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 ...

---

Plot Keywords:

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

---

Taglines:

In 1992 a battleship's been sabotaged by nuclear pirates out to steal its warheads. Now, surrounded by terrorists, a lone man stands with a deadly plan of attack.

---

Genres:

Action | Thriller

---

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

The events in the movie take place in mid-to-late December 1991. The opening scenes mention that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor had taken place fifty years earlier on December 7, 1941. In addition, President George Bush's real-life order to remove nuclear missiles from U.S. Navy surface ships was issued in 1991.

---

Goofs

During the opening news commentary the commentator talks about supposed nuclear weapons on board the Missouri as the reason the ship is leaving port. It is the policy of the U.S. government, and so the U.S. Navy, not to reveal or discuss the presence of nuclear weapons on any station or vessel.

---

Quotes

[sees the bodies of the two commandos that Ryback has killed]
William Strannix: The man that did this is a professional. Who is he, and what's he doing running around on my battleship, Mr. Krill?
Commander Krill: Your battleship? You wouldn't be on this battleship if it wasn't for me. He's a cook, plain and simple...
William Strannix: This is not the work of a cook.
Commander Krill: He came on board with the captain. I know his routine, front and back. He's good with cooking knives...
[...]

---

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.

---

Connections

Referenced in Chuck: Chuck Versus Operation Awesome (2010)

---

Soundtracks

SEA OF BLUES
Written by Gene Barge, Hiram Bullock, Tony Brown, Chris 'Hambone' Cameron,
Richard Davis, Tad Robinson and Wendall Wayne Stewart
Produced by Hiram Bullock

User Reviews

Steven Seagal's best!!

This is by far Seagals best film and his only one that you could truly call good. His others range from average to just plain awful, but this is a great action film. Its basically Dies Hard on a boat, but is one of the few successful Die Hard clones. Andrew Davis made this before The Fugitive, and his direction is tense and exciting, whats more he gets Seagals best performance which basically means he is slightly less wooden than usual.

The plot revolves around this Battleship which is being taken out of use. On its final run, coinciding with the captains birthday, the ship gets hi-jacked by terrorists who plan to use the nuclear weapons on board. Seagal a former Navy Seal, with more medals than a medal shop, is on board as the ships cook, as this is the only position he can occupy in the ship after he was involved in a military blunder previously. Seagal uses his skills to cause problems for the terrorists as he sets out to stop them, aided by Miss July 89 Jordan The played by the sexy and melon chested Erika Eleniak who is certainly there for her looks ahead of acting ability, she is however a cut above Seagal in the acting department.

The action in this is great, Seagals usual Aikido master class is on display as well as some good gun fights, and impressive stunts. Seagal has always had a bit of paunch but he looks a lot fitter than his recent films where he lumbers about, in his earlier films he actually seems in some sort of shape and actually looks tough.

Overall this is an entertaining film, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey are in scene stealing form as the bad guys and Seagal is at the top of his game. 8/10