Director: Andrew Davis
Cast: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak, Colm Meaney
Country: United States
Rating: R
Run Time: 103 minutes
Alright. This blog is embarking into a whole new territory of action: Steven Seagal. To the average viewer, Seagal is synonymous with fat jokes and crappy DTV releases. The guy has starred in more DTV's than any other action star that I can think of. However, most people have never honestly seen a single one of his films. I'm not going to lie, I had never seen a single film of his from start to finish either. However, if I am going to be an action guy I have to dive into Steven Seagal films sooner or later. Therefore, I am choosing to start with his most successful film in order to give myself a taste of the best that the pony tailed man has to offer.
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| Casey Ryback. Akido master and ladies man. |
Under Siege is as many critics have described as "Die Hard on a battleship." The film starts by telling us that a battleship is being transported to Hawaii in order to be disarmed so it can serve as a tourist attraction. During the transportation, Commander Krill (Gary Busey) plans a surprise birthday party for the captain of the ship. He chooses to fly in the party's entertainment in a helicopter consisting of a band led by Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones) and Miss July (Erika Eleniak). The battleship's head cook, Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal), is down in the kitchen cooking and preparing food for the ship. When he and Commander Krill get into a disagreement, Krill has him locked in the meat locker for insubordination.
While Casey is trapped in the locker, Krill and Strannix take over the ship with the help of Strannix's men. They reveal their true intentions to be that they plan on stealing the ship's missiles and selling them off to the highest bidder. Unfortunately for them, they left Seagal down in the freezer and he is one pissed off ex-Navy Seal. The rest of the movie is Die Hard with Seagal snapping necks, breaking limbs, and shooting the crap out of some henchmen, all building up towards a final confrontation with Strannix himself.
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| Crazy Jones is in this movie. |
Under Siege is probably the most widely recognized of all of Steven Seagal's films. Made on a $35 million budget, the film grossed a whopping $155 million, was nominated for two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Sound Editing, and ranks fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. No other Seagal film has ever come close to being as successful as Under Siege did. With this in mind, I went into the film with high hopes. Unfortunately, I found myself pretty disappointed.
Don't get me wrong. This is still an entertaining and solid action film. However, I never once felt any tension concerning whether or not Seagal would be able to stop the terrorists aboard the ship. He simply goes from set piece to set piece with no trouble whatsoever. The film really is a poor man's Die Hard. The lead hero and villain aren't as memorable as John McClane or Hans Gruber, the action is solid yet lacks the punch of Die Hard's set pieces, and the humor can't match up to Die Hard's many hilarious moments.
I know I am comparing this film to Die Hard and that some people find that unfair. But if you are going to rip off Die Hard, at least try to deliver a suspenseful thrill ride with actual tension. Seagal just wanders around the ship and slaughters bad guy after bad guy with no problem. Unlike the very human McClane, Ryback feels like an unstoppable killing machine. The film I watched did not feel like the most successful Steven Seagal film I have always heard of.
Don't get me wrong. This is still an entertaining and solid action film. However, I never once felt any tension concerning whether or not Seagal would be able to stop the terrorists aboard the ship. He simply goes from set piece to set piece with no trouble whatsoever. The film really is a poor man's Die Hard. The lead hero and villain aren't as memorable as John McClane or Hans Gruber, the action is solid yet lacks the punch of Die Hard's set pieces, and the humor can't match up to Die Hard's many hilarious moments.
I know I am comparing this film to Die Hard and that some people find that unfair. But if you are going to rip off Die Hard, at least try to deliver a suspenseful thrill ride with actual tension. Seagal just wanders around the ship and slaughters bad guy after bad guy with no problem. Unlike the very human McClane, Ryback feels like an unstoppable killing machine. The film I watched did not feel like the most successful Steven Seagal film I have always heard of.
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| Oh yeah, Crazy Busey is in this movie too. |
Seagal makes for an interesting action lead. I don't know why, but Seagal loves to whisper and talk softly when he delivers his lines. He also shows very little emotion or charisma beyond a smile here and a laugh there. It's just a Seagal thing I guess. I think I need to watch more Seagal films before I can give you an official opinion on the guy. He seems like a capable action star from the film I watched though. Seagal truly is an action movie fan's dream come true. He's an unstoppable killing machine and there is never a doubt in your mind that a film of his is going to deliver the goods.
I miss the days when Tommy Lee Jones was a crazed and energetic actor and when Gary Busey was actually in wide release films. If anything dates Under Siege (besides it starring a non-fat Steven Seagal), it's that Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones are the lead villains. The two basically try to out crazy each other throughout the film. Busey dances in drag in one scene and Jones literally snaps and mumbles nonsense in another. The two make for some extremely entertaining villains.
