough with his parents. Also, even the mob guys are after Richie since he's making them look bad, but they keep screwing up and Richie keeps killing whoever they send to get him.

And Seagal isn't too shabby as an actor when he gives that depressing monologue about his character's father, but I'll admit that there were some areas that he could've improved on to make it better. And his slick fighting skills make his character really stand out. And also the part when he saves a harmless pup from being run-over by a car after its owner threw it out in a garbage bag on the road, is what is another defining point of him. And then in the end he finds that owner and kicks that guy in his family jewels. Pretty funny stuff there.

Also, William Forsythe's portrayal as the psychotic Richie is another one of the movies best parts. He's completely believable in his role as a guy who was always breaking the law since the start and then finally loses his mind when he starts taking crack and dope. And Forsythe displays his character's emotions of insanity and fury with sheer skill, and also I laugh every time the line "Shut up about the f**king mouse!" is said.

And as always, the action is what's best, the aikido/ martial arts is completely realistic and doesn't seem too fake or stiff that some karate-esquire movies do. The action is absolutely and positively brutal, bloody and violent. And this is clear proof why Steven Seagal is the best at what he does, the scene in the bar in which Gino takes a billiard ball wrapped in a towel and whacks Richies men and knocks a guy's teeth out is one of Seagal's best ever fight scenes. And who could forget the end when Gino storms that house with a shotgun and totally trashes the hell out of Richie?

I actually just rented this movie last night from Blockbuster and I was amazed at how wrong I was about Seagal before. He doesn't deserve all the criticism he gets for not giving any depth to his characters, but in "Out for Justice" I was seeing some of that. And next thing I'm gonna do is I'm gonna buy this on DVD and add it to my collection. Who knows? Maybe I'll even start making a collection of Seagal movies and this is along with "Under Siege" is a start.....

* * * OUT OF FIVE

[bronsonskull72 · 6/10 · 7 July 2003]

Steven Seagal stars as Gino a Brooklyn cop who is hunting the killer of his partner in this blood thirsty yet suspenseful actioner that features Seagal in top form. Seagal may need to work on his acting skills but those in search of a high bodycount with tons of carnage will not be disappointed. Out For Justice is also much better then Seagal's previous efforts. (Above The Law,Hard To Kill and Marked For Death.)

it's a revenge story, but it ain't "Hamlet"

[ThingyBlahBlah3 · 3/10 · 29 April 2004]

Watching this near-masterpiece for the first time in a dozen years, I couldn't help but notice a few things.

1) Seagal's accent mimicking is just as bad as the rest of his acting skills. Meryl Streep he ain't. And there are entire scenes when he forgets that he's supposed to have an accent.

2) Gino is really (1) an obnoxious jerk, and (2) an awful cop with no regard for the law, but we're meant to root for him just the same. This is never more obvious than in the scene where he roughs up a bar run by the villain's brother. Gino struts into the bar and immediately humiliates the manager and starts shoving people around, most of whom are just minding their own business. Yet the scene, like the whole movie, is played with the idea that we'll side with this guy no matter how unlikeable he is, just because we've been told that He's The Hero, So There.

3) We're told that the bartender is an old boxer. This could have been the basis of a terrific fight sequence, in which a skilled and experienced boxer takes on a skilled Aikido expert. Of course, it doesn't develop that way. Gino just goads him into taking a swing at him, which he easily dodges, then breaks his nose with his elbow. Incidentally, this "boxer's" punch is so wild and poorly-aimed that there's no way that he won all those trophies, no matter how long ago it was. But it's a Seagal movie, and only Seagal's character is allowed to know how to fight well.

4) The climactic showdown's result is never in any doubt, so there's absolutely no suspense, just like every other Seagal movie. Since there's no chance that Richie's going to lay a hand on Gino, it's just a matter of watching Gino slowly torture Richie until he arbitrarily decides it's time to kill him. Did I already mention that Gino's not easy to root for? The sequence could have been effective. Richie could have learned some fighting skills in prison and had Gino on the ropes for a while. Or he could have gotten the drop on Gino, smacked him over the head with a flowerpot, and kicked him around a bit before Gino recovered and was able to dispatch Richie to the great crackhouse in the sky.

