As a fan of Seagal's earllier films (Nico, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death and Out for Justice) I was looking forward to see how his first real big budget movie (Under Siege had a budget of $35Million, compared to the $10-$14Million that his earlier films had) was going to be and I wasn't disappointed, I had never heard of the director Andrew Davis, but just one year later (1993) he would give us 'The Fugitive' with Harrison Ford and again Tommy Lee Jones. Yes it's a sort of Die Hard clone, but then what movie where one man takes on an entire army / terrorist cell, isn't these day, but the action is well directed, compared to Seagal's later movies (On Deadly Ground being one) where the hand to hand has been speeded up, this is pure Seagal. We have, a what seemed to be at the time a puzzling casting choice with Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey playing the villians, but was actually a stroke of genius by then casting director Pamela Basker, who was also Casting Director on Marked for Death, Out for Justice and later On Deadly Ground. Jones and Busey are for me the highlights of the movie, Tommy Lee on fine Character acting form as the ex-CIA operative with a history with Seagal's Ryback character, great stunts, great action, the only downside was in truth Erika Eleniak who in my opinion didn't bring anything to the movie apart from the now infamous cake scene. Enjoyable and fun actioner that hits all the right spots.

Probably the best produced Steven Segal movie. Obviously that's not saying much. Not the best Segal movie, but probably top 2-3. If you like his shtick, you'll probably like this.

_"This guy's a pain in the ass!"_

Well, my first Steven Seagal film is in the can. Years ago, I watched compilations of fight sequence moments of his a few times on Youtube, and I remember liking them a lot; his fight sequences are enjoyable. More importantly, I remember noticing his sui generis delivery of dialogue: often enhanced by bad-but-good lines, and his unbothered smug demeanor/attitude, which I bet is present with every character, depriving them of individualistic identities. I'm not saying that's a bad thing: it's an observation. It's his trademark, and it has its subtle charm.

I believe Steven Seagal is like Nicolas Cage: if you don't let him loose, you're sacrificing valuable enjoyment. That's why I think I'd enjoy other films of his more, including the other higher-rated ones like this one. But specifically, I'm referring to some of the low-budget vehemently-hated ones. Give me the all-around film-long bad dialogue delivered "badly" (amazingly) by Steven Seagal, the films that hardly anyone watched because they're practically unwatchable due to how subjectively but mostly objectively horrible they are. I want to lose every brain cell from the ridiculous amount of cuts and heart attack-inducing editing during fight sequences because Steven Seagal isn't doing most of the fight sequences. I may find most of them less enjoyable than this one, but I'll take that risk.

Regarding this film, I felt like it's not one of his better ones; well, it probably is compared to the low-budget ones. I guess I mean I'll find others of his more enjoyable. That's ironic, as this seems to be considered one of his best ones by the majority. Don't get me wrong: I didn't hate it. It was enjoyable, although not as much as I'd have liked. But I thought it could've been way better. It took almost 20 minutes to kick off, there wasn't enough of Steven Seagal, and there wasn't enough excitement through action. It felt untethered from that needed push.

Still, the action/fight sequences with Steven Seagal were good, but that should've been more prominent. The score by Gary Chang was good. And all of the performances were good. Tommy Lee Jones gave the best one, especially at the end when Strannix was losing it. I'd put Steven Seagal next due to the enjoyment he adds, even though he wasn't on screen enough. After that, Gary Busey and Erika Eleniak, who I'd say were both tied in a good way.

Another appreciable aspect I liked was how Erika Eleniak's character was a _supporting_ character instead of the stereotypical female character who's pretty much only there as eye candy. I suppose, in the beginning, that was the case; her character was shallow. But, to my surprise, the writing of her character improved, and she got some development. I wasn't expecting that based on how her character was "progressing." That was a pleasant surprise. It deserves some recognition.

Overall, this film serves Steven Seagal impaling a guy, ripping out a guy's throat, pushing his thumb into a guy's eye, and penetrating a guy's skull with a knife. That's quite the meal. It also has a young(er) Raymond Cruz/Tuco Salamanca. If that doesn't interest you, nothing will. At the very least, it's one of Steven Seagal's highest-rated films, maybe the highest; it's not one of his low-budget abominable ones.

As far as my opinion is concerned, I thought it could've been better, but it's still pretty enjoyable. I think it's a film with a similar feeling as _The Princess Bride_, _Spy_, and _Mr. & Mrs. Smith_, off the top of my head. That feeling of a "classic," even if you don't "love" the film in question. And that goes a long way.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have 50 gallons of bouillabaisse I need to prepare by tomorrow.

The fun kind of dumb, _Under Siege_ is probably Segal's best work, and in my opinion the only reason people ever mention him in the same breath as the likes of Stallone, Schwarzenegger or Willis.

_Final rating:★★★½ - I really liked it. Would strongly recommend you give it your time_.

"Krill" (Gary Busey) is the rather narked XO on the battleship USS Missouri who sees the captain's impending birthday party as an opportunity to team up with "Strannix" (Tommy Lee Jones), seize the ship and extort a fortune from the American government. The girl (the very annoying "Jordan" - Erika Eleniak) coming from the cake he expected, the fact that the ship's cook is a former SEAL he did not - especially when this knife-wielding sailor starts to make his presence felt and a battle royal hots up. The scenario is pretty far-fetched, but to be fair to Steven Seagal as the chef with attitude, this is a fair action adventure film with plenty of combat, kitchen devil action and pyrotechnics to compensate for the pretty woeful dialogue and acting - especially from Busey - that only really works when the enthusiastic TLJ is letting loose the dogs of war. There's no jeopardy to speak of, the ending is never really in doubt - but I still find this, periodically, an enjoyable bit of machismo escapism that passes the time ok.