Under Siege

Plot synopsis:
The film begins with the American battleship USS Missouri (BB-63) arriving at Pearl Harbor, where President George H. W. Bush makes a speech announcing that after the Missouri's long time service, the ship will be decommissioned in California, making the trip her final voyage. Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal), a Chief Petty Officer assigned as cook, is preparing meals in celebration of the birthday of Captain Adams (Patrick O'Neal), against the orders of his adversarial Executive Officer, Commander Krill (Gary Busey), who is having food and entertainment brought from Hawaii by helicopter after they have set out to sea. Krill provokes a brawl in the galley with Ryback who assaults Krill. Unable to imprison him in the brig without clearance from the captain or attracting attention, Krill detains Ryback in a freezer and places a Marine, Private Nash (Tom Wood), on guard to prevent Ryback from leaving. A CH-46 helicopter lands on the ship's deck with a musical band, along with Playboy Playmate "Miss July '89" Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak) and a group of caterers who are all really a band of mercenaries led by ex-CIA operative Bill Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones). Shortly after the party begins, Strannix, posing as the band leader (Bad Billy and the Bail Jumpers), pulls out a gun and kills Commander Green (the highest ranking officer in the room). Then, all the caterers and band members pull out weapons to seize control of the ship with the help of Commander Krill (who is revealed to be a turncoat). Several of the officers are killed during the takeover, including Captain Adams, who is shot point blank by Krill. The rest of the ship's company are imprisoned below decks in the forecastle, except for several stragglers in secured areas.Strannix intends to steal the ship's arsenal of nuclear Tomahawk cruise missiles and plans to sell the nuclear weapons on the black market by unloading them onto a submarine Strannix stole from North Korea while on his final CIA mission, which he then kept for himself when the CIA tried to assassinate him to use for private arms trading. Strannix and his men take over the ship's weapon systems for defense, shooting down an F/A-18 Hornet sent to investigate, and plan on covering their escape by launching a missile strike into Honolulu that will obliterate tracking systems in Pearl Harbor.Ryback has become suspicious upon hearing gunfire and tells Private Nash to contact the ship's bridge. An annoyed Krill realizes they forgot about Ryback in the freezer and learns the kitchen is an unsecured area on the ship. Krill lies to Private Nash that the noises were not gunshots, but party poppers before Strannix offhandedly sends mercenaries Cates and Ziggs to eliminate Ryback and Nash. Nash is killed, but Ryback escapes and kills Cates by throwing a knife at him and strangles Ziggs, then plants a bomb in the microwave to go off later. He proceeds to cause havoc amongst the perpetrators and begins killing off the terrorists with the limited help of Jordan Tate, who was only hired as a cover for the festivities. Ryback also gets in contact with Admiral Bates (Andy Romano) at the Pentagon by using a satellite phone, whereupon the Navy then makes a plan to send a SEAL team to retake the ship. Krill discovers that Ryback is really a Chief Petty Officer and former Navy SEAL with extensive special-weapons and counter-terrorism training. He was relegated to his current posting for striking his superior officer who had been responsible for his men being killed in a botched commando mission during the United States invasion of Panama. As a result, he had lost his security clearance and was only able to serve as a yeoman or a cook. To keep the missile-theft plan in place, Krill decides to activate the fire sprinklers in the forecastle, leaving the crew members to drown and the terrorists to set up an ambush when Ryback arrives, presumably by himself to save them. However, Ryback locates a group of sailors in hiding and along with them engages a successful counter-strike, turning off the sprinklers dousing the crew and eliminating a considerable number of Strannix's forces. As Strannix's men regroup, Ryback shuts down the Missouri's weapon systems, in order to allow the incoming Navy SEAL team to land.As the battle for the ship continues, the submarine crew shoots down both the CH-46 helicopter carrying the Navy SEAL team with shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles. The Pentagon responds by ordering an air strike that will sink the Missouri and all aboard. Strannix regains control of the ship's weapon systems and the Tomahawks are loaded onto the North Korean submarine, departing with Krill on board. With the aid of Jordan and his fellow sailors, Ryback uses the battleship's