MovieChat Forums > Under Siege (1992) Discussion > Any Seagal fans find this to be "meh?"

Any Seagal fans find this to be "meh?"

posted 9 years ago by Jules_Vincent13
10 replies | jump to latest

I just finished watching this the other day and didn't enjoy it nearly as other hardcore Seagal fans. I would suggest maybe I watched it too late, but I also watched "Out For Justice" for the first time and loved it, I enjoyed it much more than Under Siege.

Maybe it has to do with the navy vibes mixed with claustrophobic action? I really can't put a finger on it. Seagal and the co-stars were fun, it was okay, but as a whole, I just couldn't get into it as much as I expected. Someone back me up here..... lol

[–] njiuma 9 years ago

i consider "Under Siege" to be Seagal's finest moment - but "Hard to Kill" and "Above the Law" are awesome as well...

[–] thabelligerent_1 9 years ago

I've always thought this was Steven Segals best film. It's also the only movie he has starred in to be nominated for an academy award. Didn't win tho

[–] nicmackey10 9 years ago

Don't know how you could. It's far and away his best film.

[–] dolemite72 9 years ago

I know exactly what the OP is referring to.
UNDER SIEGE is too mainstream for Seagal. He loses all the little quirks that made his previous movies stand out from his contemporaries. This movie attempts to make Seagal too likable (notice that he usually portrayed hard ass semi-paranoid loners in previous movies, that had got him to this point) Warners knew that this was a DIE HARD knock off, and went for the easy, safe mainstream option. This is why even non-Seagal fans like this movie (because of the crossover appeal) as much as I like it.......it's a pretty weak movie. THE GLIMMER MAN struck a far better balance, in trying to make a mainstream Seagal flick.
UNDER SIEGE 2 is much better, because (Morris Chestnut aside) Seagal reverts back to his hard ass paranoid loner persona (plus the fighrs are better)

"If you're lying.....I'll be back"

[–] domester82 9 years ago

Under Siege is Seagal's best movie, easily, even if it's a Die Hard (on a ship) rip

[–] !!!deleted!!! (63057267) 8 years ago

I hear you. I'm a fan of ABOVE THE LAW, OUT FOR JUSTICE, HARD TO KILL, MARKED FOR DEATH and even the alarmingly tame FIRE DOWN BELOW... but I always felt there was something wrong with UNDER SIEGE. I don't know what it is either. It looks great, the supporting cast is impressive and director Andrew Davis can stage a fine action scene, but it always left me cold. I think it might be too stagy and DIE HARD-ish to work. To be fair, though, I haven't seen it in 20 years, and I'm looking to buy the Blu-Ray soon so I can really evaluate it. I'll post again when I've revisited it.

[–] yihdzelonh 8 years ago

As a die-hard Seagal fan (forget about nearly every movie he's starred in since the early 2000s [like Van Damme as well] nearly all of them are washed up, vile, way too profane, overtly graphic, sleazy, terrible acting, etc.), in my opinion Under Siege is one of the most 're'-watcheable films I've ever seen: I've watched it about 5 times in the last 5 years. The best Andrew Davis film AND the best Seagal film: The action sequences are great and memorable and the action is fairly relentless and constant...the photography is superb and the setting is very realistic and believable. Great acting too. 4-star movie. Other Seagal movies from the late '80s to early '90s are comparable but this is clearly his best in my opinion.

[–] residentevil6901 8 years ago

This is Seagal's best film. I think it's far from meh.

[–] zargmatt-73661 7 years ago

From a martial arts perspective, yes Under Siege is lacking, but from a military close quarters combat, guerilla explosives/hit-and-run perspective, tactical crew rescue/escape/retake of a stolen vessel and prevention of nuclear destruction perspective this movie is BADASS with all caps.

How awesome is it when Seagal hears the crew using morse code, breaks them free, commands them to secure a gun battery, notes that one of the crew is a gunner and then proceeds to use the the naval crew to operate a complex artillery weapon to blow up a stolen North Korean submarine with nukes AND Gary Busey on board?

How can I not give this at least 8 stars? 9 for Erika Eleniak popping out of that cake and being more badass than the college kid who didn't want to fight.

[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

NO!