Out For Justice (DVD)

...if I’m being really honest, Out For Justice is not a very good film. It never was. It will never be remembered as a classic, will never be released on a 2-disc special edition DVD and will never appear in anyone’s all-time top-10 movie list, and quite rightly so. All I’m saying is that it’s a simple slice of escapist, 80‘s style Saturday night fun that is actually rather enjoyable in a sadistic, sick minded kinda way.

Steve plays ...
...proper firepower and wiping them out once and for all. Or, in the case of one poor sod, blowing his leg off with a shotgun!

While I may go on about the endless punch-ups, the mindless violence and all the guilty pleasures that Out For Justice provides, it’s only fair that William Forsythe gets a mention in the acting stakes. He’s the bloke that plays Richie Madano and a more loathsome villain you’ll be hard pushed to find. Forsythe ... more

Steven Seagal is a chump. He can’t act, he looks ridiculous and he hasn’t made a decent film in about 15 years. Let’s get one thing absolutely clear, I’m not, repeat NOT, a fan.

But…

But there was a time, back in the day when Seagal’s star was on the rise and the Spikester was nowt more than a teenage yob, that a couple of his films actually found their way into my affections. Marked For Death was one, this was the other.

Of course if I’m being really honest, Out For Justice is not a very good film. It never was. It will never be remembered as a classic, will never be released on a 2-disc special edition DVD and will never appear in anyone’s all-time top-10 movie list, and quite rightly so. All I’m saying is that it’s a simple slice of escapist, 80‘s style Saturday night fun that is actually rather enjoyable in a sadistic, sick minded kinda way.

Steve plays Gino Fellino (isn’t that a brand of Italian ice cream??), a tough, no-nonsense Brooklyn cop with a big ponytail and a bad attitude. Hardly what you’d call original but let’s face it, a tough pony-tailed cop with a bad attitude is the only role that Steve can play with any degree of conviction. These days he’s taken to playing environmental activists or some sort of political eco-warrior, often replete with beads, togas and a bunch of spiritual Zen-philosophy nonsense to boot. No wonder nobody watches them anymore.

When Gino’s partner and best friend is gunned down in broad daylight by drug-dealer, pimp, rapist and all round scumbag Richie Madano, Gino takes it upon himself to avenge the death of his buddy.
That’s about it really, the rest of the films running time is made up largely of Big Steve
driving around the streets of Brooklyn beating, bruising and bashing his way through assorted scum and villainy until he gets to Richie with the occasional brief diversion to try and patch up his rocky marriage. Oh, and Big Steve gets to adopt a cute little puppy-dog too. Aww.
The very basic plotline is made slightly more interesting by the fact that Richie was once Gino’s childhood best friend and that Richie’s old man acted like a father figure to Gino when his own dad bit the big one. This does actually allow for a certain amount of personal conflict for the character of Gino and this conflict is even explored in one or two scenes, albeit briefly. It won’t win any awards for emotional resonance or sensitive characterisation but it does at least add an element of humanity not normally found in this type of film.

There’s also a bit of background into WHY Richie popped Bobby Lupo but to be honest, these scenes don’t really matter, their only real purpose is to move Gino onto the next punch up with minimal delay, usually in some seedy bar, a warehouse hideaway or, in one particularly amusing scene, a butcher’s shop. Cue lots of guys being whacked with a giant bratwurst and another guy getting his hand pinned to the wall with a meat cleaver! Trust me, it’s funnier than it sounds.
Another gleefully brutal episode sees Big Steve march into a bar that any person who values their looks would avoid like the plague and start hurling insults at its patrons, pushing people around and generally duffing them up (including some swift yet unorthodox dentistry with a snooker ball in a sock!) until someone gives up Richie’s whereabouts.
High-brow this ain’t, but there’s something deeply satisfying about seeing really scummy people - pimps, crack-heads, thugs and muggers etc… getting what they truly deserve. Unlike other action flicks, the bad guys here aren’t dispatched in elaborate shoot-outs, spectacular explosions or over-the-top car chases, there’s no need for that, Big Steve just beats them up. Usually in really humiliating fashion. And usually more than once! In fact it’s not until the final reel, when the baddies push Gino that little bit too far, that he finally resorts to using some proper firepower and wiping them out once and for all. Or, in the case of one poor sod, blowing his leg off with a shotgun!

While I may go on about the endless punch-ups, the mindless violence and all the guilty pleasures that Out For Justice provides, it’s only fair that William Forsythe gets a mention in the acting stakes. He’s the bloke that plays Richie Madano and a more loathsome villain you’ll be hard pushed to find. Forsythe may not be an A-list star, you may not have even heard of him but he’s actually a very good actor and his role here, as a man on the edge of a full-blown, drug induced psychotic breakdown is particularly edgy. Ok so he’s no Hans Gruber, but his mere presence can be distinctly unnerving for those both on and in front of the screen. By the end of the film you really really don’t like this guy and seeing the pony-tailed one beat seventeen shades of shite out of him is strangely gratifying. Again, machine guns, rocket launchers and flame throwers are ditched in favour of much more mundane weapons such as a rolling pin, a frying pan and as a finishing touch, a corkscrew in the forehead!

It’s thanks to this back-to-basics approach that Out For Justice scores so highly. The film makes no bones about the fact that it’s a straight-forward, no nonsense revenge flick, one that doesn’t have ideas above its station and ultimately delivers the goods with gusto. Even the films tagline tells you everything you need to know: “It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to take out the garbage.“
By aiming low this early Seagal action romp rarely fails to hit the mark and that, my friends, is why Out For Justice is a Crap Film That I quite Like™.

On a final note it’s worth mentioning that Steven Seagal films have never been popular with the British censors and nearly all of them have suffered one or two (or indeed, several) cuts at the hands of the BBFC. Out For Justice is no exception so should you ever consider getting your own copy it’s worth seeking out the R-rated region 1 version instead of an 18 -cert British copy. The UK version doesn’t even have the snooker-ball-in-the-sock scene for a start! Or the meat cleaver bit. Spoilsports.
Neither version of the DVD comes with anything in the way of extra features but the sound and picture are perfectly adequate, the soundtrack is surprisingly groovy (the Beastie Boys ‘No Sleep Til Brooklyn’ a particular highlight) and at least it’s fairly cheap - most internet retailers (Amazon, Play, etc…) are flogging it for about 6 quid. Worth every penny if you ask me.

Recommended, but only for slightly twisted weirdos. . . like me!

 

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