Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

***Under Siege 2: Dark Territory*** is a 1995 American action thriller film set on board a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles. Directed by Geoff Murphy, it stars Steven Seagal as the ex-Navy SEAL, Casey Ryback, and is the sequel to the 1992 film *Under Siege* also starring Seagal.[3] The title refers to the railroading term that the subject train was travelling through dark territory, a section of railroad track that has no train signals and in which communications between train dispatchers and the railroad engineers were impossible.

The film was produced by Seagal along with Arnon Milchan and Steve Perry. The film's cast also included Eric Bogosian, Everett McGill, Morris Chestnut, Peter Greene, Kurtwood Smith and Katherine Heigl,  Nick Mancuso, Andy Romano, and Dale Dye also reprised their roles from the first film.

## Plot

Casey Ryback retires from the United States Navy and settles in Denver, Colorado, owning and running a restaurant named Mile High Cafe, where he is also an executive chef. Sometime after, his estranged brother, James Ryback, dies in a plane crash. Casey meets James's daughter, Sarah, whom he will accompany to Los Angeles to attend his funeral. The two board the Grand Continental, a train traveling from Denver to Los Angeles through the Rocky Mountains. Onboard, they befriend a porter named Bobby Zachs and the train's chefs.

As the train approaches the Rocky Mountains, it is hijacked by armed mercenaries, led by former U.S. government computer hacker Travis Dane and his right-hand man and mercenary leader Marcus Penn. Dane worked on Grazer One, a top-secret military satellite particle weapon designed to destroy underground targets. The military fired Dane due to his mental instability; Dane later faked his suicide.

The mercenaries take the train's passengers and staff hostage, herding them into the last two cars. Casey kills one mercenary, then slips away. Among the hostages are two former US Department of Defense colleagues who worked with Dane. Dane threatens them with torture unless they reveal the codes to take over Grazer. Despite giving up the codes, they are thrown from the train. During the course of events, Zachs becomes Casey's sidekick.

Middle Eastern terrorists have offered Dane $1 billion to destroy the Eastern seaboard through using Grazer to target a nuclear reactor located underneath the Pentagon. Dane demonstrates Grazer to investors by destroying a Chinese chemical weapons plant. After one investor offers an additional $100 million, Dane destroys an airliner carrying the investor's ex-wife.

The U.S. government has difficulty locating Dane or Grazer. When officials destroy what they think is Grazer, Dane explains the NSA's premier intelligence satellite was destroyed instead. As long as the train keeps moving, his location cannot be determined. However, Casey faxes a message to his assistant manager at the Mile High Cafe, who contacts Admiral Bates. Bates reluctantly approves a stealth bomber strike to destroy the train.

Zachs discovers that they are on the wrong tracks and on a collision course with a Southern Pacific freight train hauling gasoline tank cars. Since the trains are in dark territory, it was impossible for the train dispatchers to communicate with the trains' engineers to stop the trains to avoid collision. Dane and Penn plan to abandon most of the mercenaries to certain death with the hostages by leaving via helicopter with some of their elite members.

Casey kills the mercenaries one by one and releases the hostages by uncoupling the last two cars, but Dane uses his computer skills to locate the stealth bombers and re-targets Grazer to knock them out before they can complete their mission. Meanwhile, Penn had previously captured Sarah and uses her as bait for Casey. Casey confronts Penn and breaks his neck after a fight that spills into the kitchen.

Casey finds Dane about to depart in a chopper hovering over the train. When Dane informs Casey that there is no way to stop Grazer from destroying Washington, Casey shoots him. The bullet destroys Dane's computer, cellphone and injures Dane. Pentagon control of the satellite is restored and it is destroyed by remote control one second before it would have fired on the Pentagon.

The Grand Continental and freight train collide on a trestle. Casey races through the exploding train and grabs a rope ladder dangling from the chopper. Dane, who has survived Casey's bullet, catches on to the ladder. He attempts to climb into the helicopter but falls to his death when Casey shuts the helicopter door on his hands. The explosion causes the helicopter to spin out of control, but the pilot regains control.

The only survivors of the incident are Casey, his niece Sarah, the porter Zachs, and the mercenary helicopter pilot (who Zachs has at gunpoint). Casey, having previously detached the last two cars from the rest of the train, informs the Pentagon that the passengers are safe. Later, Sarah and Casey pay their last respects at James's grave.