I mean seriously, Jet Li and Jackie Chan routinely get their butts handed to them in their movies, as did Bruce Lee and Sonny Chiba before them; why should Seagal be exempt?

5) The usual strategy of surrounding Seagal with real actors backfires again. Rather than helping to elicit a better performance from him, they are inevitably dragged down to his level instead. William Forsythe seems to be channeling one part Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, and one part Burt "Cowardly Lion" Lahr from "The Wizard of Oz," and doesn't really project any menace. Gina Gershon (who really deserves better... will everyone PLEASE rent "Bound" and see what she can do? Come on, it's directed by the guys who did "The Matrix"!) can't get her lines across convincingly, but who could? Jerry Orbach shows up for an easy paycheck and attempts to give this production some dignity, as he did in "Universal Soldier".

6) In the butcher shop, Gino smacks one particular guy around, pins his hand to the wall with a meat cleaver, and THEN punches him in the groin, really REALLY hard. Did I mention that Gino's hard to root for? Incidentally, keep an eye on the actor who plays that poor guy. In some shots, he's writhing and screaming in pain, and in other shots, he's just standing there looking around, apparently waiting to be directed. And I can't help but think that he's probably going to have permanent nerve damage, as is the guy who got knifed in the leg. Being such minor characters, their punishments seem overly harsh.

7) William Forsythe looks a lot chunkier during the final smackdown than he did for the rest of the movie. Either he'd been hitting too many lunch buffets with Seagal during filming, or they just did a really bad job hiding the padding he was wearing under his clothes.

8) To be fair, "Out for Justice" does represent the end of Phase One of Seagal's career. This was the last movie before he started getting really out of shape, although he's already noticeably pudgier here than he was in his earlier movies. This is the last one where the long camera shots make it clear that Seagal is really doing this stuff, and he's really quite impressive here.

And this is the swansong for the hardcore limb-snapping, eye gouging violence that had become his trademarks. In subsequent films, the sadism and gore would be toned down, and that's a shame; at least it's something he did well. Still ahead at this point were 1) the shortest A-list career in Hollywood history with the "Under Siege" films and "The Glimmer Man", 2) the eco-warrior atrocities "Fire Down Below," "On Deadly Ground," and (shudder) "The Patriot"; 3) the washed-up straight-to-video has-been of "The Foreigner" and "Out for a Kill"; and 4) the guy who occasionally stands in for the stunt men and body doubles in "Exit Wounds" and "Half Past Dead". So relatively speaking, Seagal's first four movies represent his Golden Age, a veritable Renaissance of Cinema, if you will. Enjoy.

"You crazy? You coulda shot somebody upstairs!" "But there ain't nobody upstairs!"

[emperor_bender · 8/10 · 1 June 2008]

Sometimes, you're just in the mood for a good ass-kicking action movie. That is the definition of Out for Justice.

The movie is not very big on plot, although it does offer some in-sight on different back-stories, characters' pasts and several other things. We do get to know some characters pretty well, but others not so much.

Steven Seagal stars as the protagonist Gino Felino, the tough, ass-kicking cop who does things his own violent way but still has a soft side evident.

William Forsythe stars as the antagonist Richie Madano, the drug using, dirty, evil, sniveling, careless wise-guy who's violent night-long/citywide rampage has Gino chasing him all over town.

There are a lot of great action scenes, and plenty of ass-kicking by Steven Seagal for those who are into pure action. I usually like movies with a good story, but once in a while I like to kick back with a good, senseless action movie. So if you're into movies that favor action over plot: This is definitely one for you.

8/10.

Out for Justice

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 6 August 2010]

Unstable gangster Richie Madano(William Forsythe) pops a cop, Bobby Lupo(Joe Spataro), and the reasons are uncovered by narcotics detective Gino Felino(Steven Seagal)who will do whatever it takes to see that those responsible pay for such a crime. Bobby was no saint as Gino soon discovers that his best friend/partner was running around with the wrong crowd, the kind he finds detestable.