guns, which were not yet decommissioned, to sink the submarine with Krill still inside, killing him and every one on board.Strannix, standing on the deck, suffers a major concussion from being in the proximity of the Missouri's guns as they are fired. He orders the remaining mercenaries out of the control room as he launches two nuclear-tipped Tomahawks towards Honolulu. As the sailors recapture the ship, killing the last group of Strannix's men, Ryback finds his way into the control room where he is caught off-guard and captured by Strannix. Strannix and Ryback realize they know each other from their past covert experiences, but Ryback is disgusted by Strannix's excuses for his behavior. Ryback states that both of them are disillusioned and were essentially "used" by their government, but Strannix says Ryback still believes in his country, whereas he does not. Ryback and Strannix then engage in a knife fight wherein Ryback kills Strannix by poking his eye out, stabbing him in the head with his knife, and finally smashing him through a computer monitor. Ryback then takes the launch codes needed to self-destruct the Tomahawk missiles. One of the two missiles is destroyed by an F/A-18 Hornet, but the other continues on its course. The codes are dialed in and the Tomahawk missile is deactivated, blowing apart before it would have destroyed Honolulu. The Pentagon celebrates wildly, then calls off the air assault on the Missouri.At the end, the remaining crew members are freed from their forecastle prison as the ship sails towards San Francisco harbor. Ryback is checked by a Navy doctor, kisses Jordan and the crew looks on and cheers. The film ends with a funeral ceremony for Captain Adams being held on the decks of the Missouri, showing the Captain's casket with flag draped over it and Ryback saluting in his service dress blue uniform with his full rank and military decorations.

Tags: comedy, violence, cult, humor, action, suspenseful

Review:
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.
Several reviewers here wrote that it is Steven Seagal's "best movie," and I wouldn't argue with that.."Under Siege" probably was more popular than the normal Segal action flick because of several aspects: 1 - the interesting story featuring the "lowly cook" (as Seagal described himself in this film) beating a bunch of terrorists taking over a U.S. Navy vessel; 2 - the over-the-top villains portrayed by fun-to-watch actors Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, and 3 - the fabulous looks and body of Erika Eleniak, who pops out of a cake topless in a sight that every guy who saw this film remembers.Jones was just about hitting his acting career peak as he demonstrated the following year with his Oscar-winning performance in "The Fugitive." Busey was the opposite, nearing the end of his run after a starring role as singer "Buddy Holly" made him famous.
Luckily for him, but unluckily for the terrorists, Ryback also happens to be a trained Navy SEAL, working as a cook to serve out his time, and he doesn't like his cooking being interrupted by anyone.In the wake of Die Hard we were treated (and still are treated) to lots of reruns of the "one man against terrorists" scenario and this film was one of the better ones, also providing Steven Seagal with arguably his best film to date.
The action is still enjoyable though and, while it isn't a classic in the realms of Die Hard, it is still an enjoyable action film in an overdone genre.In terms of acting, nobody could accuse Seagal of being "good" but at least here he was at the "height" of his powers in a vehicle that suited him but also had a budget and style to work as a mainstream product.
Jones and Busey can do crazy bad guys better than many people and they do it well here  especially Jones, who appears to be enjoying himself immensely.Overall this is an enjoyable action film as long as you know what you are getting into  it is not great but it is certainly one of the more enjoyable Seagal films and does manage to be a good entry in the genre and it was no surprise to me that Seagal came back for me in a less successful but equally as silly and enjoyable sequel..
Almost everything in this movie is to be expected, as Seagal plays his usual tough but lovable good guy who gets pushed just a bit too far and goes into full-on expert martial arts killer to enact revenge.
Busey is a former ship's commander who's willing to drown his crew simply to taunt Seagal, whereas Jones' character used to send body parts to his ex-bosses at the CIA before turning up here.The plot of this movie is that the two aforementioned crazies, with an entire crew of inside tech guys and hired muscle, have overtaken the aircraft carrier USS Missouri, with plans to extort various things from the big guys in Washington with the ship's small but capable arsenal of weapons at their disposal.
