User reviews

I tend to actively avoid Steven Seagal films like the plague, and realize intermittently that I do in fact enjoy certain ones from back in the day. He's made a ton of trash, no doubt, but the clouds part every now and again, for select occasions like Under Siege, The Glimmer Man, Above The Law, Fire Down Below and the snowbound On Deadly Ground. The main marvel in this one is an incredibly hammy Michael Caine as the mustache twirling villain, a Big Oil maniac who has his amoral sights set on sacred land belonging to Inuit tribesman. Seagal plays yet another martial arts trained badass who takes it upon himself to bring down Caine, his nefarious capitalist plans and the violent mercenaries he has hired to wipe the land of indigenous natives. It's as silly as silly can be, right down to him falling in love with a beautiful Inuit girl (Joan Chen, actually Chinese), but enjoyable on its own terms when you look at the solid choreography, stunts and impressive location work. Also, the roster of villains is too good to pass up, starting with Caine's outright, wanton psychopath. We're also treated to the Sergeant himself, R. Lee Ermey as a merc with a particularly salty attitude, John C. McGinley over-playing one of his patented schoolyard bullies, and even Billy Bob Thornton shows up, adding to the sleaze factor. Watch for cameos from Mike Starr, Michael Jai White and an unbilled Louise Fletcher as well. Seagal directed this himself, so it's essentially one big vanity piece where he gets to play Dances With Wolves for a couple hours, but the trick is to see the unintentional comedy in that and enjoy it. Seagal is one of those goofs who I am not a ashamed to say I am laughing at, not with. Caine is the real prize here, and his merry band of assholes. An action flick is only as good as it's antagonist, and this guy is bad to the bone in hilariously over the top ways. A big dumb flick, nothing more, nothing le- well maybe a little less in places, but fun in other spots nonetheless.

At the height of his fame Seagal was allowed to direct this monstrosity about evil Texas oil Aegis company polluting Alaska. With no prior experience in directing Steve stampeded his way into this movie with as much subtlety as a brick in the face. Originally called 'Spirit Warrior' and hoping to cast loads of English baddies (among them Anthony Hopkins and Jeremy Irons) the film is a horrid example of far too much creative control given to one man too blinkered by his own agenda to bother giving us anything resembling decent storytelling.

There is nothing significant or exceptional about Seagal's direction. Nor is the action very well done. It's cut too lazily and not shot for maximum viewing clarity. But what reeks about the story is that some big oil magnate called Michael Jennings (a completely hammy Michael Caine) wants to build a really shoddy oil rig in Alaska made out of dodgy parts because the rights to the land are about to revert back to the Eskimos after 30 years of non-use. So why wait 30 years to build the bloody thing?

Seagal plays Forrest Taft, an oil rig fireman who suddenly develops a conscience and is promptly eliminated from the payroll by way of being blown up. Only he is rescue by the Eskimos and, this is where the film just goes insane, goes on a spiritual journey in which he wrestles bears and turns into eagles and stuff. I mean, what the hell is all that about??? Don't even get me started on the scene where he makes a fully-grown hard-ass redneck cry in a bar full of similar stereotypes when the philosophy touches his soul. Then he gets his old self back together and sets about righting all the wrongs of Aegis Oil and saving the environment by littering it with dead bad guys.

Jennings hires a bunch of mercenaries (including R. Lee Ermey and Billy Bob Thornton) to take out Taft but of course they all prove to be useless since Taft is revealed to be an ex-CIA Agent (oh dear God..)Nothing much really happens apart from shooting and dying and Seagal beating up nameless extras. We've seen all of this before and it's no different this time round.

I do appreciate his environmentally friendly attitude but it could have made it a little less obvious and campy. Seagal's tacked on speech at the end originally ran for 30 minutes (Jeezuz sufferin') but Warner finally stepped in and said a big no-no.

We could have had an Oliver Stone or Insider amount of paranoia and conspiracy but this just ends up as the worst of Seagal's Hollywood movies.

