User Reviews

I've always a slightly negative opinion when it comes to films starring Steven Seagal, because the only credible film he has done is Under Siege, every single other film I've seen of his have been dull, adequate or rubbish, I didn't have my hopes high for this film, his Razzie winning directorial debut. Basically Forrest Taft (Razzie nominated Steven Seagal) is a former government operative who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil is headed by ruthless CEO Michael Jennings (Sir Michael Caine), he is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land, as long as he is making money from it. He even makes television commercials that make him look like someone who cares about the environment. Jennings is close to finishing the construction of his new state-of-the art oil rig: AEGIS-1, but his problem is that if he doesn't finish building the rig in thirteen days, the land rights will be returned to the Eskimos and the Alaskan government. Taft's best friend Hugh Palmer (Men in Black's Richard Hamilton) has a computer disk that contains information about defective equipment on AEGIS-1, Jennings finds out about this and sends his men to murder Palmer. Taft finds out about Jennings' dodgy dealings and tries to interfere, so the corrupt businessman tries to have him killed as well, sending him inside a building loaded with explosives. Taft survives the explosion set for him, he is rescued by an Eskimo woman named Masu (Razzie nominated Joan Chen), and also meets Silook (Chief Irvin Brink), her father, and the chief of her tribe. With Masue's help, Taft treks through the beautiful Alaskan wilderness, heading straight for AEGIS-1 and to destroy it before it destroys the forest. A group of New Orleans-based mercenaries led by Stone (R. Lee Ermey) are hunting for Taft, who is able to collect a number of weapons and explosive devices to set traps for and kills the various goons, including chief of security MacGruder (John C. McGinley) and henchman Homer Carlton (Billy Bob Thornton). Taft and Masu confront Jennings, string him up, and drop him into a pool of oil, he drowns in his own wealth, they then escape as a series of explosions destroy the oil rig. In the end, Taft avoids the charges of sabotage and multiple murders (self-defence), he delivers a speech at the Alaska State Capitol about the dangers of oil pollution, and the companies that are endangering the ecosystem. Also starring Shari Shattuck as Liles, Mike Starr as Big Mike, Irvin Kershner as Walters, The Mask's Nils Allen Stewart as Oil Worker and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest's Louise Fletcher as Bartender. Seagal does his usual limited performance, making it up from his martial arts skills, he isn't much of a director either, and Caine with his weird black hairdo is amusingly hammy and over-the-top as the villain, this isn't the sort of film you may be expecting, it does pack a punch in the fight and explosive sequences, but it is slowed down and made boring by it's environmental message, otherwise it is just another predictable and slightly naff action adventure. It was nominated the Razzies for Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and Worst Original Song for "Under the Same Sun". Okay!

Sadly the script is a big mess, Michael Caine hams it up quite badly, the plot is sluggish and derivative and the characters are little more than walking clichés. Overall, the action is decent, the movie not so much. 4/10 Bethany Cox.

Noble . Selfless . Honourable . Just three words that can`t be used to describe the modern environmental movement and before anyone accusses me of being Dubya in disguise let me please point out that I used to be a member of the environmental movement , and I know what I`m talking about and it`s very fitting the most environmentally aware thriller Hollywood has ever produced has got to be just about the dumbest movie in history

!!!! MILD SPOILERS !!!!!

Seagal has made an very entertaining film I`ll give him that much but does anyone seriously think it was supposed to be entertaining ? I doubt it since we`re bludgeoned over the head in almost scene as to how every single problem in the world is down to greedy oil companies and the ecological destruction they cause . I was actually under the impression man`s inhumanity to man might have everything to do with problems of the world ( Unfortunately this will never EVER change ) and boy does eco warrior Forrest Taft show an awful lot of inhumanity to his fellow man from the opening fight scene where he breaks every arm belonging to a red neck scumbag to blowing up a toy helicopter to wiping out a crack team of mercenaries hired by an especially evil - I`m talking EVIL - oil company boss Forrest murders a whole lot of people . Of course legally he might not face any criminal charges for doing this as it may be constued as self defence but at the end of the film he does blow up an oil rig almost certainly killing scores of innocent people who`s only crime seems to be working for an oil company . Oh I see Forrest they deserved to die because they worked for an EVIL oil company ? Not only does Forrest escape prosecution he gets to address the nation by making a speech as to how mankind is destroying the planet which is a bit rich coming from a man who`s just murdered scores of people . By the way Forrest are those crocodile shoes you`re wearing ?