The sequel to this one was quite a letdown but still fun on its own, but in my opinion the original is Seagal's best and a great choice for those looking for some good old fashioned action heroics.
Her Tomahawk missiles rocketed deep into the heart of Baghdad.)As luck would have it, Chief Ryback (Steven Seagal) happens to be on board working as 'head cook.' Ryback is seen by all as a 'sorry-looking sailor' but his true identity as an ex-SEAL expert in martial arts, explosives, weapons, and tactics, is the Captain's best kept secret...
There's supposed to be a 'surprise' birthday party for the Captain (Patrick O'Neal) but he is shot before he can even show up to the fiesta...The terrorists, a group of professional killers, under the guise of entertainers and musicians, get access to the U.S. battleship by a helicopter cleared to land on the vessel's last voyage by a heavy turncoat officer...Tommy Lee Jones is fabulous as the lunatic Hippie, a former CIA undercover operative, who is for a railing system to offload the missiles onto a submarine they will rendez-vous with...Gary Busey is (Krill) the commander graciously ready to give a 'surprise' to his captain...
Erika is hired to jump out topless of the cake and dance...If you like to see your favorite celebrity shooting an evil bad guy in the back, don't miss Andrew Davis' 'Under Siege,' a good entertaining movie, well directed, and very exciting....
Steven Seagal might not be Arnold Schwarzenneger or Bruce Willis, but Under Siege quickly became one of 1992's most successful films, earning Seagal a fine reputation as a good action star.
Andrew Davis directed the film about a US Battleship that has been taken over by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey and it's up to Steven Seagal, whom acts as a chef cook, but is really an Ex-Navy Seal to save the day with the help of the ever sexy Erika Eleniak playing Miss July 1989.
Casey takes on nuclear arms smugglers and undergoes a violent confrontation some corrupt terrorists ( two exaggerated villains as Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey) and their criminal hoodlums.The picture packs unstopped action, thrills,fighting , shootouts, suspense and is quite entertaining.Violent and not particularly literary but worthy entry in action genre and realized in ¨Die hard¨ style.
Wooden Seagal plays the violent Casey Ryback, he cleans up the battleship by means of punch, kicks, bounds and leaps, martial arts abound with fights certainly slick.The Aikido expert Seagal saves the day in this exciting movie which also co-produced .In the film appears many secondary roles played by prestigious players as Patrick O'Neal,Colm Meany, Damian Chapa, Raymond Cruz , Bernie Casey, Nick Mancuso and several others.Elaborately produced action film with two-fisted Seagal is just another action film full of struggles ,thrills, noise and lots of violence.
Now, in conclusion, to all you Steven Seagal fans who haven't seen this great at sea action movie, I highly recommend it..
When this movie came out, I thought that it was Seagal's best simply because of the supporting roles of Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey.
OK, This is the greatest Seagal movie of all time, I mean come on he is a great action star, he plays the part right down to the tee.
Watch Ryback Die Hard it up and take out the bad guys one by one, leading to the inevitable final fight with Strannix for the fate of the world...or something like that.Awesome actioner with a wonderful cast.
i haven't seen all of Steven Seagal's films,but i am in the process of doing so,mostly in order.some i have seen before,and am re watching for the first time in years.certainly this film ranks as his best to date,that i have seen.the hand to hand combat scenes are very well done here.Seagal's acting is actually pretty good,better than in previous movies,plus he has some great lines.and there are some great supporting players in this one.Gary Busey,Nick Mancuso,Tommy Lee Jones,and Colm Meaney are all stellar.and of course Erika Eleniak is also in the movie,which could be a good or bad thing,depending on your view.anyway,this film is action packed,though not completely original.you could call it Die Hard on A Ship.if you're a Seagal fan,you won't want to miss this one.for me,Under Siege is a 9/10.
