Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

The success of Under Siege made a sequel mandatory according to Hollywood's rules of maximum revenue, and as sequels go, this one's not half bad. Steven Seagal returns as former Navy SEAL and skilled chef Casey Ryback, who's trying to spend quality time with his niece on a cross-country train trip. But as luck and action-movie formulas would have it, the train has been hijacked by a demented genius (Eric Bogosian) who is using the train as a moving platform to seize computerized control of a top-secret U.S. satellite that is capable of causing earthquakes from space. Seagal has to stop the train or the villain (whichever comes first), and the action is fast and furious on its way to a high-speed climax. He's not as wacky as Tommy Lee Jones in the first Under Siege, but Bogosian has got a delirious quality that serves the comic-book plot, and action fans get more than their fill of dazzling stunts and special effects. --Jeff Shannon Amazon.com

Runaway Sequel

There's no denying one thing: "Under Siege 2", directed by Geoff Murphy ("xXx: State Of The Union"), is one of Seagal's biggest movies. Shot on a $60 million budget, the follow-up to the top-grossing "Under Siege" promises big, and features Seagal's most endearing film persona - former Navy SEAL Casey Ryback - taking the fight to a moving train.

The storyline: Ryback, now retired from the Navy, joins his niece (Katherine Heigl, "Roswell") on a train ride to Los Angeles so they may visit the grave of her father. However, the same train is hijacked by mercenaries, headed by a computer genius (Eric Bogosian, "Law & Order") who gains control of a military satellite with destructive capabilities. After the passengers and his daughter are taken hostage, Ryback must race against time to disarm the terrorists and stop an automated attack against China.

Though the film still falls under Seagal's "good" movies, I was disappointed by it as a whole: nothing seemed as good as it should've been, and when comparing his earlier titles, this one seemed more in the vicinity of "On Deadly Ground" than the original "Under Siege".
Maybe it's seeing Seagal beginning to put on weight: the aikido master had never been much of a bodybuilder, but up until his previous film, he had been pretty trim. Perhaps it's age, but in "Siege 2", Seagal's face is pretty chubby, and his build is a bit heavier. Too bad it didn't stop there...
Or maybe it's the villains: after seeing Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey in the original film, Bogosian and his cohort Everett McGill ("Quest For Fire") just don't seem fun or crazy enough.

Still, the film includes plenty of Seagalian violence - lots of arm-breaking, wrist-snapping, and gunshots to the head - culminating in a scene where our hero slices Bogosian's fingers off with a sliding door. Stunts include Seagal hanging by a rope over a canyon and jumping between train cars. The supporting cast pulls its weight well, with the villains remaining deplorable and Steven's sidekicks funny and courageous. All of these things weigh in for the film's favour, but all in all, the film really doesn't live up to its predecessor; the train setting gives the film a much smaller scale than the prequel, and the plot offers no innovation of scenarios, action, or Seagal's character.

In the end, fans seem to be nicely divided between which of the two "Under Siege" films they prefer, but as a legitimate enthusiast of Seagal's, this blockbuster represents a step down the ladder. Nonetheless, the film should be right at home in the collections of other fans; casual action-lovers might want to compare this to the original film before considering a purchase. May 18, 2008

Steven Segal at his best

This is the only Steven Segal movie I like. This is awesome and is a must see. The action is thrilling and the enjoy seeing the bad guy get his butt kicked. December 8, 2007

Welcome to the Amazing Crapfest

Ok, I didn't exactly have high expectations for this film. That being said, this movie managed to dissapoint even my extremely low expectations. I think this film has the worst dialogue of any film I've ever seen. Also, the whole plot is retarded. What kind of a moron would hijack a train? Gee, that makes sense. I think I'll hijack a slow moving object about a mile long. No way anyone could ever stop that. Its a shame because the first film was fairly enjoyable and the character Seagal played was interesting. Unfortunately they killed all of that in this crapfest. Only watch this film if you're trying to analyze how NOT to make a film. September 29, 2007

First rate product at a great price!

My product arrive as advertised by the seller in excellent condition. And the price was very reasonable. August 4, 2007

R rating is not strong enough

I truly enjoyed watching the movie on TV and in the theater, but on the DVD... that's a whole different story. Almost every other word that comes out of "bad guys" mouth is an f... word. Was this really necessary for the plot of the movie? Good thing that I bought this movie used, because after one time watching it, it's going straight in the trash. It's a great action movie with very distasteful dialogs. I wish I knew where I could get PG version of it.

January 28, 2007

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