Continuing my plan to watch every Steven Seagal movie in order I come to

On Deadly Ground (1994)

Following on from Under Siege, Seagal was at the height of his popularity and had the pick of projects. He made a deal with Warner Bros, if they financed this movie, he would make a more commercial movie for them, namely Under Siege 2.

I actually didn't hate this movie. It's preachy, silly and more than a tad ridiculous, but it was a perfectly fine action flick. It's a bit of a love letter to Seagal's own ego, as everyone constantly talks about how great he is, it happened that often it became a joke with me and me son.

Michael Cain (with a bad dye job) is in full pantomime villain mode, John C McGinley is always great and Billy Bob Thornton has a small role too.

It actually felt considerably longer than it's 100 minute run time.

When Danish actor Sven-Ole Thorsen (frequent Arnold co star) met Seagal on the set, Seagal asked Thorsen to kick him, to show what Thorsen was capable of. Thorsen hesitantly kicked Seagal, who caught his leg and threw him to the ground. Seagal asked Thorsen to kick him again, giving it his best shot. Thorsen kicked Seagal as fast and hard as he could, and Seagal fell to the ground. When shooting a scene together a day later, Seagal hit Thorsen in the throat, leaving Thorsen unconscious for three or four seconds. Seagal decided that Thorsen's character had died, and his remaining scenes were cut from this movie.

Seagal filmed almost forty minutes of footage for the environmental message at the end of this movie, and planned to use it all in the final cut. After pressure from Warner Brothers, and a disastrous preview screening, he cut it to eleven minutes, after more pressure, Seagal are edited the final scene down to about seven minutes.

On Deadly Ground opened at number 1 at the domestic Box Office (his 6th in a row) and grossed $38 million (on a $50 million budget) to end 1994 as the 37th highest grossing movie of the year. This was the first time a Seagal movie did not recoup its budget at the domestic box office. It was also the first time a Van Damme movie (Timecop) outgrossed a Seagal one.

What drew me to On Deadly Ground was that it had a few new ideas in its locker that I hadn't come across in many other action movies. The setting was Alaska, which sounded intriguing. The action was backed up by an environmental message, which also sounded intriguing. The hero was played by a wooden martial arts "actor", while the villain was played by a prolific, Oscar-winning superstar, which sounded like an irresistible pairing (just for the novelty value of seeing them on screen together). Add to that the fact that the music was by Basil Poledouris (whose scores for Conan the Barbarian and The Hunt For Red October are all-time great pieces of film music). On Deadly Ground seemed to have the promise and the potential to be something pretty interesting. Alas, the film fulfils very little of its potential. It's a particularly inept action flick.

Troubleshooter Forrest Taft (Steven Seagal) works for an oil company in Alaska fronted by the unpleasant Michael Jennings (Michael Caine, not in his worst ever film but certainly providing his worst ever performance). Taft gradually begins to realize that the company he works for is responsible for appalling environmental damage, but he can't get them to approach their business with a more environmentally-friendly outlook.... so he does the next best thing - he kicks some butt! Taft goes on a worthy crusade against his callous, single-minded bosses. Hired mercenaries are brought in to stop him, but Taft either evades or kills them in the Alaskan wilderness, and ruthlessly closes in on Jennings.

Seagal made a major mistake in directing the film himself. He lacks fluency as a director and has little grasp of how to link scenes correctly. Nor does he seem capable of coaxing decent performances from his surprisingly good cast. The film stumbles with near-random carelessness from one badly-acted scene to the next, diverting occasionally for the odd expensive-but-totally-soulless set piece. There are flashes of pretty cinematography, and in parts the action is crisply and competently choreographed, but generally the film is a disappointment. After the roasting that it received, Seagal's box office appeal took a permanent dip and Michael Caine stopped prostituting his talents in every film that was offered to him and actually started looking for scripts worthy of his ability.