Steven Seagal (Hard to Kill) stars as Casey Ryback, a cook on a US battleship who gets trapped in a storage compartment when terrorists come aboard and take over.
Now only Ryback is undetected and can save the lives of his colleagues.In one of his earlier roles, Seagal performs acceptably in a typical action thriller, which reminded me somewhat of Die Hard.With one major setting, and a central character that is sneaking around unnoticed under the enemy's nose, it's John McClane on a boat, though John had more swagger and more personality.Though its filled with clichés, predictability and unrealistic action sequences, Under Siege still keeps viewers hooked on the edge of their seats as new deadly situations arise with a great villain in Stranix, played with great enthusiasm and sophistication by Tommy Lee Jones (The Fugitive).It's a tense film and the whole concept of the take over is great and tense, but is still Die Hard all over in my personal opinion.
without the money and the wife The tense action sequences and general idea of the film, plus Tommy Lee Jones equals an entertaining action film which is consistent throughout.Average support is given by Gary Busey and Erika Eleniak, though not very convincing.The action sequences are directed well to create excellent tension and with a cool sophisticated hero in Seagal, the film justifies the genre well.Though as with many action thrillers, there is many close calls which doesn't generate realism but if you like Die Hard then you will either feel cheated by this similar ideology, or will love it.The ending was atrocious with predictability all over from the start and did take the edge off the film a bit for me, but in conclusion, is still an entertaining fast paced worth watching thriller..
Plus, Strannix's constant Looney Tunes references were totally out of place and distracting.Well all know Steven Seagal is good with the martial arts, so it's kind of odd that he simply shoots most of the bad guys in this movie.
With Die Hard setting the standard by which I feel all action films should be measured, Steven Segal's Under Siege comes pretty close.Often described (perhaps unfairly) as Die Hard on a boat' this film may not be Shakespeare but does contain plenty of non-stop action, laughs and comical bad guys.Special mention goes to Gary Busey as the traitorous second in command but especially to the always watchable Tommy Lee Jones who manages to steal pretty much every scene he is in with his character of the former CIA agent turned nutball.Segal's sometimes wooden acting ability thankfully is sufficiently offset by the quality and intensity of the action going on throughout the film, annoyances however include the obligatory eye candy in the form of Erika Eleniak, she was quite clearly in her element coming out of a giant birthday cake (probably the most memorable scene in the film for many!!) but that is about all.All in all a good watch if you are looking for a nice no-brain-required action film..
A sharply-crafted and well-executed thriller that's about Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal), a former Navy SEAL, who's spending his last days in the Navy as a cook on the Missouri when a small, absolutely lethal band of terrorists unexpectedly overtake the ship, the crew, and murder the skipper.The thugs are led by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, both of whom colorfully portray Strannix, a disgruntled (and laugh out-loud) CIA operative and Krill, an embittered high-ranking officer who isn't too fond of Ryback.
Gary Chang composes a nice musical score here, that's fun to listen to and it never gets too loud."Under Siege" is my favorite Seagal movie although Jones and Busey sort of steal the show here.
bad GUYS, cause Seagal is the lone wolf who has to take care of business when one of the four remaining U.S Navy battleships, the 'USS Missouri', is hijacked by a former CIA-agent and his men.I've seen almost all of Steven Seagal's movies, and I think that this is the definite best of them.
But "Under Siege" has it all--a good plot, great action scenes, and Tommy Lee Jones, and Jones' plays a cool character (which he usually does...) even as the main bad guy.I think "Under Siege" is a very fine action-movie, and--like said--Seagals best movie.
And when I even mention that Seagals acting performance isn't bad in this film (which isn't always the fact in the other movies of his), then you know it's well worth watching..
Steven Seagal plays business as usual (one look, even less than Jean-Claude Van Damme), Tommy Lee Jones overplays so much that you would not believe that Under Siege was made just one year before The Fugitive.
Gary Busey - though rather good in Point Break - does not act much better, and the Girl may be the best character - which, for an action movie, tells the whole story about acting.
