MARKED FOR DEATH

US, 1990, 93 minutes, Colour.
Steven Seagall, Keith David, Joanne Pacula.
Directed by Dwight H.Little.

Marked for Death stars martial arts teacher turned actor (more or less) Steven Seagal, who has made Above the Law and Hard to Kill, very tough thrillers about police and drugs. This one is too much. While the cause and legal justice are important, the methods and literal bone-breaking and crunching violence alienates the audience. Too violent.

1.Impact of this kind of violent thriller? Martial arts background? Drug world and police?

2.The atmosphere of Chicago, of Jamaica? Realistic settings for this kind of story?

3.The title, its tone - drugs, violence, Caribbean religions?

4.Themes of justice and law, the role of the police and the FBI, the lack of scruple of the drug couriers, individuals taking the law and justice into their own hands?

5.John Hatcher and the opening, his work, the violent deaths, the police, the feigned drug deals, the prostitute and her killing, her own death? The effect on Hatcher? Decision to retire? Moving to ordinary life in Chicago, his family?

6.The football coach, Vietnam buddy, Hatcher going to see him, watching the crack dealers next to the playing field? Their reaction?

7.The information about Jamaican posses, their style, international connections, voodoo rituals, the deaths? The smash-up in the restaurant? The arrival of the FBI?

8.Hatcher at the nightclub, the arrests, his confrontation of the Jamaican, the vengeance? Combat and confrontations? With his buddy? The vengeance on his family and the attacks? The FBI and their concern? Charles and his help?

9.The decision to go to Jamaica, Charles and his buddy, the combat, the confrontations and fights, the defeat of the drug dealer - and the irony of his having a twin?

10.The return to Chicago, the final confrontation, the literal bone-crunching violence? The alleged `serious fun' of their attacks? The death of their other twin? The subjugation of the posses?

11.The background of family, threats to family? Motivation for Hatcher to intervene? His being used to violence? Even liking it?

12.Police thriller conventions? Taken to their limits? A reflection on the drug and police issues of films in the '80s? The amount of violence?