Well, as the IMdB reviews show, not everyone is a fan of this film. It's true that the philosophising and Eskimo mystique in the mid-section of the film do slow it down. It is also true that the closing environmental speech may be a tad heavy-handed. Yet I find it refreshing to see a large-budget action movie that actually tries to be about something. To his credit, Seagal's films have generally struck an anti-Establishment tone, in contrast to the complacent Republicanism of Schwarzenegger. Of course, having said all this, the tactics of Seagal's hero Forrest Taft, in blowing up large quantities of Alaska, are not perhaps what Greenpeace would recommend! As to the qualities of the film, there are some strong, savage action scenes, a stylish if over-the-top villain in Michael Caine, and wonderful photography. After all those "Die Hard"/"Under Siege" efforts, with characters running around claustrophobic buildings in semi-darkness, the panoramic views of Alaska make a nice change. Another good score by Basil Poledouris.

Hilarious, though unfortunately takes itself seriously. (I hope Steven Seagal doesn't come looking for me for this review.) Alaskan stoners who were actually familiar with the bush watched it just for the laughs. A great ethnic Alaskan Native cast including Japanese, Chinese, Samoan, Plains Indians, etc. There actually are some indigenous Alaskans in roles as extras. Seagal asks his Chinese co-star, "Can you ride a horse?" "Of course," she says, or something like that, "I'm an Indian." Almost nothing fits, even the scenery. This movie is amazingly consistent. The plot, acting, direction, locations, screenplay, stunts, etc., are all equally ridiculous.

Hilariously awful movie about some spiritual guy named Forrest Taft (Steven Seagal) taking on an evil oil corporation and its head (Michael Caine!)

Another example where an actor was given free reign by a studio to direct, write and star in a movie that meant so much to him. There's nothing wrong with doing a movie for environmental protection (I'm all for it myself) but this movie is just so monumentally stupid! Everything is painted in black and white--Seagal is the good, spiritually pure guy who beats up and kills people but hey! He's protecting the environment so that makes it OK (?????). Caine (at an all time career low) plays a completely evil person so completely over the top it's actually pretty laughable. My guess is Caine signed on before he read the script. When he realized what an abomination he was doing he decided to overplay it as much as possible in an attempt to save the movie. Sadly, it doesn't work.

I had the "pleasure" of seeing this in a theatre back in 1994. It was just so incredibly TERRIBLE. I wanted to leave but I just couldn't stop watching! People were walking out in great numbers after the first hour and the few that were left by the end made a bolt to the exits when Seagal started giving an environmental speech at the end! Seagal has made one good movie ("Under Siege") and a large number of mediocre and bad ones but none of them are quite as terrible as this. A truly jaw-dropping picture.

I have this film and let me tell you what, this film is the 2nd best film that the great one has made. Of course the 1st is Under Siege.

First of all, it got a great load of cast. Steven and he also directs and produces, Michael Caine which he did a great performance, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley, R. Lee Ermey, Billy Bob Thornton and they both did a great job.

Second of all, I love the storyline, the action, and most of all the speech at the end of the film. Steven did a great at directing for the first time, and producing and can't believe he gets a Razzie for it.

As a result, this is the best but for his upcoming films Under Siege 2, The Glimmer Man, and Fire Down Below, those were okay but On Deadly Ground is a true classic.

I give this a 10/10.

Steven Seagal sets out to protect the environment by blowing most of it up. Oh, and killing a few people too. This is a message movie with a VERY confused message. Still, most Seagal fans won't care for the movie's moral subtext (subtext? hah!), they'll just want to see their hero bust some chops. In an ecologically sound way, of course.

This movie is so inept there's precious little of even THAT. Large chunks of the movie are instead spent with po-faced Seagal staring solemnly into the camera waxing lyrical about how he loves the earth. Well so do I, but living on this planet does have its drawbacks; after all, this is a world where brainless studio execs throw money at Seagal to go BEHIND the camera as well! Isn't letting him stand in front of it enough? Come to think of it, isn't letting him even 20 feet near the studio... Ah well. "Under Siege" only worked because of the villains.

Let's just try and forget Michael Caine was ever in this; we can grant him that small mercy at least. Oh to have been a fly on the wall when Seagal was directing the Cockernee one. STEVE: "Well you just stand there... " MIKE: "What do I emote?" STEVE: (blankly) Emote... ?