This movie is probably Steven Seagal's best, and is filled with excitement and plenty of action.
Steven Seagal may not be as popular compared to the likes of Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis, but he has been part of some successful action movies, and Under Siege is certainly one of them.
Andrew Davis directed this action-hit that stars Steven Seagal as Casey Ryback, a soldier who is also an accomplished cook, and is the personal chef of Captain Adams(played by Patrick O'Neal) of the battleship Missouri, which is due for decommissioning, but not before a team of mercenaries(led by Tommy Lee Jones) takes over, with the help of traitorous Commander Krill(played by Gary Busey).
On a couple of occasions in the "Austin Powers" flicks, Dr. Evil's resentful, critical son, chides him as to why he doesn't simply whack Powers right now, instead of going through some elaborate machinations (such as suspending him above a shark tank) from which he'll inevitably escape before his delayed death can occur.This is, of course, a take-off on the many times James Bond's nemeses off everybody in sight except him, and where even if he had only, say, a packet of dental floss, he'd use it to escape in the nick of time.Here the delightfully awful bad guys, Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey, chewing every possible piece of scenery in their path, shoot point-blank many key personnel, including the vessel's captain, but for some reason wish solely to confine Steven in or around the meat locker in the galley, with only a somewhat nerdy enlisted man on-guard.
(Steven Seagal) Mr. Seagal stays always very cool under all circumstances and because he likes to destruct things, he is always fun to watch.Now he has to take on almost almost 30 men who have captured the ship, he is a ex-seal and a explosive expert, he is trained for these conditions.The movie has a great mix of action and humour...especially with Ryback's comments on everything...I give it a 8 out of 10 rating..
Just like what most people are saying, this is steven seagal's best movie but it is not just him, tommy lee jones, gary busey also give stand out performances and andrew davis' directing is great as well, lots of props to him as he notches another tab as being one of the most talented, overlooked directors out there.
Our hero is a soft spoken 'cook' Casey Ryback, played by Steven Seagal in his most memorable and capable performance.Complete with great thrills and even greater kills – Under Siege is a highly enjoyable and underrated movie which deserves its place among the top actioners of the nineties.Remember, it's not a job, it's an adventure..
And the knife-fight at the end between Seagal and Jones is just brilliant.All in all: One of the best action movies ever made..
Seagal is at his action best,this time as a cook on the a battleship that has been hyjacked by an elite team of terrorists,led by(a perfect acting Tommy Lee Jones).But what the terrorists don't know is that Seagal is an ex-SEAL.And he's cooking up a storm that will blow them off their feet..
This is probably Steven Seagal's best action film.
Seagal gives a decent performance(Though I think he was better in OUT FOR JUSTICE) and I really liked Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey.
Sure Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones played bad guy roles pretty well, and each deserved a best supporting actor nomination, but their performances were nowhere near the quality of Seagal's.
The villain in Tommy Lee Jones was a bit too campy compared to Hans Ruber (Alan Rickman) in 'Die Hard', and Seagal's chef strolls through this film and easily defeats terrorists, unlike Bruce Willis whose plight actually felt real and his adversaries actually put up a decent fight.Andrew Davis directs reasonably well, and after this film he directed 'The Fugitive' which was nominated for Best Picture.
One flaw, too much money was spent on getting Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, and the Missouri.
ACTION, ADVENTURE, GARY BUSEY & TOMMY LEE JONES AS BAD GUYS IN THE SAME MOVIE.
What makes this movie great is that it does not just rely on hero Steven Seagal, but also the villains in ACADEMY AWARD WINNER TOMMY LEE JONES (THE FUGITIVE, SMALL SOLDIERS) and ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE GARY BUSEY (THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY, APOCALYPSE 3: TRIBULATION).
With Under Siege taking place on a naval ship it made the story and the action a lot different.Segal plays Casey Ryback, a navy cook who just so happens to be a bad mofo.
It was nothing but thrills.This was the first movie I'd ever seen Tommy Lee Jones in and he played a wonderful bad guy.