Under Siege (1992)

An ex-Navy Seal turned cook is the only person who can stop a group of terrorists when they seize control of a U.S. battleship.

Director:

Andrew Davis

Writer:

J.F. Lawton

Stars:

Steven Seagal, Gary Busey, Tommy Lee Jones

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steven Seagal	...	Casey Ryback
Damian Chapa	...	Tackman
Troy Evans	...	Granger
David McKnight	...	Flicker
Lee Hinton	...	Cue Ball
Patrick O'Neal	...	Captain Adams
Gary Busey	...	Commander Krill
Glenn Morshower	...	Ensign Taylor
Leo Alexander	...	Lt. Smart
John Rottger	...	Commander Green
Brad Rea	...	Marine Guard
Michael Welden	...	Lt. Ballard
Bernie Casey	...	Commander Harris
Rickey Pierre	...	Kitchen Helper
Raymond Cruz	...	Ramirez

Storyline

The battleship Missouri is about to be decomissioned. Casey Ryback is Captain Adam's personal cook. And Ryback is always butting heads with the ship's XO Commander Krill but the Captain always intercedes. One day, after the President visits the Missouri, which is also the Captain's birthday, the Captain learns that a helicopter has been cleared to land on the ship by Commander Krill, which he was not informed of. When questioned Krill tells the Captain that it's a surprise for his birthday, the Captain then allows it. Later after another one of their scuffles, Krill has Ryback locked in the freezer. During the party, the rock band reveals themselves to be mercenaries, led by William Stranix, a CIA operative, who is in league with Krill to unload all of the ship's nuclear warheads. They lock up all of the crew and make preparations to remove the warheads. And Krill remembers Ryback, Stranix sends two of his men to take care of Ryback, only thing is that Ryback took care of them. Upon ...

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Plot Keywords:

cook | battleship | terrorist plot | one against many | knife throwing | 

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Taglines:

It's not a job...It's an Adventure!

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, and for language and brief nudity

Details

Country:

France USA

Language:

English Italian

Release Date:

9 October 1992 (USA)

Also Known As:

Dreadnought

Filming Locations:

Fairhope, Alabama, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$83,363,139

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$156,400,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Regency Enterprises, Canal+

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo (4 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Shortly after the Missouri is taken, an F/A-18 approaches the ship. There is audio of radio communications in the background. The audio is real radio chatter from two F-14s, which intercepted and shot down two Libyan Mig-23s. The incident occurred on January 4, 1989.

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Goofs

When Ryback finds Jordan Tate in the giant cake, he uses his foot to move the cake out of his way. When he does so, a pulley on the floor is clearly visible that is pulling the cake away from him.

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Quotes

[Krill reads his personal file while he is still dressed as a drag queen]
Commander Krill: Listen to the shit I've had to put up with: "In the past few weeks, Commander Krill has become increasingly hostile to the crew, possibly due to anger over my last reviews of his performance. I recommend he be given a psychological evaluation before taking over his next ASSIGNMENT!"
[slams file on table]
Commander Krill: Do I look like I need a psychological evaluation?
William Strannix: Not at all.
Commander Krill: ...I gotta change.

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Crazy Credits

At the close of the credits: USS Missouri BB63 was decommissioned March 31, 1992 and is now moored at Bremerton Naval Yard, awaiting her next call to service.

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Alternate Versions

The version for Finnish theatrical and video release was heavily censored. The actual impact of most bullets was not shown. All fights involving knives were either heavily edited or removed entirely. Most notably: the scene in which a man is cut across his leg, then stabbed under his arm, was removed, along with that of a man being shoved into a bandsaw; the scene where Ryback rips out a man's larynx was cut out; the fight at the end between Ryback and Strannix did not show the eye gouge sequence nor did it show the head stabbing. The scene involving nudity was also cut.

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: The Public Eye/Candyman/Under Siege/A River Runs Through It/Night and the City (1992)

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Soundtracks

WHISKEY FEVER
Written by Clifford Smith, James Hughes, Johnny Barnes, Robert Bird, Randy Smith and Mark Aceves
Performed by The Regulators
Courtesy of Left Bank Records / Polydor
by arrangement with Polygram Special Markets

User Reviews

Its a FACT

FACT 1 - All knives used on the set were donated by Bob Hoskins who at the time held shares in Sheffield cutlery industries.

FACT 2 - During the cake scene where the woman arises from the dessert, the actress demanded that the cake did not contain any sugar because of a childhood skin condition.

FACT 3 - Seagal was the directors 2nd choice after Van Damme refused due to filming Universal Soldier.

FACT 4 - Due to spiralling production costs several of the scenes are actually old archive footage.

FACT 5 - Seagal designed his own costume for the movie after several attempts by costume designers failed

FACT 6 - Conflict between Lee Jones and Seagal aroze due to Lee Jones' obsession with calling Seagal, Seagull or Mr Seagull whilst leaving fish around his dressing room.

FACT 7 - Seagal followed a strict diet of 9 medium raw eggs a day during filming as recommended to him by De Niro after filming Raging Bull