Well Forsythe is the perfect choice for such a despicable, loud-mouth, irrational, and explosive cretin who spooks everyone he comes in contact with(even has his own boys on edge with his unpredictable nature; you just never know with this scumbag when he'll blow his top). And, he's such a hate-worthy bastard that when Seagal gets a hold of him, I imagine many action fans will be bloodthirsty for his being ripped limb from limb. What makes this final confrontation so impressive is how real it looks as Forsythe just hurls himself at Seagal as Richie gets thrown around the kitchen like a chump, just a bloody mess after Gino gets through with him.

I've been watching a lot of latter day Seagal flicks, and to see him at his best, in his prime, actually in full scenes destroying the criminal element with the quick hands and swift blows, is a welcome sight. He has this scene where some of Richie's hoods attempt to thwart Gino's efforts in finding their boy and, in turn, the bar is demolished, men bloodied and battered(Seagal uses a pool ball, wrapped in a scarf, for added assistance). Or, the meat market where more of Richie's guys try to shut Gino up using hatchets and machetes, themselves getting chopped and butchered. It's the speed, the skills to be faster and more level-headed than those coming at you without abandon, normally resulting in faces smashing tables and bars, snapped hands and other limbs, guns going off leaving bodies torn apart, etc. Seagal's cop can go anywhere he wants, as if there are no rules applied to him, a trail of pummeled thugs left after he gets through with them. Seagal with a shot gun leaves some nasty carnage, including a victim's leg being blown off. There's one funny scene where Seagal uses the wooden leg of a kitchen table to smack over a victim's head and back.

"Out for Justice" is over-the-top in every way

[chuck-reilly · 3/10 · 10 July 2012]

Steven Seagal's action movie "Out for Justice" is short on plot and long on bashing heads in and shooting bad guys full of holes. The body count is so high in this movie that you'd need a degree in Calculus to keep up with it. The plot: Seagal is Gino, a cop from the old neighborhood who's not very happy that his partner Bobby has been killed by Richie (a deranged William Forsythe). There are a few complications along the way before Seagal is able to administer his brand of "justice." These so-called complications do nothing to get in the way of what this movie is all about: vicious beatings and murders with plenty of flowing blood. Also in the cast is Gina Gershon and veteran Broadway actor Jerry Orbach. In one scene, Orbach (a fellow cop) tells Seagal that he's "getting too old for this." I think he means this particular movie and not the police work. Luckily for viewers, Gina looks smashingly good as does the rest of the female cast members. She and the girls provide a welcome respite from the chaos and mayhem that are featured endlessly in this movie. For fans of this type of film, Seagal's brand of vengeance will definitely satisfy their thirst. All others interested in things like story-line, characterizations, and any kind of a moral to the proceedings will have to look elsewhere. As for William Forsythe, his final beating takes up nearly five minutes of screen time. "I like pain," he tells Seagal before he gets slammed for the umpteenth time. Unfortunately, the audience has to suffer through it too. For comic relief, a stray dog relieves itself on one of Seagal's victims. That about sums up this movie.

****1/2 out of 5

[casey_choas66 · 18 August 2002]

For anyone who has seen a Steven Seagal movie you will notice that they all have their own set of pros and cons. Con- Seagal seems to play the same role in each of his movies. Pro- anyone who likes Seagal will find something to like in each of his movies. Con- Everyone who doesn't like Seagal will find nothing of intrest in his movies. With that sais this one ranks amoung Seagals best. Seagal is Gino, a gung-ho cop from Brooklyn who decides to take matters into his own hands when a violent ganster kills his partner, think A Bronx Tale mixed with Hard to Kill and Above the Law for good measure. Gino seems to cause trouble everywhere he goes as he uncovers a ring of corruption and lies that go a lot deeper than Gino had suspected. But with only a shotgun and his fists of steel he dispatches his own kind of street justice on everyone who gets in the way of him finding Richie, the man who killed his partner. There isn't as much martial arts mayhem as in previous Seagal outtings and the fights that are here don't seem as glorified as past Seagal works but nonetheless the violence meter is through the roof, there is a nicely entertianing car chase and there is also an unusually high level of profanity. Even though most of the film is a no brainer, Seagal still finds time to get a postivie message in there when he picks up a dog that someone through out their car window in a garbage bag. The film also ends on a humorous note as Seagal encounters the man who did that to the dog. Seagal has never been the greatest actor but he manages to put some heart into his work here with a suprisingly uplifting story about his father and also gets to crack out a few amusing one-liners. The major downfall here is the miscasting of William Forsythe as Richie who doesn't really live up to the hype that surrounds his character. In the end what we have is a highly entertaining and always thrilling little action/suspense film that fans of Seagal will love and maybe even a few nonfans will get into as well.

