Despite popular belief, this isn't the big man's best movie. Competent and skillful it may well be but there's far too much espionage and not enough action. It was made in that period of the early to mid-nineties where every action movie was 'Terrorists take over a (fill in the blank)'. In this case it's a Naval Battleship.
Gary Busey, always one of the best bad guys ever, is the evil second in command who hates his crew and his captain. But the person he hates most in the entire world is the obnoxious cook Casey Ryback. Well he's an ex-Navy SEAL first and a cook second.
Enter William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones) and his band of mercenaries, disguised as a rock star and busboys, who take over the ship, kill the captain and lock what's left of the crew away. Strannix is hell-bent on blowing up Hawaii and Krill (Gary Busey) plans to sell off the ships nuclear weapons to the Ruskies.
But wait...Krill has forgotten about the irritating cook he locked away in the freezer. And Ryback makes it his mission to find out what the hell is going on and put a stop to whatever it is. Erika Eleniak pops up to provide some help and toplessness.
I'm not such a fan of the first Under Siege, the sequel is much, much better but they both have their pros and cons. For some reason, Ryback's renegade, rule-breaking personality was played down in Under Siege 2 and Seagal made NO effort at his acting in that film (he hated the idea of a sequel). However Under Siege 2 is much faster, has 50 times as much action, is way more exciting, has a higher sense of escapism and atmosphere (compared to the repetitive battleship scenes in this one) and has better villains.
I know you'll disagree with me on the last point. But Strannix and Krill seem too over the top and seem to be acting up to the camera compared to the sequel with Travis Dane's wild eccentrics and Penn's icy, emotionless stare. Plus, Strannix's constant Looney Tunes references were totally out of place and distracting.
Well all know Steven Seagal is good with the martial arts, so it's kind of odd that he simply shoots most of the bad guys in this movie. In Under Siege 2 he chops, slices, breaks, burns, chucks, slashes, strangles, explodes, smashes and crushes. It makes for a great movie is definitely the clear winner over this one.
The DVD has a great looking 1.85:1 anamorphic picture with a loud and impressive Dolby 5.1 track. 8 trailers for Steven Seagal films are included. The R1 version still comes in a cruddy snap case but the R2 version now comes in a sturdy keep case, complete with lovely Warner hologram. If you have a multi-region DVD player, get this one.
Gary Busey, always one of the best bad guys ever, is the evil second in command who hates his crew and his captain. But the person he hates most in the entire world is the obnoxious cook Casey Ryback. Well he's an ex-Navy SEAL first and a cook second.
Enter William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones) and his band of mercenaries, disguised as a rock star and busboys, who take over the ship, kill the captain and lock what's left of the crew away. Strannix is hell-bent on blowing up Hawaii and Krill (Gary Busey) plans to sell off the ships nuclear weapons to the Ruskies.
But wait...Krill has forgotten about the irritating cook he locked away in the freezer. And Ryback makes it his mission to find out what the hell is going on and put a stop to whatever it is. Erika Eleniak pops up to provide some help and toplessness.
I'm not such a fan of the first Under Siege, the sequel is much, much better but they both have their pros and cons. For some reason, Ryback's renegade, rule-breaking personality was played down in Under Siege 2 and Seagal made NO effort at his acting in that film (he hated the idea of a sequel). However Under Siege 2 is much faster, has 50 times as much action, is way more exciting, has a higher sense of escapism and atmosphere (compared to the repetitive battleship scenes in this one) and has better villains.
I know you'll disagree with me on the last point. But Strannix and Krill seem too over the top and seem to be acting up to the camera compared to the sequel with Travis Dane's wild eccentrics and Penn's icy, emotionless stare. Plus, Strannix's constant Looney Tunes references were totally out of place and distracting.
Well all know Steven Seagal is good with the martial arts, so it's kind of odd that he simply shoots most of the bad guys in this movie. In Under Siege 2 he chops, slices, breaks, burns, chucks, slashes, strangles, explodes, smashes and crushes. It makes for a great movie is definitely the clear winner over this one.
The DVD has a great looking 1.85:1 anamorphic picture with a loud and impressive Dolby 5.1 track. 8 trailers for Steven Seagal films are included. The R1 version still comes in a cruddy snap case but the R2 version now comes in a sturdy keep case, complete with lovely Warner hologram. If you have a multi-region DVD player, get this one.