Action Hall of Fame - Steven Seagal

I thought that I would try a new feature on my blog in which I induct actors, filmmakers, and significant figures in the action entertainment industry into a hall of fame of sorts chosen by me exclusively. I used to do a feature where I would try to highlight an actor's career and update the list, but it turned out to be far too time consuming, especially when you consider how many actors and filmmakers there are too highlight.

In order for a figure to make it into the official Better Clear On Out the Back - Action Hall of Fame, they must have made a significant impact on action cinema either throughout their career or at a distinct point in their career (i.e. Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger). They can also be inducted purely for appearing in countless action films or for devoting most of their career and screen image to the genre (i.e. Al Leong, Gary Daniels, etc). Filmmakers, editors, and composers can also be inducted, although actors tend to be the most highlighted faces of action cinema, as they are the star and marquee value and all. I plan on inducting a new figure every month and will explain my reasoning as to why that figure should be inducted into the hall of fame.

For my first inductee, I thought that I would go with someone typically overlooked, the one and only, Steven Seagal. It would be too easy if I started off an action hall of fame by inducting go to actors Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger (I'm looking at you IGN.com). Therefore, I decided to go with someone unique who requires explaining and reasoning for their place in the hall of fame.

"I'm just a cook."

Better Clear On Out the Back - Action Hall of Fame Inductee:

Steven Seagal (actor, director, writer, songwriter, producer, etc.)

You know you've made it when this is your 1st poster.

Steven Seagal is an action star whose films are mainly remembered for their incorporation of violent gun play and akido styled martial arts. When most people bring up Seagal nowadays, it tends to be met with a fat joke or a complete disregard for his entire filmography. While I agree that the man could lose a few pounds, as well as use a new attitude, I absolutely adore his early films and consider them to be the hottest streak of any breakout action star in cinema history. That Seagal was able to churn out hit after hit for several years in a row without missing a beat earns him a spot alone in the hall of fame.

Seagal broke out onto the action scene with not a supporting role, but a starring role in his very first film, 1988's Above the Law. It's not often that an unknown actor appears out of nowhere in a starring role, let alone an action film distributed by Warner Bros. Seagal is the rare action star who started as an action star, not a no name actor in the back ground or a small supporting role in a bigger action star's film. He came onto the scene as an action star and began his career on the highest of highs, something that no other action star to date has been able to rival or duplicate.

The best 'Die Hard' rip-off this side of the 90s.

Seagal's early films, specifically Above the Law and Hard to Kill, showcased an action star with both brutalistic fervor and gentle kindness. Watch the scenes with Seagal and his spouses in both of those films and tell me he is not the kindest husband you have seen that side of a gun and a badge. I also adore the scene in Hard to Kill in which Seagal prays with his son before he goes to sleep. For those who do not believe that Seagal can act, look no further than the first act of Hard to Kill in which he has everything and loses it all within minutes, all the while kicking ass at the same time.

The man would continue to thrill viewers with increasingly violent films like Marked for Death and Out for Justice, two films where Seagal's characters continue to show no mercy on his enemies. It is within these first films of his in which Seagal's trademark knack for breaking arms and destroying his enemies was established. However, Seagal experienced minor A-list success with his fifth film, 1992's Under Siege. The film was not only critically well received, but a massive financial success and a two time Academy Award nominee. You read that right, a Seagal film ruled the world at one point. To this day, most general audiences remember this as the film that defines Seagal as an action star and entertainer for its blockbuster sensibilities and success upon its release in the 90s. It's worth noting that both of the films that Seagal worked on with director Andrew Davis are two of his most critically well received pictures.

The end of an era.

Unfortunately, Seagal's hot streak ended in 1994 with On Deadly Ground, his first critical and commercial flop, as well as his directorial debut. While the film features some first rate action, Seagal's weaknesses as a director and story teller abound throughout the entire film. For example, Seagal resorts to lots of A.D.R. in nearly every scene. He also bashes the viewer over the head with his film's themes, thereby making it more of a lecture than anything else. Regardless of its flaws, it is truly a unique action film in which a muscle bound action star used their minor A-list stardom to highlight their concern for the environment.

Seagal followed up his first failure with two more minor hits that signaled the end of his minor A-list stardom. Under Siege 2, while a minor success and honestly an immensely underrated sequel, was not as well received as its blockbuster predecessor. And Executive Decision, Seagal's first film in which he played a supporting role, revealed Warner. Bros' dying patience for the star, in which they killed him off early in the film. For those who are curious, I personally believe that Executive Decision is the best film that Seagal ever appeared in, although I consider Hard to Kill to be the best Seagal starring vehicle.