One of Seagal's most brutal adventures

[Leofwine_draca · 7/10 · 30 September 2016]

One of Seagal's most brain-dead movies, OUT FOR JUSTICE is a film basically lacking in a plot altogether. Instead, Seagal's investigation into a psychotic murder spree is simply a reason to have lots and lots of gratuitous violence and carnage portrayed in the name of entertainment. That's fine by me! Seriously, although the cops-and-robbers type plot is a clichéd one (this movie bears strong similarities to two of Seagal's previous movies), the execution and action are what makes this an enjoyable viewing experience.

From a butcher's shop to a pool hall, Seagal scours the haunts of the low life and breaks as many arms and heads as is humanly possible in a short space of time in his quest for revenge. Highlights include a pool ball being wrapped in a handkerchief and used to brain a number of criminal thugs, various sharp implements being brought into play at the fight in the butcher's shop, and the incredibly violent showdown in which Seagal gives psycho villain William Forsythe a thorough going over. My best advice is to watch this movie if you're a fan of Seagal or you enjoy watching screen bad guys get their backsides kicked by a martial arts master; fans looking for something more serious or plot-focused would be advised to look elsewhere, as you're wasting your time with this one. For die-hard violence fans only, who will lap it up.

Gino vs. Richie, they belong to the same world, they don't share the same philosophy...

[ElMaruecan82 · 7/10 · 9 May 2020]

Can you think of one movie with a totally (and I mean totally) despicable, worthless, rotten to the bone and unredeemable villain? Annie Wilkes? Burke from "Aliens"? You're not there yet. Imagine a bad guy who's so twisted, psychopathic, unpredictable, violent, hateful, ugly that there's not a single spot of likability or colorfulness left; in fact, someone who's not even so-evil or so-bad he's good. There is a movie with such a bad guy, his name is Richie Madano, he's played by the so-underrated William Forsythe, the film is "Out for Justice", it's directed by John Flynn, it stars Steven Seagal (as Gino, the cop) and it's extremely brutal.

To call Richie a thug or a bully would be like calling Amon Goeth a delinquent. Physically, the man's got the look of a dandy who's been puffed up to resemble a walrus, inside, he's a product of the underworld of the underground with a bunch of goons sticking around him like hyenas behind Scar, maybe because leaving him would be like signing your own death warrant. Indeed, he's so high on cocaine or any drugs that he lost every common sense even by criminal standards and keeping a low profile isn't exactly his strongest suit as shown by his character-establishing moment, two actually.

First, he executes in cold blood a cop in broad daylight in front of his wife and kids, spits on his corpse and after that that kills an innocent woman who had the misfortune to be blocked by his car, wrong place at the wrong moment. And for some reason, the second murder shocked me even more: as gruesome as the former was, it had a "reason" if you can call it so, something of a rage that grew inside Richie and lead him to the trigger, but when that woman started beeping and he gave her that look from his car, I knew I had to deal with another type of villain, the unpredictable type, the kind of guy who makes you look at your shoes when you cross his eyes in a train. He doesn't need a reason to kill, only a circumstance, he shoots first and spits on the consequences.

And the merit of such a villain is to free the film from any kind of twist that could get in the way between him and the hero. There's no plot actually, only two characters, the film is basically Richie making an enemy out of Gino, Gino looking for Richie and Gino killing Richie, but what is essential to appreciate the film is the way the two men are totally opposite and yet connected one to another, displaying the same hardened determination to pursue a goal that goes beyond rationality. In fact, Richie's a dead man already and he knows it, only he wishes to die in a blaze of glory, venting out all his anger toward his enemies and those who have the misfortune to have one word too many or to cross his path, he's got nothing to lose and that makes him even more dangerous.

