Under Siege

1992

Directed by Andrew Davis

Quick Synopsis… Director Andrew Davis’s Oscar-nominated, action-packed thriller takes place on the soon-to-be-decommissioned USS Missouri. Disgruntled ex-CIA operative Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones), his assistant Krill (Gary Busey) and their group of terrorists seize the battleship with nuclear blackmail in mind. They’ve planned for every contingency but ignore the ship’s cook, former Navy SEAL Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) — an error that could be fatal.

• The USS Missouri is being decommissioned…
• But before that can happen, we need to throw a surprise birthday party for the captain.
• They’re bringing in a band, a special dinner, and a Playboy playmate to jump out of a giant birthday cake.
• Except, it turns out that the band and the caterers are all terrorists working for the band’s front man, William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones).
• What the terrorists didn’t count on? The ship’s cook, Chief Petty Officer Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal) who is secretly an ex-Navy SEAL.
• And they thought he was just on board because the captain liked his cooking.
• This movie could very easily be described as Die Hard on a boat.
• Because that’s what it boils down to… One guy against an army of terrorists. And the one guy wins.
• Andrew Davis, the director, went on to direct The Fugitive the very next year. And he used a lot of the same actors.
• If you watch both movies, you’ll see a lot of familiar faces, not just Tommy Lee Jones.
• And if I’m remembering correctly, this might have been the earliest movie I remember watching that contained nudity.
• I say that because the scene with the girl jumping out of the cake in the empty mess hall was seared into my pubescent brain for years.
• Not something I’m proud to admit, but hey, those are teenage hormones for you.

As action movies go, this one’s not bad. There was a sequel, but we probably shouldn’t talk about that. As far as I’m concerned, this is the best movie in Steven Seagal’s filmography. Have you seen Under Siege? What did you think of it?

Come back tomorrow as we barrel toward the end of the A to Z Challenge with the letter V and a movie that is very hard to find. It’s a fantastic suspense/thriller that really does not receive the recognition it deserves. It stars Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, and features Sandra Bullock in one of her earliest roles.

Click here to check out how other folks are tackling this year’s A to Z Challenge!