Rating: 
Summary: My problem with Seagal...
Review: Many have tried to compare Steven Seagal with Jean-Claude Van Damme, so I think I'll join them. I've only seen maybe four Seagal films, but they all were the same to me. They all had the same dialogue, pretty much the same villains, and all of them involved Seagal confronting someone in a bar. Van Damme's films usually don't feel the same. They are all somewhat different and stand out among themselves. Granted, they aren't artful pieces of cinema, but at least you can tell which is which. "On Deadly Ground" is Steven Seagal's directorial debut and, as a first attempt at directing action, I can't really complain that much. The choreography isn't as bad as usual and some of the explosions are pretty cool. But the story is mind-numbingly awful along with the acting. And when I say the acting is bad, I mean it's worse than the usual dumb action movie. Sadly, the things that make "On Deadly Ground" a bad movie are the same reasons that make Seagal's other movies such bores. The story and pace are so painfully predictable and the lesson to be learned from this film is weak and pretty lame. Does Seagal have fans anymore? I know Van Damme has a cult following, but does Seagal? I'd be interested to know. So far everone I've talked to hates the man. So why are his movies in theaters and Jean-Claude's direct-to-video?
Rating: 
Summary: Great picture, in a roundabout manner.
Review: Michael Caine and the rest of the stars really make this movie shine; unfortunately Seagal is still an unconvincing actor. Had it not been for the manner in which the movie ends, I'd actually be convinced the movie was written with the environment in mind.
Rating: 
Summary: A foray into environmental punch-up politics
Review: Most movies of this genre do not contain a worthwhile message but this one certainly does - even if it is conveyed in a somewhat shlocky manner. The message is that the oil companies still rule our lives and spoil our environment, with a further emphasis on the idea that alternative technolgies to oil are available in many instances but surpressed by the powers-that-be. Of course Steve needs to punch up the roughnecks, drown an oil executive in sea sludge and blow up the world's largest oil rig to make this point - but of course that is part of the fun! (BTW the rig demolition is designed to 'implode' instead of explode to avoid an oil spill.) Lots of good pyrotechnics and some good casting. Caine plays an excellent slimy executive although he needed to revert to some cockney 'slimy limey' style to get there - still very effective. Not to mention some absolutely beautiful camera work and cinematography in the most beautiful place in the world. I also loved the punch-up in the bar: 'Don't F--- with the oil workers!' will get you nowhere with Steve... and btw be nice to eskimos. Highly recommended as entertainment and may even convince a teenager or two to care a little more about the environment. One last thing is that the film is very timely with one of the presidential candidates (guess which one) saying that it might be time to do some environmentally sound drilling in Alaska to ease the present oil crunch.
Rating:
Summary: The producers should have just burned their money
Review: Not even multi-academy award winner Michael Caine could save this movie from Steven Seagals acting deficiencies. Who ever heard of the last name Seagal, in reality it was little Stevie Segal getting kicked around everyday on the playground. You can look at him in this movie and tell that he knows the real meaning of a swirlie. The plot, there wasn't one. The action was formulaic. Seagals acting, well it could have been worse, it could have been Van Damme. The movie does, however, answers one question. If you've ever wondered if akido was good exercise, just check out the gut on Seagal.
Rating:
Summary: Director Seagal treads on thin ice.
Review: On Deadly Ground tries to deliver a message about the environment in between the moments that people pay to see Steven Seagal movies for, him busting noses and snapping limbs. But director/star Seagal does not present the message strongly enough, the violent bloodshed drowning out his good intentions. The movie does deliver a great deal of action, though it lays the spiritual mumbo jumbo down a bit thick in the middle. Also the story gives no logical reason for Forrest Taft's violent backlash in the second half of the movie. He is a private citizen, not a government or police agent, so his actions, no matter how 'justified' in the film's philosophy, or nothing more than terrorism. On Deadly Ground is a fairly entertaining action movie, but a complete artistic failure.
Rating:
Summary: laughably horrible
Review: One of the wirst movies ever made. That should be a simple enough sentence for Segal fans to follow.
