The huge success of Die Hard in 1988 changed the face of action films. Muscle-bound He-Men like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone were out; in were your more average-built everyman fighting villains with their wits and brains instead of brawn and an ever-increasingly powerful assortment of weapons. Die Hard also gave way to a slew of knock-offs, often derivatively named “Die Hard on a…” Under Siege, one of the first to use the same basic formula, was promptly dubbed “Die Hard on a Boat.”
Buy Under Siege Blu-rayThat is both a completely apt moniker and a little unfair. For sure, Under Siege takes its basic plot ideas from Die Hard. Terrorists seize a single, confined location whilst a lone, cocksure outsider must save the day with little help from others. There are numerous beats that will feel utterly familiar to Die Hard fans and at least one scene that is completely ripped off from that film, but Under Siege takes all of that stuff and makes it its own.
It helps that director Andrew Davis knows how to shoot an action sequence, that Steven Seagal is a sturdy presence in the lead, and that both Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones chew the scenery like champs as the villains.
Seagal plays Chief Petty Officer Casey Ryback, a lowly, smart-mouthed cook on the USS Missouri. He don’t take shit from anyone, especially Peter Krill (Busey), the Missouri‘s XO, and gets away with it because he has a history with the ship’s captain.
Kriss, fed up with constantly being demeaned by his crew, uses the captain’s birthday as a ruse to bring on a group of homegrown terrorists, led by William Strannix (Jones), a disillusioned CIA agent. Disguised as caterers and a rock and roll band, the terrorists easily take control of the ship.
Naturally, Ryback is more than a cook but rather a former Navy SEAL who was demoted after striking a superior officer when he screwed up a mission. It is up to him to take the ship back and stop the bad guys from selling its arsenal of weapons to foreign terrorists. I’ve never been a huge Steven Seagal fan, but this is him at his peak, and he’s a lot of fun to watch. Oddly, the film doesn’t give him a lot of opportunities to show off his martial-arts skills, but he finds plenty of other ways to do damage to his enemies.
Busey is goofy fun, but it is Tommy Lee Jones who really makes the movie. He chews the scenery like a hungry shark. His plan is utterly ridiculous – let’s be honest, the entire movie is ridiculous – but Jones makes it work. He’s clearly having a blast with the role, and I had a ball watching him.
Erika Eleniak stars as a Playboy Bunny hired to jump out of a huge cake made for the captain. One wonders why terrorists would bring her along on their mission (other than to give the movie audience some eye candy), as she presumably would just get in the way. But I suppose you could argue she’d be a suitable distraction just before they kick off their terrorism. Whatever purpose brought her there, she serves as some much-needed comic relief and mostly spends the film following Ryback like a lost puppy dog.
If we go back to our Die Hard comparison, nothing in Under Siege stands above that film. Die Hard is better plotted and better staged. John McClane is a more interesting hero (and Bruce Willis is miles above Seagal as a performer). While Tommy Lee Jones is a hoot to watch here, Hans Gruber (and Alan Rickman’s performance) is an all-time villain. But if you’ve watched Die Hard a thousand times and are looking for something similar, Under Siege will fill that longing in a pinch.
This Blu-ray release is a bare-bones affair. There are no extras. It looks decent, but as far as I can tell, it isn’t a new transfer (information about this release is pretty sparse, so I may be wrong). Also, as far as I can tell, Under Siege is not a film that’s ever been given a juiced-up physical release with a good restoration and loads of extras. It wouldn’t be the first film on my list of movies that deserve one, but it would be on there. Until that day, I’ll happily take this version.
