Extreme Justice

Fans of good action films will find "Extreme Justice" to their liking. What elevates this police special squad film above the competition, is the interesting and effective cast. You rarely see Scott Glenn, Lou Diamond Phillips, Ed Lauter, and Yaphet Kotto all together in one exciting movie. Ethical questions aside, "Extreme Justice" delivers the death squad justice in massive doses. If you are a fan of any of the above actors, then seek this one out, because you will not be disappointed. My only objection is that the female lead, Chelsea Field, playing a snoopy reporter, is rather bland, cold, and ultimately forgettable. - MERK

Here's a film that was a warm welcomed surprise. If you want to be entertained, get Mark Lester to do it. And when you have great actors like Glenn and Phillips as the leads, you know you're in for surefire entertainment. Here, it's more explosive entertainment, in a well polished and slick actioner about loose vigilante justice, only the justice here is wearing a badge. SIS is Special Investigation Section, a secret division of cops, who are out to take out the worst high profile offenders, ready at the assigned locale, for when they strike, only we have more murders than arrests. Losing his cool with a scummy piece of s..t, undercover cop, Jeff Powers (Phillips) is the latest to join Glenn's warm posse of cops, but being a witness to long time friend, Glenn's reckless actions, puts a strain on the work relationship, where soon at first hand, Jeff begins to see the real truth about this organization. The films has great shootouts and action, brilliantly staged, with no dull moment to spare. Chelsea Field, a really good actress, plays Phillip's older girlfriend, an avid reporter, out to bust this squad. The last scene, a stand off between Glenn and Phillips, where all out war is declared, is my favorite. Have to viddy this surprisingly well made film again. To bag this film, you'd have to be a bit off. Great, exciting entertainment, based on real incidents. Watch.

Supposedly this film when it came out caused a bit of a stir and controversy by claiming that the idea behind the premise (an elite group of LAPD cops operating outside normal police guidelines that target high-profile criminals) was inspired by facts. The idea is scary (bystanders sometimes considered necessary sacrifices), but not particularly new as it did remind me of the Dirty Harry sequel; "Magnum Force". Although this death squad were not rogues operating outside the law as in that film; well that's what they like to think in what is an official unit. "Extreme Justice" might be audacious, but what occurs is by-the-book and formulaic.

Director Mark L. Lester's mechanically brazen handling balances the tough action with the not-so black-and-white context. Some set-pieces are frenetic and raw, chucking in foot-chases, car-chases, bloody shootouts and Mark Irwin's sweeping photography. Sure it can be somewhat heavy-handed and morally bounded, but Lester keeps it reality bounded and it's the lead performance of Scott Glenn that sells it. He plays the leader of the S.I.S (Special Investigation Section) unit. Glenn's outstanding performance is lean, but also ballsy and cynical as you can see it beginning to affect him. Lou Diamond Phillips suitably plays the brash, but idealistically rough newcomer to the squad who actually begins to question the methods in how they go about getting the job done. Watching the two go at it fuelled some tension in between the set- ups after set-ups. There's good support from the likes of Yaphet Kotto, Chelsea Field, Richard Grove, William Lucking, L. Scott Caldwall and Ed Lauter as the police captain. Daniel Quinn and Andrew Divoff play some criminals. While also look for action stuntman Larry Holt and stuntman / actor Bob Minor.

"Trust me amigo. You're made for this work."

I love it when films about these low profile organizations (like the SIS in this film or secret societies in The Skulls). Because I never heard of these organizations and I watch a film that when watching, I have the mentality of it just being a movie. Turns out these organizations exist. Well, in 1993, a little TV movie called Extreme Justice was made and it is about the SIS. Now before I go any further, research does say that this is a TV film (at least in the US) and the only lead I got was that this premiered on LifeTime which is something I highly doubt seeing that LifeTime (at least now) is geared towards women. Extreme Justice was directed by Mark L. Lester (The Base and The Base 2: Guilty as Charged). The film stars Lou Diamond Phillips (Stand and Deliver, and made appearances in 24), Scott Glenn (Apocalypse Now and The Silence of the Lambs), Yaphet Kotto (Alien and The Running Man), and Ed Lauter (Golden Years and I found out recently had an uncredited role in Talladega Nights).

Jeff Powers (Lou Diamond Phillips) is reassigned and put into the SIS. The SIS is a group of police officers who take down the worst of criminals by following them and catching them in the act. But Jeff is starting to realize that things may be going too far.

For those who do not know, Mark L. Lester would later go on and direct two films. The Base and The Base 2: Guilty as Charged. But it is the latter that I keep finding similarities between the two films. But it is this film that I like better. First off, I came in expecting some sort of buddy cop film that was violent enough that it would be allowed on television. But, it went a more serious route for the most part but still retained enough violence to satisfy my tastes (and hopefully it will satisfy the biggest of gore hounds when it comes to action movies). The whole story is a pretty generic and does nothing to stand out. It plays it safe. The whole moral conflict about killing and whatnot or just any sort of moral conflict has been done before and I cannot say I was a bit surprised by the overall outcome when it came to the end of the film. But, with that being said, it still is pretty entertaining for the most part. As mentioned before, the violence is enough for most people to easily handle and take in. The shootouts/action is pretty standard yet do not take it all as a negative. This is a TV movie (I think, unless this was a late night movie where you did not have to have anything censored) and you won't be seeing anything on a grand scale. Plus, it is the early 90's so good luck trying to get any big action on TV. The performances are actually fairly good and I usually find the best acting coming from the scenes filled with arguing. I know it sounds weird, but having tense scenes like that truly show how good these actors can be. Lou Diamond Phillips plays the long haired, young and cocky cop (and looks like he could be some bass player for some 90's rock band). A role that has been done before but I still had some fun watching him. The film flows fairly nice and does not slow down. If the film had any signs of slowing down, I would probably think that this film would have worked better as a TV show. Now, coming to think about it, it should have at some point!

Extreme Justice is nothing extraordinary but it does the job in being a TV movie. Something you turn on and be entertained by. It has some violence and good acting on top of the entertainment value.

Unlike what one reviewer said this is NOT a ripoff of Magnum Force. In that one Lieutenant Hal Holbrook put together his own little squad from Academy rookies to dispatch repeat offenders. In Extreme Justice this operation has the sanction from the higher ups of the LAPD. Just how far they sanction the exact methods used is open to question.

This Special Investigations Squad seems to be quite the haven for the misfits of the LAPD, those that have forgotten their first duty is protection and service. Which is why Scott Glenn thinks Lou Diamond Phillips, a detective with more than his share of beefs with Internal Affairs for excessive use of force, is perfect for the squad.

What should have sent him running from Phillips is the fact he's got a nice live-in relationship with a reporter, Chelsea Field. That one certainly threw me in this film, you'd think that Lou would be the last guy he'd try to recruit for his team.

And what his team is, is a death squad. They target perpetrators follow them and wait to catch them in the act. Then it's open season.

Extreme Justice went very overboard in trying to make a point. There sure would have been no harm in waiting for a gang of bank robbers to finish the robbery and taking them down outside. No civilians got hurt when the citizens of Coffeyville did that to the Daltons. Or waiting until three rapists finish the job before moving in. That's what were asked to believe here.

And frankly I couldn't buy it. A lot of good players get really wasted in this one.