We`re not just talking action movie star here , we`re talking Steven Seagal which means we`re talking several scenes where the evil - I mean EVIL - bad guys discuss who they`re up against and in one laughable scene we`re told " This guy`s the best . You leave him in the North Pole and next day he`ll turn up beside your swimming pool wearing a fur trimmed bikini " Did anyone else have a grotesque vision flowing through their head of Steven Seagal beside a swimming pool wearing a fur trimmed bikini ? Not a pretty sight is it

You have to wonder why such a talented cast would appear in a movie this bad but I guess the logical answer might be something to do with money . After all both Michael Caine and Billy Bob Thornton grew up in total poverty and there`s no way you can blame anyone for wanting to better themselves ( Even if it means working for an EVIL oil company ) and Caine at least treats the project with the contempt it deserves by doing his greatest ever bad performance as an EVIL oil company boss with a Texan/Cockney accent

It`s interesting to note that this movie more or less ended Seagal`s movie career . Even more interesting is the fact that since the mid 1990s the environmental movement has been losing support , Greenpeace for example has been losing members at a very steady rate in the last decade ( And they lost a member called Theo Robertson last year ) as people come round to the concept of universal free thinking replacing doom laden green rhetoric

Once again, our Stevie wheels-out his formulaic hokum. He's a very secret agent (yawn), he can do anything (double yawn), There's a bunch of ruthless bad-guys (where's me slippers) and they're led by an even more ruthless king-pin (now for me cocoa).

His movies are so much alike that I keep getting them mixed-up. There's one about another large, unscrupulous corporation burying toxic waste, in which he plays another very secret agent masquerading as a handyman; isn't that called 'Fire Down Below'? I'll look it up.

This time it's an oil company messing with the environment. Fortunately - like all good paranoid survivalists - Mr S. has got a shack full of explosives and weapons conveniently hidden up the nearest mountain. So he can command all of the firepower that his polystyrene plots, pyrotechnic excess, and slo-mo takes require. He would seem to have these stashes dotted all over the country like some sort of anarchist squirrel.

The rest is pretty much what you'd expect, if you're still awake. A friendly nice guy gets hurt/killed and that's the cue for him to turn homicidal vigilante.

There's some momentary glimpses of pleasant scenery whilst he's out in the mountains,. a preposterous canyon so badly matted-in that it might have been spliced from a 1950's adventure movie, and there's a side-dish of Eskimo hokum, because our hero is always sympathetic towards the indigenous schmucks.

It's Segal kicking and chopping his way into middle-age, but before he really began to pile on the pounds. He's still got his soppy pony-tail, and someone really ought to tell him about that jacket - even at the risk of a broken nose.

An attempt is made to give it some seat-cred by bribing Micheal Caine to play the bad guy. The man was either desperate or a fool. But then again; he's never really had a decent turn since selling-out to Hollywood. Mr Caine doesn't just play parts; he can act. That's something Mr Segal doesn't even understand.

Strictly for the fans.

"On Deadly Ground" may have had good intentions, judging by the synopsis. The final results are nothing short of disastrous. Steven Seagal convincing himself that he's a director, doesn't exactly help matters. His "direction" is heavy going to say the least and can't maintain a good enough pace. Michael Caine - in yet another woeful film - tries and fails dismally to put on an authentic American accent. His hair dye job only makes it worse! One scene that invites unintentional mirth, is the one in the local bar when Seagal crosses swords with bigot Mike Starr. The reason why this is all a bit ridiculous, is when the two men test each other's hand speed. Seagal was by now piling on the pounds, so his opponent here would have to be on the stout side. Otherwise, a skinnier opponent would only make Seagal look decidedly slow....An absolute farce! This film is about loads of money being wasted on a story which wasn't developed properly. It becomes just another excuse to have good guys vs the bad guys, guns and all.