On Deadly Ground (1994)

Oil rigger Forrest Taft uses martial arts and survival skills, as well as skills gained as a CIA operative to oppose the Aegis Oil Company whose activities threaten the environmental conditions in his native Alaska.
Genre: Feature Film-Action/Adventure
Rating: R
Release Date: 3-AUG-2004
Media Type: DVD Product Description

Won't somebody please think of the children / puppies / seals / minotaurs ...

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! August 17, 2008

Seagal's First Directorial Debut..And Hopefully His Last

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

July 6, 2008

What does it take?

"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. May 29, 2008

Steven Seagal Rules

I love watching all Steven Seagal movies as they make me laugh more than anything. The more bloated he gets, the funnier the movie. This is a good movie to watch anyway, so give it a try. May 26, 2008

Deadly For The Wrong Reasons

I don't like "On Deadly Ground" very much. I know I'm not the first person to have said so, but even as a fan of Steven Seagal, "Deadly Ground" really isn't a lot of fun. I don't know if it's because of the melodramatic story, the silly scenarios, or simply because I'm comparing the film with Seagal's previous venture - the $156 million action-powerhouse, "Under Siege" - but it just isn't as good as the stuff he did before in his early career.

The story is the first of several environmentalist-thrillers for Seagal, and goes like this:
Seagal is a specialist fireman employed by an Alaskan oil-drilling corporation run by a ruthless tycoon (Michael Caine), who openly demonstrates his disregard for the damage his work does to the land and the native inhabitants. After he expresses doubt in the company's integrity, Seagal is targeted for assassination but survives, and is nursed back to health by local Inuits, who guide him to a spiritual reawakening as a fighter for the good of the people and an enemy of "Big Oil".

While I don't mind a green message in an action film, it's hard to imagine the script being handled any more hamishly than by star/director Steven: the oil corporation is the most unabashed, politically-incorrect evildoers you'd ever want to see, with Caine freely throwing out phrases like "the godd*mn Eskimos" - Eskimos which, for the most part, seem unaware that they're living in the 20th century, and whose Seagal-awakening rituals look more Pagan than you'd expect (lots of breathless panting, and dancing, topless women).
Seeing that the issues within the film are relevant to the real world, it's disappointing that a legitimate environmentalist like Seagal would overdramatize and sensationalize them so he can appear a bigger hero.

You'd think that the movie would still be able to fall back on action to make up for the story, but "Deadly Ground" is a failure here, too: Seagal is at his blandest in knocking out bar patrons and shooting up a plantful of mercenaries, with no cool moves (besides using a soda bottle as a silencer) to highlight the step-by-step beat-`em-ups.

There's one scene in the film that really sums the whole thing up: after seeing a drunken native being abused by a white bar-goer, Seagal challenges the man to a game of hand-slap, after every try of which the man lets Seagal beat him to the ground, instead of taking flight or trying to fight back. This silly and forced-looking encounter is performed simply so Seagal can make ask a philosophical question, which really has no relevance to the rest of the movie.
Personally, I'm convinced that if Seagal had never done "Deadly Ground", he would've stayed in the big-budget market longer than he did...but those are just my thoughts. May 21, 2008

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