Leofwine_draca This routine action thriller never breaks the boundaries - instead happy to follow in the footsteps of countless older brothers. Yes, it's the old cop corruption routine again, going back all the way to SERPICO in the early '70s. This serviceable flick has some good action bits and some lame "bonding" scenes - just as you would expect, really.One thing the film has in its favour is the cast, with loads of familiar faces in major roles. Thomas Ian Griffith, who you may recognise as the chief vampire Valek in Carpenter's VAMPIRES, is a pretty much wooden action hero. In his favour he's very tall which makes him imposing - check out that vampire film - but his action? Well, it just looks like he's taken up martial arts at college, there is no particular grace in his moves, they're just realistic-looking.Lance Henriksen enjoys himself in a villainous turn, but doesn't come close to the entertaining nastiness he exudes in the same year's HARD TARGET. Also popping up are James Earl "Darth Vader" Jones, in his patented crusty old good guy role, and Tony Todd, who has spent the last two decades acting his way through a million straight-to-video flicks. Burt Young also gets a brief opportunity to chew the scenery.Aside from the action, this is typical stuff, with some gratuitous nudity thrown in for good measure. The action itself is sometimes brutal (although it was trimmed, as I saw this on television), and a refreshing amount of bad guys get taken care of. There are also some explosions and some shooting bits to keep things moving along. Okay, so EXCESSIVE FORCE is nothing special, but it passes the time and could have been a lot worse. Let's just think of something new next time, guys...

Prismark10 With the success of Steven Seagal in the late 1980s. Thomas Ian Griffith was touted as the next action star. He had been in Karate Kid 3, knew his martial arts and had fair amount of acting experience.To stroke his ego, Excessive Force was written by him as well. He plays McCain a maverick Chicago cop obsessed with taking down mobster Sal DiMarco (Burt Young) but he always outwits the cops with smart lawyers and the police using excessive force when taking him down.However DiMarco's guys lose a case with three million dollars in an incident with the police and DiMarco thinks McCain and his team stole it and he sends his goons.McCain and his girlfriend go on the run as bodies start to pile up including his partner and best friend. Police Chief Devlin (Lance Henriksen) never happy with McCain's methods has given him the wink to go after the baddies. However when DiMarco ends up dead he becomes the prime suspect and finds out a more complex web of police corruption.The plus side is Griffith is a decent enough actor. Not only is his character a hot headed cop with martial arts skills, he can also play jazz piano. The film also has some good support actors with James Earl Jones, Young and Henriksen.There is also some intense violent scenes at the beginning of the film and at least a little bit of plotting even if it is rather clichéd. I just thought it lacked something special and one of which was some good, exciting martial arts action. I thought the fight choreography was weak and it seems Griffith lacked a unique selling point in what was already a crowded martial arts action market.

Frank Markland Thomas Ian Griffith stars as Terry McCain, a hard-boiled cop (I don't think there exists a different brand in these type of movies) who looks to avenge his partner after the death of his partner at the hands of a mobster (Played well by Burt Young) however when the mobster turns out dead, despite the mercy McCain bestowed on to him, McCain seeks the ones responsible and finds a conspiracy involved. James Earl Jones lands an embarrassing role as Griffith's would be mentor. Excessive Force is one of the blandest action flicks ever made. Its low degree of style as well as witless plot contrivances make for very dull going. Griffith's performance also grates the nerves since he looks like a used car salesman, rather than one man army cop. The good cast is ultimately wasted, Especially Jones who seems bored with the role, as does Henriksen who could do his role in his sleep. The only real life comes from villain Burt Young but he is ultimately wasted as he is killed off early. Therefore leaving us with a cast to flounder with such labored material.* out of 4-(Bad)

bronsonskull72 Thomas Ian Griffith stars as Terry McCain a loose cannon cop who declares war on a mobster (Burt Young) when that mobster kills McCain's friends, however when McCain spares the mobster and finds him dead when he comes back to arrest him, McCain finds a corruption in this bland, predictable and downright awful movie. Excessive Force is a movie so generic that everything is spelled out before the opening scenes, a truly terrible movie which even wastes James Earl Jones.