After those films, Seagal's career took a nose dive into terrible theatrical efforts, such as The Glimmer Man and Fire Down Below. Before he knew it, the sensei was appearing in direct to video action film after direct to video action film, more than anyone could care to count. As someone who has seen some of Seagal's direct to video efforts, I can honestly vouch that they are some of the worst films ever made, with 2005's Attack Force earning the title as the worst film that I have ever seen. And although Seagal experienced minor theatrical comebacks in 2001 with Exit Wounds and 2010 with Machete, the action star's heydays seem to be long gone, as few people respect the actor anymore.

There is no denying it, Seagal is now a burnt out 'has-been' whose heyday happened long ago. However, based purely upon the strength of his heyday, I would argue that Seagal is probably the greatest 'has-been' to have ever come upon the action scene. Seagal's early films are still well remembered to this day because they blended both intimate drama with brutal action, something that had rarely been tackled before. And while those intimate films signaled a possible A-list star in the making, Seagal's blockbuster days were short lived. To this day, people still debate whether Seagal or Jean Claude Van Damme were the better B-list action star of the early 90s, as both men had one massive success that grossed over $100 million worldwide, Under Siege for Seagal and Timecop for Van Damme. Therefore, I personally believe that based upon the strength of his earliest films, Seagal most definitely earns a spot in the action hall of fame.

The Sensei proudly accepts his award.

Seagal Double Feature [The Beginning of the End]: On Deadly Ground (1994) + Executive Decision (1996)

Director: Steven Seagal

Cast: Steven Seagal, Michael Caine, John C. McGinley, R. Lee Erney

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 101 minutes

Oh boy, this is the tipping point. I had always heard that On Deadly Ground, Seagal's sixth feature, was the film that began the end of his Hollywood career and slowly but surely turned him into a joke. And you know what, those claims were correct. On Deadly Ground is a cheesy but entertaining action picture with one of the most obvious political and anti-oil industry messages you will ever hear. Seagal has no interest in subtlety. He takes that political message of his and essentially lectures the audience for four minutes on it at the end of his film. I kid you not. After churning out four big hits (Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Out for Justice, Under Siege) for Warner Bros, Seagal cashed all of his studio credit in order to make this highly personal actioner that entertains in parts but fails as a whole. Still, even though Seagal makes for an easy target to lampoon here, I commend the guy for trying to make a message movie. Even if he did fail miserably.

Forrest Taft (damn, Seagal's names are always awesome) is an expert in cleaning up oil related fires. He works for Michael Jennings (Michael Caine), the CEO of Aegis Oil based in Alaska. Even though Taft has worked with Jennings for several years, recent oil spills lead Taft to suspect foul play on Jennings' part. When Taft discovers that Jennings is rushing a potentially dangerous oil rig to completion in order to maintain the oil rights in Alaska, his suspicions become officially confirmed. Jennings and his right hand man MacGruder (John C. McGinley) set an oil fire trap for Taft to resolve only to blow it up in the process. However, Taft survives and is revived by Alaskan natives. Upon realizing how corrupt Jennings is and seeing how victimized the Alaskan people are, Taft and fellow native Masu set out to destroy Aegis 1's newest oil rig and return Alaska's oil rights back to the people. In other words, environmental terrorism!

On Deadly Ground's spot on environmental message is so overwhelmingly preachy that few people will be able to take it seriously. Seagal repeatedly bashes the audience over the head with his anti-oil corporation message that it becomes down right hilarious after awhile. On Deadly Ground also proves that Steven Seagal should never direct again. The man can't direct actors to respond in a realistic manner or deliver upon subtle and convincing themes. Every performer goes way over the top; along with Michael Caine, one of the greatest actors of all time, turning in a hilariously awful performance as Jennings, the film's evil and heartless villain.

Seagal also fails to capture sound well because there is a ridiculous amount of ADR in the film. Whenever the camera is not on someone's face, Seagal squeezes a ADR line in there just for good measure. The heavy usage of ADR hurts the film so much that it never recovers from it. The inconsistent audio issues appear from beginning to end, that's how bad they are. Vern's Seagology book claims that the ADR in the film must be a part of Seagal's directorial style because it is so abundant and present! I love Vern's positive outlook on such a terrible aspect of the film.

Even with On Deadly Ground's cheesy final speech and ever abundant message withstanding, the film still delivers on some hard R action scenes that will please any action fan. Seagal directs some fine fist fights, tossing in a slow motion shot or two for good measure. He also racks up a massive kill count during the film's final oil rig face off. However, my favorite action scene of the film occurs inside of a cabin in which Seagal must face off against a number of hit men. The scene becomes especially awesome when Seagal picks up an old tusk and whacks the hell out of one of the hitmen. 