Miss July's (Erika Eleniak) hair style and presence also help date this film's 90's nature. She is found by Seagal knocked out on the ship. She than joins Seagal on his quest to wander around the ship and kill every terrorist he can find. Her character truly adds nothing to the film except sex appeal. There is a scene where the filmmakers unecessarily show off her breasts in a large close up and even have her and Seagal kiss at the end of the film. Like I said, sex appeal.
Under Siege at least has Seagal and his action prowress going for the film. Seagal's films are notorious for containing some of the most violent henchman dispatches in all of movie-dom. In the film's one hour and forty minute run time, Seagal hurls a knife into a henchman's neck, rips out a guy's throat, shoots numerous henchies in the head and chest, stabs a guy in the arm pit, kicks a guy into a saw blade, and drops a steel rod right through a guy's stomach. Talk about bang for your buck. Seagal puts on a real variety show if you ask me.
Of all of the action scenes in the film, there is a particularly great one around the middle of the film. Seagal crosses two sub-machine guns and rushes down a hallway filled with opened doors. As Seagal blind fires, he blasts all of the henchman standing in each door way. Pretty cool technique if you ask me.
There is unfortunately a very disappointing knife fight in the film. I'm sorry, but the editing and choreography of the final knife fight is just laughable. Nothing about it is exciting or visually cohesive. For a film filled with solid and entertaining action, it was quite disappointing to find a knife fight so poor.
Under Siege is my first official Steven Seagal action film. I think if you are willing to lower your standards, you'll have a real blast with this film. It's a load of dumb fun featuring an actor at the top of his game. After Under Siege, Seagal would never retain the same level of success. Therefore, the film literally marks Seagal at the top of his commercial game. Seagal is also an interesting action star. I'm not completely in love with the guy but I can see why others might like him alot. With some well paced action and some hilarious villains, Under Siege is good in my book.
I miss the days when Tommy Lee Jones was a crazed and energetic actor and when Gary Busey was actually in wide release films. If anything dates Under Siege (besides it starring a non-fat Steven Seagal), it's that Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones are the lead villains. The two basically try to out crazy each other throughout the film. Busey dances in drag in one scene and Jones literally snaps and mumbles nonsense in another. The two make for some extremely entertaining villains.
Miss July's (Erika Eleniak) hair style and presence also help date this film's 90's nature. She is found by Seagal knocked out on the ship. She than joins Seagal on his quest to wander around the ship and kill every terrorist he can find. Her character truly adds nothing to the film except sex appeal. There is a scene where the filmmakers unecessarily show off her breasts in a large close up and even have her and Seagal kiss at the end of the film. Like I said, sex appeal.
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| Miss July saves the day. |
Under Siege at least has Seagal and his action prowress going for the film. Seagal's films are notorious for containing some of the most violent henchman dispatches in all of movie-dom. In the film's one hour and forty minute run time, Seagal hurls a knife into a henchman's neck, rips out a guy's throat, shoots numerous henchies in the head and chest, stabs a guy in the arm pit, kicks a guy into a saw blade, and drops a steel rod right through a guy's stomach. Talk about bang for your buck. Seagal puts on a real variety show if you ask me.
Of all of the action scenes in the film, there is a particularly great one around the middle of the film. Seagal crosses two sub-machine guns and rushes down a hallway filled with opened doors. As Seagal blind fires, he blasts all of the henchman standing in each door way. Pretty cool technique if you ask me.
There is unfortunately a very disappointing knife fight in the film. I'm sorry, but the editing and choreography of the final knife fight is just laughable. Nothing about it is exciting or visually cohesive. For a film filled with solid and entertaining action, it was quite disappointing to find a knife fight so poor.
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| Akimbo Seagal |
Under Siege is my first official Steven Seagal action film. I think if you are willing to lower your standards, you'll have a real blast with this film. It's a load of dumb fun featuring an actor at the top of his game. After Under Siege, Seagal would never retain the same level of success. Therefore, the film literally marks Seagal at the top of his commercial game. Seagal is also an interesting action star. I'm not completely in love with the guy but I can see why others might like him alot. With some well paced action and some hilarious villains, Under Siege is good in my book.
Rating: 7/10 - This Die Hard rip-off is a flawed but solid action film. Recommended to action fans and general audiences alike.
Franchise:
Under Siege (1992, dir. Andrew Davis)
Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995, dir. Geoff Murphy)
Congratulations on the first of what is certain to be a very fruitful run of increasingly disappointed movie reviews! I can't wait! And hey, maybe you'll discover some hidden gems...
ReplyDeleteOh man I know. I'm probably only going to stick to Seagal's first 7 movies (Above the Law through Under Siege 2), because the guy is in too many DTV's to keep track of.
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