Under Siege [HD DVD]

Under Siege [HD DVD] Review

Check Price Now!

Directed by Andrew Steven's (The Fugitive, Collateral Damage), Under Siege (1992) is solid 1990's style, big budget military action, on the high seas. Steven Seagal stars as an ex-SEAL Casey Ryback, who's insubordinance has him serving on board the historic battleship USS Missouri, as a cook. With the help of traitorous executive officer, Commander Krill (Gary Busey), who guns down ship's Captain Adams (Patrick O'Neal), a group of terrorists disguised as entertainers, accomplishes the quite remarkable feat of taking control of the illustrious battleship. In an instant, William Stranix (Tommy Lee Jones) goes from blues singer, to the leader of a group of terrorists, after the weapons stored onboard.

On Krill's orders, Ryback has been under detention in the galley, but the terrorist know they have opposition after Ryback dispatches a pair of mercenaries. Ryback finds an unlikely ally in entertainer Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak), and together they coordinate with operations in Washington, free a few imprisoned sailors, and try and keep things under control until help arrives. When the Navy's strike force is destroyed, it falls to Ryback his small force to try and stop the terrorists from achieving their goals.

Under Siege navigates familiar waters, with a style and tone fairly typical for films in the genre. The level of realism is relatively low, and there's plenty of bad dialog, but the action is crisply executed, without too many complete excesses. Ryback operates with a smooth style and deadly purpose, largely minus any phony bravado. Stranix is a colorful whackjob, prone to sprouting flowery lines, and irrational outbursts, but determined to get revenge on the government, and an ex-boss (Nick Mancuso) who tried to kill him. A once terrified Jordan, undergoes an unlikely and rapid transition from Miss July '89 (Playboy), to a battleready commando type. The high command in Washington are mostly the usual cardboard construct, incredulous at the events that have occurred, relegated to mostly being cheerleaders. The action builds to a climax, and while some of the resulting fireworks are not entirely credible, the scenes loading and firing the venerable guns of the Mighty Mo, do have the intended effect, and are very nicely executed.

A very solid recommendation to action fans, the film has a formulaic, but well-written script, and looks pretty sharp, with quality sets, and special effects that hold up, without looking too dated. An efficient killing machine, Seagal is in top form physically, and not annoying in the least. Erika Eleniak's character may not be entirely credible, but her acting certainly does pass muster. Tommy Lee Jones really sinks his teeth into the role of a rock and roll terrorist. With a fine cast, this a film that certainly merits a commentary track, or making of feature, but unfortunately this release has nothing but a trailer, and the blu-ray version disappointingly, contains no additional bonus material either.

Under Siege [HD DVD] Feature

Under Siege [HD DVD] Overview

Steven Seagal can consider himself lucky if he ever makes a better movie than this one, which was appropriately dubbed "Die Hard on a battleship" when released in 1992. Seagal handles the heroic duties with his usual wooden efficiency, but the movie's greatest assets are a punchy script and the scene-stealing performances of Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. The two play leaders of a terrorist group who take over the venerable battleship USS Missouri during its final commissioned voyage. They're crazed psychotics who seize control of the ship's nuclear arsenal, but they don't know that Seagal--as the ship's cook, no less--is a former Navy hero, lurking in the shadows and waiting to spoil their nefarious scheme. Director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive) helms the action with skillful style, and as the cheesecake stripper who proves handy with a hand grenade, Playboy Playmate-turned-actress Erika Eleniak gives Seagal another reason to strut his macho stuff. Under Siege is hormonal hokum for gun-happy viewers, but as action movies go, this one's a definite guilty pleasure. --Jeff Shannon

Under Siege [HD DVD] Specifications

It's not a job. It's an adventure! Steven Seagal comes aboard and comes on strong, combining humor and heroics in a fireball of a movie. The excitement starts when the USS Missouri welcomes aboard musicians and caterers set to provide entertainment during the famed battleship's last voyage. The visitors throw a party, all right. A war party. Led by a rogue CIA operative (JFK's Tommy Lee Jones) and a turncoat officer (Lethal Weapon's Gary Busey), they're really killer-elite commandos out to hijack the ship's nuclear arsenal. They overpower the crew. Except for one man. "I'm just a cook," that man says. But he's a cook with a recipe for action. He's ex-Navy SEAL and highly decorated combat operative Casey Ryback (Seagal). Relying on his slam-bang martial-arts skills and equipped with enough hardware to single-handedly wage World War III, Ryback turns the Missouri's deck and below deck areas into guerilla combat zones. All hands ready, action fans!






*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Dec 10, 2009 05:25:06


An action classic! - C. E. Cardona II - Nashville, TN USA
This is a very good transfer of an action classic. Don't sweat the acting; focus on the cinematography and action pieces. The Blu-ray transfer is excellent!

Middling fun - One-Line Film Reviews - Easton, MD
The Bottom Line:

Under Siege is one of those not-actually-good action movies that's smart enough to keep its tongue in its cheek and deliver some goofy dumb fun alongside generic action sequences and a paint-by-numbers plot; don't let anyone tell you it's a good movie, but watch it if you like stupid action.

2.5/4