Steven Seagal Movie:

				Salesrank: 252644
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

On Deadly Ground [Region 2] Reviews:
He's the kind of guy that would drink a gallon of gasoline just to piss on your campfire
2009-03-14 - This evening's feature On Deadly Ground has been on the old boy Sid's list for quite sometime now, and just happens to be one of Santa's late night favorites. It's the powerhouse that began the downward spiral of Seagal's career placing him the the elite direct to dvd category which ultimately leads to the Wal-Mart $5 bin. He's still somewhat slender and sports the full out ponytail but shows glimmers of the Seagal we know and love today. Yeah the Seagal that swears he's black, can barely pull off his lines, and can be found with traces of Egg McMuffin on him at anytime.

We start off with environmental agent Forrest Taft(Seagal) who works for Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Taft is their main man and treated like royalty among the other greased up oil workers. The company CEO Michael Jennings plays the good guy in his commercials but is really bad news behind closed doors. He's finishing up a state of the art rig but hits a snag when he only has 13 days to complete the job or the land goes back to the eskimos and the Alaskan government. One of Seagal's old friends Hugh Palmer,who looks like a b version of Lee Marvin, has a disk with proof of defective equipment that would set the rig back way beyond the deadline. This info becomes evident to Jennings and he sends his goons to take him out. Once they wack Palmer Seagal springs into action and decides to take down the Aegis corporation one broken neck at a time. With the help of his newly found Eskimo friends there is no stopping the wrath of Taft. The following 60 minutes is non stop beat downs and explosions Steven Seagal style.

This one really had it all including a star studded cast consisting of Michael Caine, John C. McGinley, and Billy Bob Thorton. It was just hilarious. We kept looking at each other saying "is that guy really in this movie right now?" Since this flick brought us so much enjoyment there is no other way to close it out besides the Joe Bob Drive In totals:

1 Apache stunt double

1 Amazing review title from an actual quote in the movie

1 Crazy dream where Seagal takes downs a 850lb Grizzly bear with a pocket knife

1 George Harrison look a like

15 insane explosions (1 being a great chopper explosion)

2 Alaskan Eskimo jackets worn by Seagal

1385 tassles found on those jackets

4 serious attempts at "saving the environment" speeches by Seagal, which fail miserably

3 guys set on fire

and 1 fantastic 5 star b from the human panda bear Steven Seagal


Seagal Comedy Gold
2008-12-06 - This movie is a classic in bad cinema and should be praised. From the "essence of a man" moment, to the "modern guy" Hugh Palmer getting a manicure with a whalebone and having his leg removed by a hot-headed John McGinley(this is the only geriatric torture scene captured on film). The younger Scrubs doc is always a great bad guy (both him and Michael Caine reunite for the equally entertaining "Get Carter").

We also see a young fat Billy Bob Thornton playing one of the inept bad guys commanded by R.Lee Ermey who is just dying to flip that "drill sergeant" switch and go all Full Metal Jacket. He does break into a 10 minute monolog on how hard this guy is to catch while the whole place is blowing up.

This is classic film making and friggin hilarious.

Won't somebody please think of the children / puppies / seals / minotaurs ...
2008-08-17 - This movie has a conservation message, namely that eco issues can be made extremely dull if allowed to pollute an action film. This lowers the quality of the flick, as fights are interspersed with a quick talk about how oil slicks damage the wilderness, which surprised me. I thought they were highly beneficial.

On the other hand, I haven't caused a single environmental catastrophe since watching this, so maybe it works!

Seagal's First Directorial Debut..And Hopefully His Last
2008-07-06 - After Under Siege's worldwide success Warner Bros decided that they needed to make a sequel to the movie quickly. Seagal didn't have any plans in making one. He was asked to come back once more for a sequel. In many occasions he refused. He later changed his mind when he asked for demands. this demand was that he wanted Warner Bros to produce a movie for him. And let Seagal himself direct the project. This project became to be known as "On Deadly Ground".

In On Deadly Ground Seagal Plays Forest Taft (I would Pay 20 buck to see who has that name in real life), an expert at taking out oil rig related fires. Taft is hired by Michael Jennings (Michael Caine) while taking down one of these fires, Taft notices that there is faulty equipment and that they are not reporting any of it. Because if they did it would cost the Aegis Oil Company millions in revenue, and the land would be given back to the Eskimos. Taft digs in too deep, and Jennings wants him out of the way. Taft Now will do what it takes to defeat the greedy Oil dude and save the Eskimo tribe whoopee (Sarcasm)

The big issue with the movie, aside from its somewhat original and good intentional idea, it doesn't pass from being a dull action movie. Besides it uses the same idea from Under Siege, bad guys don't know that the cook is an Ex Navy Seal, here in On Deadly Ground They don't know that the guy who takes out the oil fires is a possible ex C.I.A Agent; Give me a break

it was believable the first time in Under Siege, but it wont be if it is constantly being used over and over again. Interestingly the movie is most likely remembered for the "Essence Of A Man" scene. In that scene Seagal defends a stereotypical Native American from a cocky guy. After brutally beating him up, Seagal asks this cocky dude "What does it take to change the essence of a man?" the cocky guy replies, with a bloody nose "I need time" what the rubber ducky is that? If you simply view this scene you will know what I am referring to. The scene is so ludicrous and pointless. Aside from its stupidity, bad depiction of a Eskimos, Seagal knocking out opponents via the groin area to often and even having a fight with a grizzly bear; aside all this The movie has really good cinematography; the scenery of the wild is well photographed. Seagal is not bad with the camera, just bad with storyline. the ending which Seagal tried to bring a message to the public about climate change and toxic waste feels preachy (even after the studio cut 11 min out of the ending due to poor screen test) I guess if you are a Seagal fan it's ok to own it, and thinking about it, this movie is not as bad as his future DTV releases. Rent it if you're not a Seagal fan

MY PERSONAL RATING: 3 OUT OF 5



What does it take?
2008-05-29 - "What does it take to change the essence of a man?"

"I need time."

Brilliant. See this movie to hear some more of Steven Seagal's pearls of wisdom.