Review of Under Siege (1992) by Harry W — 25 Apr 2013

Generally with Steven Seagal, his films are significantly more popular with audiences than with critics, and for some reason his finest work second only to the 2010 Mexploitation masterpiece Machete, is more popular with critics than eith audiences. I don't get why, this is a great film. Under Siege was just like Die Hard on a battleship.

In Under Siege, the quality of the action is perfectly sufficient to keep viewers entertained, and not only that but the story plot is great and the performances are all good.

The fact that the Die Hard style story of a single man trapped in the confines of a location overrun by terrorists is formulaic, but Under Siege improves and exceeds expectations by having the story set in the confines of an isolated naval ship and so all the technological sides to the story are entertaining.

And the entire film if action packed and supported by a strong atmosphere full of thrills, and the added benefit that the acting is grand in Under Siege.

Steven Seagal makes a fine lead, because unlike much of his later work and direct-to-DVD crud, Under Siege provides him with a character forced to fight for the same soldiers who disgrace him, who downgrade him to just the chef of a naval ship and and spit in his food to disrespect him, and yet his patriotism outshines the fact that he is "just a cook" who happens to know a few moves, and so Under Siege is reminiscent of great action films such as Die Hard and Air Force One. Steven Seagal was a great lead.

And Under Siege's cast is just everything needed in an action film, and even more because it gave great villainous role to talented Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones whose character is a statement against the Vietnam War and unjust treatment of patriots who put their life out on the line for a country who would later throw them away, and so his characterisation is complex enough for the audience to feel for him yet side against him for his maniacal actions. His performance was awesomely against type.

Yet there is another, because since Steven Seagal is so action packed that he can take in Tommy Lee Jones, he also has to face off against Academy Award Nominated actor Gary Busey whose general presence is so creepy that it perfectly sets an unbalance for the film and hammers down an evil character, and Busey's performance is just enough to counter Seagal's determination, so it intensifies things well.

And lastly, the presence of Playboy model Erika Eleniak provides a step up from other action films because rather than being an annoying damsel in distress, Erika Eleniak plays a sexy model trying to get around the situations like Steven Seagal, and she even has the decency to use a weapon and bare her breasts to the audience, as we as giving a good performance. Overall, the presence and performance of Erika Eleniak is like Jamie Lee Curtis' in True Lies.

So Andrew Davis' directional effort on Under Siege isn't in vain and is quite a great action thriller, and although not reaching the same success as The Fugitive, the presence of Tommy Lee Jones encourages a certain sense of nostalgia for the viewer to bear while they witness some of Steven Seagal's greatest work on screen. Under Siege is definitely an action-thriller worth checking out.