Gino who grew up in the same neighborhood, followed a totally different path and decided to be a cop. Why? Because he knows a man like him would do a great disservice to the community if he didn't use his strength or his skills to protect the little creatures. There's a little subplot with a puppy he found on the street and we see Gino taking care of him. Richie might have flattened him first and reversed the car with a manic laugh. Richie and Gino. These two men represent a collision of morality against savagery: strength against brutality, chaos and order. When Rickie kills a man, it's ugly and detestable, when Gino neutralizes one, it's neat, clean and deserved. Both are equally lethal and both belong to a world where violence has its codes.

Interestingly, if Richie rejects the rules of the mob (he kills a cop in front and his kids) and might even be a threat for his parents and sister (Gina Gershon), Gino also despises the mob, tells what he thinks to the local boss, comforts Richie's parents and his methods aren't all procedural. Gino has his rules too, and in a way Richie is the perfect archenemy. And yet the climactic fight consists on a gruesome one-sided massacre in the most ordinary and anticlimactic place: a kitchen. And there's something grotesque in the way Richie tries to turn common culinary objects into weapons, thinking he stands a chance against Gino who respond to every attack with enough blows to beat Richie's face into pulp. The climax is the right culmination of the cat-and-mouse chase that prevailed: it takes place in a private place, making the beating not just personal but almost intimate. When Gino tells Richie he should have kept his gun, Richie says he likes pain which sounds like an odd invitation when taken out of context.

It's the collision between two guys who belong to the same world but don't share the same philosophy, the beast and the superhuman, the savage and the noble. Through a simple action flick formula mostly set at night, "Out for Justice" illustrates the striking contrast between these two universes, showing people who are totally helpless in that rotten world and in need of invincible heroes like Steven Seagal. Seagal is never as good as when the villains are bad, they were fun in "Under Siege" but extremely disturbing in "Out for Justice" maybe because it shows one thing: heroes today must have the skills of their enemies to overpower them and yet remain deeply good inside. That's Gino, a man who can plug a corkscrew on a face and save a little puppy.

"Out for Justice" is a solid B-movie but with philosophical undertones that reminded me of Cronenberg's "History of Violence".

Out for Justice remains a highlight of Seagal's career and 90's action as a whole

[tarbosh22000 · 7/10 · 7 March 2018]

Detective Gino Felino (Seagal) is Brooklyn born and bred, and Brooklyn to the bone. While he and some of his buddies from the old neighborhood such as Bobby Lupo (Spataro) became cops, others became wiseguys and took up the Italian gangster lifestyle. When psychotic, drug-abusing thug Richie Madano (Forsythe) guns down Lupo in broad daylight and in front of his family, Gino, to use Brooklyn slang...isn't happy. (Keep in mind we're not from Brooklyn). Having disappeared, Gino is certain Richie is still somewhere in Brooklyn and won't leave its confines, so he turns the borough upside down looking for him. Gino has his foot in two worlds, as he utilizes police compatriots such as Captain Donziger (Orbach), as well as gangsters such as Joey Dogs (Corello) in order to find him. Throughout his search, he encounters many characters, everyone from Richie's sister Patti (Gershon) to gangster Bochi (Lasardo), but is anyone safe as Gino goes....OUT FOR JUSTICE?

Out for Justice is Seagal at his absolute best and has proven itself over time to be a classic of 90's action. Lest you think we're a bunch of Seagal haters, we're not; we're just disappointed by the way his career trajectory went in later years. If he had maintained the high quality put forth here, we'd be some of his biggest cheerleaders. It's a mainstream Hollywood production, so everything is lit and shot well, and all the technical aspects are very professional, as you might expect. Anyone only familiar with Seagal's output from the latter third of his career will be shocked by what they see here: he's actually ACTING, i.e., playing a character other than himself. And he does a fine job as Gino, even speaking Italian in many scenes. He gets a nice intro to his character as befits an action star, and it's all just a modern updating of the time-honored "some kids from the neighborhood became cops and some became gangsters" plot we've seen since the early days of Hollywood. But it's done well, with verve and excitement.







