It was directed by Jon Hess, written, co-produced and starred by Thomas Ian Griffith and released by New Line Cinema.

One night, he and his team are involved in a drug bust on the Italian mafia that ends in a chaotic shootout and three million dollars of the mob’s money going missing.

However, because of the excessive force used in obtaining the confession, it doesn’t hold up in court and DiMarco is allowed to walk free.

Terry, who lives above his friend Jake’s (Jones) jazz club, Déjà Vu, is separated from his girlfriend Anna (Lewis), a model.

Devastated and enraged, Terry bursts into one of the mob’s private clubs looking for DiMarco, assaulting a number of other gangsters in the process.

Soon after, another detective and friend of his, Frankie (Todd), is also killed in an explosion, and Devlin gives Terry the go-ahead to do whatever needs to be done to avenge the men and put a stop to the murders.

A gangster visits her apartment in disguise and tries to pull a gun, and after Terry successfully knocks him out, he whisks Anna to a remote farmhouse for her protection.

[5] TV Guide gave the film only one star out of four and stated: "At some point, Excessive Force, which lives up to its title, might have been envisioned as a taut, mysterious, high-action cop thriller.

The end result, however, showcases relentless violence over plot—bludgeoning viewers with machine gun fire, bomb blasts, and endless kick-boxing battles.

[6] Joe Leydon of Variety wrote: "Even though New Line is going through the motions with a spotty, regional theatrical release, Excessive Force appears headed down the express lane to homevid, where it may find favor with undiscriminating action fans.

The script is well written, and very well directed by Jon Hess, but it's really the exceptional acting talents of its admirable cast that allows this movie to be as good as it is.

If filled with lesser grade talents, this would really falter, but putting guys like Griffith, Henriksen, Todd, Jones, and more into it gives it some extra substance.