It's pitifully obvious no-one tried to restrain Caine's excesses on set. How else do you explain the blatant caricature of his performance? He may as well have had E.V.I.L. stamped across his forehead...

If you were still even THINKING that you might enjoy this for some other reason than 'camp' value after reading the plot summary, there is no hope for you. Those who watch EXPECTING to find a bad movie will be heartily rewarded for their nous. "Steve saves the environment and kills bad guys" is even less interesting with the added plot element. Scary, huh?

I really don't know what is so horrible about this film.As of this writing On Deadly Ground is on the IMDb bottom 100: #99 and that is just sad.On Deadly Ground is a very decent film. I admit When I first saw it when it came out I didn't appreciate it but after a recent viewing,that has changed one hundred percent!The movie has got it all!A great story,great action,and one heck of a cast!Look, you have Steven Seagal,R. Lee Ermey,Michael Caine,Joan Chen,John C. McGinley,and Billy Bob Thornton!Plus Sven-Ole Thorsen and Jules Desjarlais,Mike Starr,Nils Allen Stewart,and even Irvin Kershner!Ermey's character was neat and he acted very well!Seagal's direction is good and I loved it when he showed up for his first scene in the movie.The film is really good in My opinion and at the end when Seagal's speech came up it was really deep and seeing those real clips of animals was sad.For those who have seen it before just give this film another try and for the people who didn't see the film also see this film if you like Seagal and the above mentioned cast and action movies. I am sure you will disagree with the others and like the film like I do. I recommend it!

this is a great Seagal film. the acting is great the cast is great and the action is great. this has a good plot and a good message to send. he performs his Aikido with a great punch. I recommend this film to all Seagal fans and even people who don't necessarily like him. if you like non stop action with a great plot and good cast watch this movie.

This movie is about a greedy business who owns an oil company in Alaska. Seagal works for him but fights back once they kill his best friend and try to kill him. The Eskimo's take Seagal in and show him how things are going wrong because of the oil company. Michael Caine plays the villain and plays the part the quite well. So watch this movie and take it for what it is...a great action flick with a good message.

I'm certainly not an authority when it comes to the filmography of Steven Seagal. In fact, I don't think I've seen a single film of his made after the year 2000. And yet, me thinks it's safe to state that Seagal's best period was between 1992 and 1996, thanks to the really good "Under Siege" movies and "Executive Decision". During this brief period, Seagal apparently also was confident enough to make his directorial debut! I enjoyed "On Deadly Ground", but for all the wrong reasons. The film is nothing but a mediocre action vehicle, but Seagal takes it much too seriously. The plot is beyond preposterous, the environmental messages are shoved down our throats, and the characters are pure stereotypes and caricatures. Michael Caine is terrible as the mean and greedy oil tycoon, and John C. McGinley is even worse as his bodyguard/goon. Joan Chen is utterly redundant as the native love-interest, Shari Shattuck is pitiable as the supposedly heartless female businesswoman, and R. Lee Ermey depicts his umpteenth hard-shouting platoon leader role. Worst of all, though, Seagal grabs every possible opportunity to let literally ALL the other characters repeat how fantastic he - Forrest Taft - is. "Damn, this guy is good", "We are not dealing with a student here, we're dealing with the Professor", blah blah blah. How full of yourself are you, when you are the director who makes actors say these sorts of lines, about a characters that you depict yourself; - ha.

Forrest Taft is a trouble shooter for Michael Jennings' oil company. When the rig foreman comes to Taft with tales of faulty equipment Taft looks into it and finds Jennings is rushing the rig, compromising safety in order to drill within a 13 day deadline before the oil rights revert to the Eskimos. Jennings kills the foreman and frames Taft for industrial terrorism, bringing in mercenaries and the FBI to stop him. With Taft saved by the Inuits and taught the way of the bear he arms himself to stop the rig drilling.

