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Martial Law

Martial Law

Action · Crime · Drama · 1990

Officer Sean Thompson is a martial-arts expert and a cop. He and his partner are working to stop a gang of arms dealers and car thieves, but their efforts are complicated by his younger brother being a member of the gang.

Movie details

Martial Law

“Brothers... Cops. One enforces the law, the other breaks it.”

1990 Action · Crime · Drama 1h 29m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.2 / 10

Community rating

Officer Sean Thompson is a martial-arts expert and a cop. He and his partner are working to stop a gang of arms dealers and car thieves, but their efforts are complicated by his younger brother being a member of the gang.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Martial Law?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Steve Cohen

Written by

Richard Brandes

Chad McQueen

Chad McQueen

Sean Thompson

Cynthia Rothrock

Cynthia Rothrock

Billie Blake

David Carradine

David Carradine

Dalton Rhodes

A

Andy McCutcheon

Michael Thompson

Philip Tan

Philip Tan

Wu Han

Tony Longo

Tony Longo

Booker

Vincent Craig Dupree

Vincent Craig Dupree

Faster Brown

Court is in session

Put Martial Law on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.