Rating:
Summary: Trite, boring action movie
Review: Save yourself a rental fee and pass up this movie. The martial arts are poor to non-existent, and the required bar fight scene is truly hilarious, especially when an overweight and out-of-shape Seagal leaps onto a table to fight one of the bad guys. It is a true miracle of modern carpentry that the small table doesn't collapse from Mr. Seagal's ponderous bodyweight. The "politics" behind this movie are simplistic, and hopelessly outdated, with oil company tycoons as the villains and the barely literate Seagal delivering a speech at the end of the movie that, once again, is unintentionally hilarious in its absurdity.
Rating:
Summary: Seagal to World: "Love nature, or I'll kill you."
Review: Seagal or Van Damme?
That's like asking, spastic colon or dysentery?
Unless you're 9 years old, this is a worthless debate. They both appear in terrible movies. Van Damme flexes and kicks people in the head (tossing in the splits at some point) and Seagal squints, runs like a girl, and fights dozens of bad guys who move with the reflexes of a tackling dummy.
What really singles out ON DEADLY GROUND is that a real actor, in this case Michael Caine, appears in the film. Here's a new debate for everyone: which paycheck made Michael Caine feel the most "dirty": ON DEADLY GROUND or JAWS: THE REVENGE?
The one truly inspired moment of this film comes at the very end. After decimating an army of thugs and blowing up an Alaskan oil refinery that resembles an earthbound version of the Death Star, Seagal appears at a press conference to lecture us ON SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT! No kidding. He single-handedly destroys our 49th state and then warns us about the threat of pollution.
If you really want to see an impassioned anti-pollution film featuring a hero of limited acting range, then seek out GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER. The Big G was onto the environment message years before Seagal started polluting the screen.
Rating:
Summary: Seagal to World: "Love nature, or I'll kill you."
Review: Seagal or Van Damme?
That's like asking, spastic colon or dysentery?
Unless you're 9 years old, this is worthless debate. They both appear in terrible movies. Van Damme flexes and kicks people in the head (tossing in the splits at some point) and Seagal squints, runs like a girl, and fights dozens of bad guys who move with the reflexes of a tackling dummy.What really singles out ON DEADLY GROUND is that a real actor, in this case Michael Caine, appears in the film. Here's a new debate for everyone: which check made Michael Caine feel the most "dirty": ON DEADLY GROUND or JAWS: THE REVENGE? The one truly inspired moment of this film comes at the very end. After decimating an army of thugs and blowing up an Alaskan oil refinery that resembles an earthbound version of the Death Star, Seagal appears at a press conference to lecture us ON SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT! No kidding. He single-handedly destroys our 49th state and then warns us about the threat of pollution. If you really want to see an impassioned anti-pollution film featuring a hero of limitid acting range, then seek out GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER. The Big G was onto the environment message years before Seagal started polluting the screen.
Rating: 
Summary: Promising scenario but awful ending
Review: Steven Seagal here plays an Eskimo who fights a Texas oil baron destroying the Alaskan wilderness to build a pipeline. The action scenes where he fights the baron's henchmen were OK, but what wrecked this film was Michael Caine. This fine Brit actor who made some real classics in the 1960s, and some cheesy movies like THE SWARM in the 1970s is totally miscast and cannot put on a Texan accent even if it killed him. I have heard more convincing fake accents on SOUTH PARK, and even Boomhauer in KING OF THE HILL sounds more coherent! But I digress. Anyway, while I laughed at Caine, thinking OH MY GOD, Seagal continued to punch and kick his way through more action scenes, causing numerous explosions in the forest and destroying an oil drilling platform in specatular fashion. And what does he do at the end? Give a patronising, condescending, tree-hugger hippy speech that panders to the mentality of those anti-capitalist morons who trashed war memorials in London recently. And when he has put the environment at risk with his antics as well! Dumb, dumb, dumb, Seagal's career was almost finished in my view, until he made UNDER SIEGE 1 and 2, and the excellent THE PATRIOT, which is far better than this loony leftie-inspired nonsense. Turkey of the Year 1993, with the possible exception of the equally chronic SUPER MARIO BROTHERS.
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