In Seagal's debut as director he is given clear reign to base a story on a muddle of mysticism and environmental concern. The story is pure cod but it allows him to not only battle evil oil corporations but actually do physical battle with them. For half the film Seagal `dances with wolves' before he dumps all thoughts of spirituality, arms himself with a cabin full of weapons and does battle with the mercenaries as he tries to blow up the oil rig - he conveniently ignores the environmental damage done by this!

The action is the usual unimaginative stuff where Seagal does moves on baddies who come at him one at a time. He's starting to look a little old and out of shape here, but if you like his fighting generally then this is OK. It's a little hard to swallow when he takes on a elite group of soldiers but I suppose that if you're watching this type of film then you're happy with whatever you get! Once the film ends we are treated to a straight lecture on the environment and big business - it is full of open statements and sweeping requirements with no real practical solutions. Unlike his fights he doesn't hit the target once.

Seagal is as usual a terrible actor - only one facial expression, terrible one-liner delivery and generally no talent. Here, he shrouds himself in smugness and native American mysticism making it even harder to accept him. Caine has a laugh, hamming it up as the oil baron, but it's not a performance one could describe as good in any sense of the word - his American accent keeps changing to Cockney and back again! The rest of the cast are neither good or bad - they don't really have the material to do anything with - but it has a load of `name' actors. John C McGinley is alright, Ermey does what he always does (but has done better) and Billy Bob Thornton is in there if you keep your eyes open!

Overall it's slightly worse than most Seagal's films because of the environmental message being unsubtly rammed down the audiences throats. However if you like his fighting then there's maybe 15 minutes of enjoyment to be had here.

Steven Seagal is now an employee of Aegis Oil where he is some sort of hired muscle and a former member of the CIA (his exact job seems unclear). After stumbling upon a sinister plot from his boss (played by an angry Michael Caine), he is marked for death by his employer and nearly killed. But after being revived by a tribe of Eskimos (including Joan Chen, who is actually Chinese) he returns to fight the oil company and give long speeches about the environment.

The formula here is the same as "Hard to Kill" -- Seagal finds a powerful man doing evil, is left for dead, healed by some spiritual stuff and returns to fight with a new love interest. So if you're looking for something new from Seagal, you're looking in the wrong place. The only new thing here is his directing and increased monologues.

This film's strength is in its co-stars. Joan Chen ("Twin Peaks"), Michael Caine, John C. McGinley, Bart the Bear, R. Lee Ermey and Billy Bob Thornton. An incredible line-up. Unfortunately, as good as they all are (especially McGinley, as the feminine assassin) they are stuck in a poorly written film with re-hashed plot and action sequences that are old and revolve around characters who yell "ow, my balls" a lot. I also think the emphasis on the Eskimo spirits was too intense. I appreciate what Seagal was trying to do by promoting the native people and their culture, but it was boring and took away heavily from the flow of the film.

Of the Seagal films I've seen, this was by far the least enjoyable. I found it a bit of a challenge to finish. See "Hard to Kill" or "Under Siege" if you like some Seagal action... this one is a bit of a bland flavor. Only for Seagal completists.

The film where Steven Seagal proves that he's much more than just a lousy actor… he's also a lousy director.

Where to begin? There's a nice mix of action star self-indulgence and political commentary on the evils of oil. Seagal is Forrest Taft (?), a no non-sense renegade who plays by his own set of rules for some sort of oil rigging company owned by some guy named Michael Jennings (Michael Caine playing a character who is so evil, that he has jet black hair!). That is, until Forrest's friends start accusing him of turning his back on the environment. Forrest doesn't like that much. Nobody calls him a 'whore' and gets away with it.

After twenty minutes, and a random bar fight, Forrest reads a fourth grade-level computer screen that pretty much spells out how economically dangerous oil rigs can really be… and how his boss is making sure that silly things like the environment don't get in the way of a profit. Rather than develop complex protagonists and antagonists, we get a clear black and white split: Big corporations and oil companies are evil and Eskimos are good-as they help Forrest become spiritually reborn as a 'man-bear' and regain his sights on kicking ass.