John Flynn is one of the most underrated and underappreciated directors of his era, having consistently turned in tough movies such as this, Nails (1992), and the all-time classic Rolling Thunder (1977). As our society became more and more wussified, the style of directors like Flynn fell out of favor in Hollywood, and that may explain why his name isn't mentioned more often. According to our research, Warner Brothers insisted this movie have a three-word title, and the formula held true - Out for Justice was Seagal's third straight number one at the box office. Needless to say, in the late 80's/early 90's Seagal was hot property, and this is the result of that clout - a well-produced tough-guy movie with a lot of beatings and shootings, that isn't overlong and moves at a nice clip. The whole package works.



Seagal is backed up with a great cast as well - Jerry Orbach plays a character identical to the beloved Lenny on Law & Order, so this is the closest we'll get to seeing Seagal as a cast member. Fan favorite William Forsythe plays the baddie with a deranged strength, making him sort of a 1991 version of James Cagney as Cody Jarrett in White Heat (1949). Gershon puts in an energetic performance, and all the cops, gangsters, and family members help to complete the picture. Future Skinemax stars Shannon Whirry Athena Massey, and Julie Strain also make brief appearances. It's also fascinating to see the Brooklyn of 1991 compared with the Brooklyn of today. Back then it was gritty, unpretentious and unglamorous, a perfect setting for an action movie. It's hard to imagine Seagal and Forsythe battling their way through young hipsters with skintight jeans and tattoos wandering around playing Pokemon GO on their iPhones. It's no wonder we continually retreat back to the age when Seagal was cracking heads with pool balls and throwing people out of windows.

As for the music, Seagal co-wrote two of the songs on the soundtrack, "Bad Side of Town" and "Don't Stand in My Way", along with Todd Smallwood. Smallwood did some of the other songs without Seagal, which may have led to his working on the soundtrack of Street Knight (1993) with Jeff Speakman. It must be a nice life, being an action movie song composer. In the end, Out for Justice remains a highlight of Seagal's career and 90's action as a whole.

Typical Seagal movie

[Streetwolf · 2/10 · 6 January 2002]

This movie reminds me a lot of Above the Law, we have the same lead role Steven Seagal and then there's a few scenes of martial arts thrown around the place. Gino is a cop, who does his best every day to clean up the streets of his neighbourhood. His childhood friends are either mafia or cops and one turns out to be a murderer, who is so stoned that he kills people who walk by him.

Why can't Seagal ever be a normal guy in a movie who gets in over his head instead of having connections or relations in the mafia, a CIA background and who ends up getting a bruise or two from time to time? And why oh why don't they find a decent villain who can stand on his feet for more than 2 seconds whilst fighting with Seagal?

Have criminals ever had it so bad?

[chief_ryback · 10/10 · 19 October 2002]

This film is the ultimate violence film. i'm not going to give any specific examples but the fight scenes are so brutal is hilarious. its not like one of those japanese ninja violence films, or evil dead type violence. this is like real-life violence. seagal plays gion fellino, a tough brooklyn cop, who is as the title suggests, out for justice. after the start seagal goes round giving a good hiding to anyone who so much as looks at him funny. the scenes in the butcher shop, the pool hall and the final fight are the best examples of the violence in this film, however they are scattered all over the place. its about 2 minutes into the film before the first person gets a severe decking from seagal. and its fairly brutal. the butcher shop is a good example of seagals martial arts abilities, but more of the fact that gino is a total bad-ass. the pool hall is the macho scene and is a ripper. no-one escapes a good decking. and the final fight is pretty much the harshest beating i've seen in any film. well apart from when like old people get battered but you'll see what i mean if you watch it. make sure to get it on dvd too. its really badly cut on vhs. overall, this film is an all time ripsnorter and probably my favourite seagal film, and in my top ten films of all time.

"It's gonna get a lot hotter before the night is over".

