Under Siege (Blu-ray)
It's not a job. It's an adventure! Steven Seagal comes aboard cooking and comes on fighting in a fireball of a movie from the director of The Fugitive and The Guardian. When the USS Missouri welcomes entertainers for the battleship's last voyage, the visitors throw a party. Led by a rogue CIA operative (Tommy Lee Jones) and a turncoat officer (Gary Busey), they're killer-elite commandos out to hijack the ship's nuclear arsenal. They overpower the crew. Except one man, the ship's cook: ex-Navy SEAL and decorated combat operative Casey Ryback (Seagal). All hands on deck, action fans!
Member Reviews
Seagal's best - miskiw
This movie is definately Steven Seagal's best movie. This movie is definately worth a look. The supporing cast like Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey make very good villans. Jones did a great job as the half insane mercinary who's in on a plot of hijacking a U.S. Battleship. There are a lot of actors in this one who would appear in director Andrew Davis's next film "The Fugitive" The action in this movie is great. I think this movie also contains some good cinematography by Frank Tidy. This is not a movie you can take seriously. You have to use your imagination and know it's not real but pretend it is.Much Better Than it Probably has a Right to Be - Gregg
Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) is a navy cook on a soon to be decommissioned Battleship, when terrorists take over the ship they discover soon as do we that Ryback is a former Navy Seal who was demoted for striking an officer and is serving out his tour. With the ship’s crew held hostage Ryback has only one ally Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak) a stripper hired for the Captains party to help him stop the terrorists and rescue the hostages.
Steven Seagal performances have never been overly impressive but the low key approach here works for the character and the film, likely better than in any of his other films. Both Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey the principal villains, arguably considerably more talented actors go much more over the top which again works for the film although it won’t likely be cited as being amongst their best work. Not to be outdone we also have a supporting turn from Colm Meaney who apparently takes his cue from Jones and Busey
The humor and action mix from director Andrew Davis who would go onto to make “The Fugitive” the following year is perhaps the biggest reason for the films success. Both Seagal and Eleniak neither of which is well known for their comedic talents, never the less deliver some very funny lines. The effective action scenes and the setting upon a ship at sea also serve to make this an enjoyable film, as long as you aren’t looking for nuanced performances or a depth of story.
The films sequel "Under Siege 2: Dark Territory" without director Davis or any of the principles except for Seagal was far less successful and much inferior. Though it did attempt to mimic the successful formula by retaining the terrorists but changing the location from a Battleship to a train.
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Seagal's best - miskiw
This movie is definately Steven Seagal's best movie. This movie is definately worth a look. The supporing cast like Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey make very good villans. Jones did a great job as the half insane mercinary who's in on a plot of hijacking a ...Much Better Than it Probably has a Right to Be - Gregg
Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) is a navy cook on a soon to be decommissioned Battleship, when terrorists take over the ship they discover soon as do we that Ryback is a former Navy Seal who was demoted for striking an officer and is serving out his tour. With ...