Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

Casey Ryback hops on a Colorado to LA train to start a vacation with his niece. Early into the trip, terrorists board the train and use it as a mobile HQ to hijack a top secret destructive US satellite.

Director:

Geoff Murphy

Writers:

Richard Hatem, Matt Reeves

Stars:

Steven Seagal, Eric Bogosian, Everett McGill

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Steven Seagal	...	Casey Ryback
Eric Bogosian	...	Travis Dane
Everett McGill	...	Marcus Penn
Katherine Heigl	...	Sarah Ryback
Morris Chestnut	...	Bobby Zachs
Peter Greene	...	Mercenary #1
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	Mercenary #2
Scott Sowers	...	Mercenary #3
Afifi Alaouie	...	Female Mercenary (as Afifi)
Andy Romano	...	Admiral Bates
Brenda Bakke	...	Captain Linda Gilder
Sandra Taylor	...	Kelly, Barmaid
Jonathan Banks	...	Scotty, Mercenary
David Gianopoulos	...	Captain David Trilling
Royce D. Applegate	...	Ryback's Cook

Storyline

Seal Team Commander Casey Ryback has retired from the Navy since the conclusion of the events in the first movie, and is now a chef at the Mile High Cafe in Denver, Colorado. Ryback is taking his niece Sarah Ryback on vacation, to reconnect and commiserate with her after the death of her parents. They board a train traveling westbound through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to LA. With the help of gun-for-hire Marcus Penn a couple dozen of his mercenaries, ex-CIA brain (and mentally unstable) Travis Dane commandeers the train, takes the passengers and crew hostage, and sets up a mobile control center. He hacks into the CIA database and gains control of a Top-Secret defence satellite he designed during his Agency days that has just been deployed. Funded by various foreign interests, he stands to make 1 billion dollars for using the space weapon to blow up the Eastern seaboard by targeting a nuclear reactor housed beneath the Pentagon. Dane taunts the Joint Chiefs in the Pentagon ...

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Plot Keywords:

repeat sequel | time bomb | good versus evil | man kills a woman | global positioning satelite | 

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Taglines:

A top secret nuclear satellite. A team of international terrorists. A government held hostage. An undetectable moving headquarters. Only one hero stands in the way.

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Genres:

Action | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 July 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Under Siege 2

Filming Locations:

Eagle Rock Mine, Colorado, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$60,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$50,024,083

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$104,324,083

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Regency Enterprises, Seagal/Nasso Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min 92 min (16-rated)

Sound Mix:

SDDS Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The countdown timer blip sound effect on the computer used by Travis Dane (Eric Bogosian) is a blip sound from a Motorola-brand pager.

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Goofs

We see the "porter" enter the back of the hostage train car and duck down when the terrorist fires at him, a moment later, the "porter" enters and fires at the terrorist.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gen. Cooper: Tom, thanks for coming.

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Alternate Versions

The US Region 1 DVD, amongst others, restores the violence/knife play missing from the UK edition, but some of the footage is still missing due to MPAA interference; Ryback stabbing one eyed terrorist in neck while blood pours out, and longer and more brutal final fight between Ryback and Penn, at one point Ryback pushes Penn onto hot cooker which is why he has a large mark on his face after falling down the stairs.

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Connections

References Diamonds Are Forever (1971)

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Soundtracks

AFTER THE TRAIN HAS GONE
Written and Produced by Steven Seagal and Todd Smallwood
Performed by Gregg Allman, Abraham McDonald, Todd Smallwood, Pepper Mashay (as Jean McClain) and Steven Seagal
Gregg Allman appears courtesy of 550 Music
Background vocals by Erica Bell and Tory Baker from the Hamilton High Gospel Choir - Fred Martin,
choir master

User Reviews

Movie Summary

Under Siege 2 offers a heavy dose of action and brings along a second helping without asking for it.

It stars our quiet, yet deadly action star: Steven Seagal, in what he does best, and that's rack up body counts.

As far as an action flick, this movie excels, but you can throw the plot and acting right out the window, which is typical in Seagal movies.

It features Casey Ryback, ex-Navy SEAL demoted to cook and he's taking his niece on a trip on a super-fast train (one that can't be detected once going through dark territory). Along the way, the train is taken over by psychotic computer genius Travis Dane and his group of hired mercenaries/terrorists who soon enough are threatening Washington with threats of blowing up the Pentagon and disturbing a nuclear reactor, while in the meantime, Dane is getting $1 billion dollars for doing the job from a Middle East sponsor, but one can wonder how he intends to pay his hired group of mercs (lead by Penn) after the incident.

Ryback is the only one who can stop them, as the movie turns into a predictable swarm of wrist-cracking and neck-snapping feast fit for a king. Penn (played by Everett McGill) is the only man who can last longer than 10 seconds in a fight with Ryback, and can match knife fighting to the end with the ex-Navy SEAL.

There are several instances of "ill-logical" experiences in Under Siege. A few that come to mind are, "the train wreck", how can one individual such as Seagal run faster than a train coming at him at over 200 MPH through a crash? While this is the worst, there are others.

Rating (ZERO to ****): **½ (2.5)