On Deadly Ground was the turning point for Seagal. He poured his heart and soul into this environmental film that set out prove that he was more than a mindless action star. Unfortunately, critics ate him up for it. The man has since to regain his commercial stature and most likely never will. Therefore, On Deadly Ground makes for an interesting case in which an action star poured their beliefs into one of their films and paid the price for it. Still, the flick is entertaining for its bloody action scenes and makes for a "so bad, it's good" film at times. On Deadly Ground is the ultimate cheese, Seagal cheese that is.

Rating: 5/10 - An environmental action flick done poorly. Entertaining action scenes though.

Director: Stuart Baird

Cast: Kurt Russell, John Leguizamo, Steven Seagal, Oliver Platt, Halle Berry

Country: United States

Rating: R

Run Time: 134 minutes

Note: Review contains spoilers regarding Seagal's character in the film.

Executive Decision is a unique film in the Seagal filmography because it was the first film that Seagal had a supporting role in and not the lead role. It was also the first film *spoilers, you've been warned* to kill Seagal off, and in the first 40 minutes as well! For all reviewing purposes, Executive Decision is not a Seagal film. It is a film with Seagal in it. He doesn't get to work in any of his own personal beliefs or become the star. In all honesty, Executive Decision is a Kurt Russell vehicle through and through. However, I believe the film plays an essential part in the end of Seagal's Hollywood career because it reduces him to a supporting role and kills him off; something that would never have been done to an action star like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone even at the top of their game. 

The film opens with a raid on a safe house as Colonel Travis (Steven Seagal) and his team fail to recover a missing deadly nerve agent. Soon after, several terrorists take over a Boeing 747 and threaten to crash it into Washington, D.C. if the recently captured El Sayed Jaffa is not freed from custody. David Grant (Kurt Russell) is called into a meeting with the Pentagon consisting of the Secretary of Defense and Colonel Travis in order to discuss a strategy to save the hijacked plane. When Grant theorizes that the missing nerve agent might be on board the plane, Travis suggests using a stealth aircraft to get them onto the plane. When the men attach to the hijacked plane using the stealth aircraft, the connection goes haywire and results in the death of Colonel Travis. It is than up to Grant and the rest of Travis' team to disarm the nerve agent aboard the plane and to take down the terrorists before they crash the plane.

Executive Decision is quite terrifying to watch at times. You could never make a popcorn blockbuster out of a terrorist hijacking plot like this nowadays since the real life terrorist attacks on 9/11. Contemporary films based around terrorist plots like these are treated very seriously and typically made by respected filmmakers like Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) or Paul Greengrass (United 93, Captain Phillips). Even though Bigelow and Greengrass' films contain terrorism and action, the subject matter is treated very carefully in order to respect the victims of such incidents and to treat the material as historical non-fiction instead of blockbuster entertainment. Therefore, Executive Decision marks a rare time in cinematic history in which terrorist plots could be treated as popcorn entertainment.

Seagal plays a small part in the film as Colonel Travis, the skilled leader of a team of Special Forces. Seagal gets to put his action face on in the opening scene of the film as he and his team take down a number of men inside of a safe house. He also gets to give his death stare during the meeting at the Pentagon as he stares down Grant for giving him incorrect intel on the nerve agent's location. However, I personally believe that Executive Decision is made all the better once Seagal is killed off during the scene in which the Special Forces make their way onto the plane. Once Seagal vanishes, the film turns into a tense nail biter as actors Kurt Russell and John Leguizamo become the center stage of the picture.  The film becomes unbearably tense to watch as Grant and his team try to disarm a bomb and plan their takeover of the plane. 

Although labeled an action picture, Executive Decision is more of a thriller with two action scenes sprinkled into the mix. But that's alright, because the film is a damn good thriller that even Alfred Hitchcock would enjoy. Still, the opening and closing action scenes in the film are first rate displays of 90s action done right with bloody squibs and affective framing. You know you are in for a bad ass film when the credit "Produced by Joel Silver" pops up.

Executive Decision starts off slow with a dull opening act. However, once Seagal is removed from the picture and the film moves entirely onto the plane, Executive Decision becomes a first rate action thriller seething with unbearable tension. Russell and Leguizamo do a great job carrying the picture along with fellow character actors Oliver Platt, Halle Berry, and Joe Morton. In terms of Seagal, the man would never seem to find his footing again after this film until his final hit, Exit Wounds, in 2001. Executive Decision seemed to be Warner Bros' further punishment to Seagal for churning out such a flop as On Deadly Ground. Therefore, I consider both films to mark the beginning of the end of the sensei's Hollywood career. 

Rating: 8/10 - A stupendous action thriller seething with tension and great action.