On Deadly Ground (1994)

A mystical martial artist/environmental Agent takes on a ruthless oil corporation.

Director:

Steven Seagal

Writers:

Ed Horowitz, Robin U. Russin

Stars:

Steven Seagal, Michael Caine, Joan Chen

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steven Seagal	...	Forrest Taft
Michael Caine	...	Michael Jennings
Joan Chen	...	Masu
John C. McGinley	...	MacGruder
R. Lee Ermey	...	Stone
Shari Shattuck	...	Liles
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Homer Carlton
Richard Hamilton	...	Hugh Palmer
Chief Irvin Brink	...	Silook
Apanguluk Charlie Kairaiuak	...	Tunrak
Elsie Pistolhead	...	Takanapsaluk
John Trudell	...	Johnny Redfeather
Mike Starr	...	Big Mike
Sven-Ole Thorsen	...	Otto (as Swen-Ole Thorsen)
Jules Desjarlais	...	Drunken Eskimo

Storyline

Forrest Taft (Steven Seagal) is an environmental Agent who works for the Aegis Oil Company in Alaska. Aegis Oil's corrupt C.E.O., Michael Jennings (Sir Michael Caine), is the kind of person who doesn't care whether or not oil spills into the ocean or onto the land, just as long as it's making money for him. He even makes commercials that make him look like he cares about the environment. Jennings is almost finished with building his new state-of-the art oil rig: AEGIS-1. The problem is that if he doesn't finish building the rig in thirteen days, the land rights will be returned to the Eskimos and the Alaskan Government. When Jennings finds out that Taft's best friend Hugh Palmer (Richard Hamilton) has a computer disk that contains information about defective equipment on AEGIS-1, he sends out his goons to murder Palmer. When Taft tries to interfere, Jennings tries to kill Taft. But an Eskimo woman named Masu (Joan Chen), who introduces Taft to her father Silook (Chief Irvin Brink), ...

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Plot Keywords:

oil | environmental | murder | tribe | oil spill | 

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Taglines:

His Battle To Save The Alaskan Wilderness And Protect Its People Can Only Be Won...

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The January 1994 Los Angeles earthquake almost caused this movie to be delayed. The roof at Technicolor collapsed from the quake, and damaged the negative. Luckily, a Technicolor technician was able to carefully repair the damage.

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Goofs

When Forrest enters Hugh's cabin, the gun cabinet is briefly visible, with a bolt action rifle on the left, a single barrel shotgun in the middle, and another rifle on the right. When they come down from upstairs, the two rifles have swapped places, and the shotgun is now double-barreled. The two boxes of shells have moved from beside the rifle butt in the bottom right corner, to a shelf near the top of the cabinet.

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Quotes

Liles: [Liles is escaping, and sees Taft] FUCK HIM!
[Liles then slams into an oil pipe and is killed in the explosion]

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Crazy Credits

The first half of the end credits run over images of Alaska and its various wildlife, until we see Forrest Taft & Masu in a canoe, with Taft pointing out to Masu, a crow in front of them circling over the water (supposedly meant to be Silook in another form)

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Alternate Versions

German TV and Retail-Video/DVD Versions are cut to reduce violence. The uncut Version is available on Rental-Video and DVD.

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Connections

Spoofed in South Park: Over Logging (2008)

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Soundtracks

ONE LAST GOOD HAND
Written by John Jarrard and Gary Burr
Performed by Reba McEntire
Courtesy of MCA Records

User Reviews

Nice to see an action movie with a new locale and a few new angles, but a shame that on the whole the film is pretty inept.

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Inuktitut

Release Date:

18 February 1994 (USA)

Also Known As:

Rainbow Warrior

Filming Locations:

Carson, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$50,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$12,679,573, 21 February 1994

Gross USA:

$38,590,458

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,590,458

Company Credits

Production Co:

Seagal/Nasso Productions, Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1