‘You’re in the Navy, remember? It’s not a job, it’s an adventure…’
Despite the fact that I love action movies from the ’80s and ’90s, I’ve never really explored the oeuvre of Steven Seagal. That’s partly because, by all accounts, many of his films are terrible, and partly because the guy appears to be a colossal prick. Under Siege comes with some good pedigree, however, with The Fugitive director Andrew Davis behind the camera and Pretty Woman writer J.F. Lawton on writing duties, as well an ensemble cast featuring Segal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Colm Meany and erm… Erika Eleniak from Baywatch all featuring prominently. It’s excellent stuff…
As you can imagine, Under Siege is a simple tale. It’s Die Hard on a boat, basically. Jones, Busey and Meany make for a wonderful trio of villains and to give Seagal his due, he is convincingly heroic here. Likeable even. Offscreen he denied Pamela Anderson a role because she wouldn’t sleep with him and also behaved inappropriately to Eleniak so very much business as usual it seems.
Despite Seagal obviously being a bit of a joke figure, Under Siege itself is a Serious Movie. There aren’t many one-lines or explosions here and the film tentatively explores the potential dangers of nuclear weapons in a way that is surprisingly thoughtful. Eleniak’s character is given more to do than just provide eye candy and the ingenious setup remains captivating throughout. The film was a massive box office success and even critics, usually so critical of action movie fare, were pretty forgiving, with the film even nominated for two Oscars (albeit in the technical categories). This film also impressed Harrison Ford enough to convince him to offer Davis The Fugitive, so he must have done something right.
Don’t be put off by Seagal, Under Siege is one of the better Die Hard imitators and a seminal text in the murky world of action movie cinema.