Chances are, you weren't watching for plot anyway. But the guilty pleasure parade just keeps on going: dialogue that'll make you smile (best line: 'You didn't find Flint, but you managed to kill an unarmed Eskimo!'), lots of explosions, horrible supporting actors, and a chance for Steven Seagal to play 'the slap game' with one of his judgmental oil workers. "On Deadly Ground" gives Seagal plenty of opportunity to kick ass and arch his eyebrows in a suspicious manner, but the same can't be said about poor Michael Caine. As the film's antagonist, Caine turns in a two dimensional performance that may have been modeled after a villain from "Captain Planet." There's something sad about watching a two time Oscar winner grit his teeth for two hours of screen time. Just laugh at him. He sleeps on a nice pile of money.

All and all… horrible film that will keep you laughing with it's misguided attempts to make an action film about more than just explosions.

…I, for one, would suggest that Seagal update this film to reflect the events of the Iraq war. He could start off as an Iraqi, hiding the weapons of mass destruction. Then realize Weapons of Mass Destruction cause harm to society. And along the way, get really p***ed off when he finds out it was all about exploiting the Iraqis out of oil.

Summary: Come for the heavy handed ecological commentary and laughable acting; Stay for a wonderfully over-the-top Michael Caine.

Michael Cain in this role reminds me of how the Clintons would have ran things if Hillary won. Thanks god her phoney smile never won the hearts of 65 million smart voters. Steven Segal was awesome as usual.

At the moment this shining Jewel of Seagal's career (if "shining jewel" is a euphimism for "noxious eye-cancer causing crime against humanity") ranks as #100 on the bottom 100 list. Steve must be sneaking into the IMDB under psuedonyms and propping this gargantuan waste of celluloid up to keep it from descending to the depths where it belongs. A truly bad movie needs three things: a decent budget (anyone can make a cheap piece of garbage, it takes true talent to do so with tens of millions available); a bad story; and bad acting. This one wins in spades. I haven't seen most of the 99 movies in the bottom 100 (thank God) but I did see "House of the Dead" which is currently #30 and "On Deadly Ground" is definitely worse than that (well, kind of like comparing pig droppings and horse leavings... they both stink but one is bigger). When I think "action movie" the first thing that comes to mind is "ecologically-minded"... well, at least this is what came to Seagal's mind. If it is any consolation it is that this is the movie which sent Steve on his path South, making his movie profits dwindle while his girth spiralled up to challenge that of the protagonist of "Free Willy." I saw Steve a few months back on a popular tv show here in Japan, comedian Sanma's "Koi no karasawagi," and I swear to God he was wearing a muumuu. Rest in Peace Segal's career. Please vote #1 for this so as to ensure it reaches the ranking it so richly deserves...

There are some slow spiritual parts you could really just skip but overall some decent action scenes and storyline. Standard Seagal movie, not one of the best but better then anything done after exit wounds. Lots of random henchmen actors you recognize. Worth the watch is say for Seagal fans.

I've never been a fan of horror films and let me start by saying that it's even less fun to be in one. The plot went like this, I boarded a bus for a three hour trip and the masochistic bus driver decides to put this piece of absolute toxic trash on the television. Let me tell you, on a bus there is nowhere to go, nowhere you can run to or hide. I was forced to watch this complete turkey or break a window and dive off of the bus . . . let me tell you, that was a tough decision.

The plot (what of it there is) has been summarised by others (some who actually seem to like this film). What I'd like to know is A) why are we supposed to believe that this is at all credible? I could believe in James Bond films before I could swallow this load of tripe! B) How did they talk Michael Caine into this? I mean, this film is even worse than Jaws IV (something I hadn't thought possible). C) Is surgery required to remove Seagal's sneer? D) Wouldn't blowing up the oil rig create more of an environmental catastrophe? No, this film is one of the worst. Why MrCranky.com hasn't hit on it is anyone's guess but for my money it's right up there with The Avengers, Alien Resurrection, Battlefield Earth and Buckaroo Bonzia. One of the very worst films I've ever seen.