[classicsoncall · 7/10 · 29 August 2009]

Steven Seagal used to take a lot of heat for films like this back in the day, the critics would pan his flicks unmercifully. His fans of course thought they were the best thing going, and the positive reviews on this forum bear that out. When Seagal's early films first came out, I would catch every one of them, impressed with his no holds barred form of Aikido street fighting pared down to the minimum amount of lethal force needed to take down the bad guy. Unrealistic though when no one else in a room full of hoods ever gets to lay a hand, bottle or club over his skull to provide a momentary equalizer. But hey, he was the hero.

With "Out For Justice" I had to wince a few times, not over the violence, but whenever I heard Seagal's over-enunciated bada bing way of speaking - 'Anybody see Richieeeee'. Speech like that is usually left for one of the stunad wise guys so it seemed a little embarrassing.

But I did get a kick out of dope dealer Richie Madano (William Forsythe) - man, what a whack job! Taken outside the context of the film, you have to wonder how he ever survived long enough to reach adulthood. This guy didn't seem capable of making a reasoned decision throughout the picture. Like he really needed to kill the woman in the car because she honked her horn at him, yeah, that seemed fitting. None of his cronies ever thought that might have been excessive either, let's just get away from Gino.

So even with all that nonsense going on, here's what I really don't get. When Gino takes the abandoned German Shepherd pup into the grocery store, where does he find the pet food section? It's right there between the bottled salad dressing and the fresh produce stand - now there's a marketing decision I defy anyone to explain.

It Amuses me to No End

[gigan-92 · 5/10 · 20 March 2011]

It's Steven Segal and he's "Out for Justice" everybody. A story with characters I could care less for, with a score no one cares for and not one relevant theme. You watch this solely for its ass-kickery value. Yes, society's lust for violence makes this one of Segal's most fun films to watch if you ever plan to give any a try. This film makes "Under Siege" look docile if you think about it, and I love it for that. For this alone it's worth watching.

But once again, the main antagonist sucks, Richie Madano is the over-weight, drug loving, trigger happy sadistic madman, and watching his random acts of violence were amusing but it seems pointless by the end. The sorry bastard can't lay a finger on Segal, who dishes out so much pain I think any normal man would've just stayed down. I could watch that final fight again and again for the sole point of laughing so unbearably hard. "Out for Justice" is a fun B-thriller/martial arts film to waste your time on.

Actually acting this time

[winner55 · 8/10 · 24 June 2006]

This is Steven Seagal's best movie. In it, he actually wrestles with the character he plays, and comes up with a dramatic performance that, while no Brando, is still quite believable.

This is a very violent film. It is also a very troubling film. William Forsythe - who also turns in a better than average performance - plays a lower-rung mob boss who, strung out on crack and finding his girl-friend cheating on him, turns psychotic and suicidal. Not a good mix - he starts blowing people away just because they irritate him a little.

The film is also an attempt to deal with the continuing fragmentation of neighborhood communities that were once the heart and soul of larger cities. The community is preserved, but only tentatively - the seeds of its eventual collapse have clearly been planted. The extreme violence of the film thus becomes the manifestation of a unresolvable frustration with the tensions of a community falling apart.

All this adds up to a surprisingly complex Steven Seagal action film that will haunt you long after the closing credits.

Great 90s action movie

[CBeeeeeReviewingSATX · 6/10 · 17 March 2022]

I love this cast, love this movie, I mean c'mon the main guys name is Gino Felino!

We all know SS goes on to be a world class douche bag, but this is a great action movie.

Execrable.

[ftshooter · 1/10 · 3 May 2005]

Let me start off by saying that I am currently in the process of watching all the movies Seagal has ever made.

So far, in addition to "Out for Justice" I have also viewed the following: Above The Law, Hard To Kill, Marked For Death, Under Siege, Under Siege 2, Executive Decision, The Glimmer Man, Fire Down Below, Exit Wounds, Half Past Dead, & Out For A Kill.

Out of all the Seagal movies I have seen however, "Out for Justice" is unquestionably the worst.

In fact it hard for me to imagine that he could have made another film even worse than this & still maintained such a prolific career.

Thankfully however, this movie is so forgettable that even though I viewed it only a few days ago I can barely remember what I hated the most about it.

Later, Tom