Under Siege (1992) Warner Bros./Action RT: 103 minutes Rated R (language, strong violence, brief nudity) Director: Andrew Davis Screenplay: J.F. Lawton Music: Gary Chang Cinematography: Frank Tidy Release date: October 9, 1992 (US) Cast: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak, Colm Meany, Patrick O’Neal, Andy Romano, Dale Dye, Nick Mancuso, Drucilla A. Carlson, Damian Chapa, Tom Wood, Troy Evans, Dennis Lipscomb, Sandy Ward, Bernie Casey, Glenn Morshower, Raymond Cruz, Eddie Bo Smith Jr., George Kee Cheung, David McKnight, Lee Hinton. Luis J. Silva, Michael Des Barres. Box Office: $83.5M (US)/$156.5M (World)
Rating: *** ½
Some call Under Siege “Die Hard on a Ship”. I call it great entertainment. I’ll grant that its premise resembles that of the iconic 1988 Bruce Willis actioner, a lone man taking on a group of highly-trained terrorists in a confined space. In this instance, it’s Steven Seagal on a battleship. A lot of movies tried to replicate the success of Die Hard; few succeeded. Under Siege is one of the few that did.
Seagal (Out for Justice) plays Casey Ryback, a chief petty officer finishing out his 20 years as the head cook on the about-to-be-decommissioned USS Missouri under Captain Adams (O’Neal, El Condor). As the battleship sets off on its final voyage, the crew is preparing for a surprise birthday party for Adams. One of the executive officers, Commander Krill (Busey, Lethal Weapon), has it out for Ryback. Not only does he arrange for special food and entertainment to be flown in for the occasion, he orders Ryback detained in a freezer until after the party.
The entertainment consists of Playboy Playmate Jordan Tate (real-life Playmate Eleniak) jumping out of a big cake accompanied by a rock band led by Stannix (Jones, The Fugitive). In case you didn’t already guess it, he’s the main bad guy. Before you can yell “Surprise!”, the band and the caterers all pull out automatic weapons and take the entire crew prisoner. Big shocker, Krill is in cahoots with him. He’s the one that shoots Adams dead in his room. In retaliation for being let go by the CIA, the crazed Stannix plans to steal the ship’s Tomahawk missiles and sell them to the highest bidder. What the villains didn’t count on is Ryback. He’s a former Navy SEAL with specialized training in anti-terrorism. Long story short, he escapes from the freezer and becomes a giant pain in their collective ass.
Ryback gains a sidekick when he encounters Jordan who’s completely oblivious to the hostile takeover of the ship. Against better judgment, he allows the frightened sexpot to tail him as he takes down bad guy after bad guy. However, time is not on their side. Pentagon officials and CIA have a contingency plan that involves sinking the Missouri if the SEAL team they dispatch fails to neutralize the situation.
Although formulaic and far-fetched, Under Siege works because it’s genuinely exciting under the crack direction of Andrew Davis (Code of Silence) who previously worked with Seagal on Above the Law. Working from a screenplay by J.F. Lawton (Pretty Woman), he keeps it tight in terms of story and pacing. He knows his way around an action movie. That’s one item that’s NOT in short supply in Under Siege with a streak of thrilling, well-orchestrated sequences. Once Seagal gets started, the movie barely slows down long enough to catch its breath. Once again, the action star shoots, stabs, cuts, clobbers, punches, chops and kicks his way out of a deadly scenario involving a vicious psycho (in this case, plural).
Let me pose a question. Is it really worthwhile commenting on the acting in a Steven Seagal flick? By now, we know he CAN’T act, but CAN kick ass. Thankfully, Davis allows him to do a lot of the latter and very little of the former. He occasionally shows off a lighter side of his stoic personality in Under Siege, but mainly sticks to doing what he does best. Eleniak, while HOT, isn’t much of an actress either. She’s eye candy, window dressing. She also gets to flash her boobs in one scene. I know that’s what a lot of the guys in the audience want to see. Jones and Busey appear to be competing to see who can be the bigger maniac. It’s a tight race, but Busey wins it by a hair based on the scene where he dances at the party in drag. Jones, on the other hand, plays Stannix as a delusional sort who frequently references Saturday morning cartoons. He does a pretty good Road Runner imitation though. Both actors play it to the rafters with their wild performances.
When I watch Under Siege, I put Die Hard out of my mind and enjoy it on its own terms. It’s a GREAT action flick! I’d even say it’s one of Seagal’s best. He certainly racks up a nice body count. The effects are quite good. I have no real complaints about it. I don’t even mind Eleniak’s underwhelming performance. I actually expected it. She’s easy on the eyes though. In the end, Under Siege works in the areas that matter. It has action, violence, explosions, crazy stunts, a bad ass hero and a pair of insane villains. This is what I call a full-blooded Saturday night guys’ movie.
