Rating: 
Summary: Mind-numbingly derivative action drama. Yuk!
Review: What makes this movie different from all the other over-the-top action films of this genre that has preceded this? Absolutely nothing at all. All visual hyperbole and ridiculous cliched macho heroics from the strictly one-dimensional acting 'talents' of Segal. Appeals only to the brain-dead. Wake up people - you're being rinsed and bleached by those greedy Hollywood Titans. And to think, that a New Zealander was complicit in the making of this piece of asinine drivel.
Rating: 
Summary: Great action movie!
Review: Classic Segal. Takes on the bad guys at incredible odds and wins while baking a cake! Great movie!
Rating: 
Summary: The movie is okay
Review: I personally thought the movie was one of those movies with no point to it other than just explosions and bad guys. Still, I would recommend watching this movie because it will keep you in suspense through out most of the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: awesome formula action flick
Review: If you're expecting a mindblowing psychological trip watching this movie, as with most action movies, you'll be disappointed. But this isn't the purpose of the movie. This is a classic example of a good friday night kick-back-and-relax flick. Steven Seagal and his niece are aboard a passenger train which is hijacked by a yet another action-movie renegade government wacko (unfortunately, no action movie since Die Hard has had much as good and as complex a villain as Hans Gruber, portrayed by Alan "Severus Snape" Rickman). You know Seagal will kick all their asses in the end, and that's what you watch the movie for. If you enjoy adrenaline-soaked movies such as "Commando," the Die Hard Trilogy, Rambo, and the first Under Siege, you will definately enjoy this flick. Enjoy, my friends.
Rating:
Summary: Oh, give me a freakin' break...
Review: Being a regular watcher of over-the-top action flicks, I expect to experience many a plausibility-stretching moment when I hit the `play' button on my DVD remote. But in more than a few of `Under Siege 2's sequences the plausibility isn't merely stretched-- it's shattered into a million pieces, ground into dust, and scattered by the wind. The moment that best proves my point is the train collision on a high trestle bridge near the climax. I can accept the hefty Steven Seagal being able to emote only a little better than Dolph Lundgren. I can accept one of the bad guys being able to take a shot of pepper spray to the face without flinching. But I cannot for one second suspend my disbelief to any reasonable degree for the unbelievably ludicrous train crash scene! Trust me on this-- you'll feel the exact same way when you see it for yourself...
On the upside, `Under Siege 2' provided a villain (Eric Bogosian as computer whiz extraordinaire Travis Dane) who was so obnoxious with his lame "wise-@$$"" rejoinders, hackneyed catch phrases and just-plain-d!cky attitude, I could hardly wait to see him get his come-uppance. Preferably in a slow, painful manner... which unfortunately didn't quite happen. Oh well, at least he got what was comin' to him...
`Late
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Review: There are action movies (Schwartzenneger) and then there are Steven Seagal movies. Seagal's movies are nothing fancy. They aren't really there to make you think (although Seagal occasionally explores some right on themes like the problems facing Native Americans and the environment)in a way he's a modern day Billy Jack you might say. But one thing you can always count on with a Steven Seagal movie is even when its bad its kind of good. Generally he has great actors in his films and this one isn't an exception to that rule (i.e. Morris Chestnut, Eric Bogosian) and he always throws in some very likeable characters. And then of course there is his martial arts skills which are pretty top notch considering. This is the sequel to the very successful and superior Under Siege. But this film ain't half bad. I love the train setting. And the shootouts are pretty tight. The only really weak link to this film is the complete implausibility of the plotline. Even for most action films this one is way out there in terms of something that could possibly happen in real life. Watch the film if you're a die hard action film fan. Don't watch it if you're looking for high action art like say Terminator, Robocop, True Lies or anything remotely like that. As I said before there are Schwartzenneger films and there are Steven Seagal movies.
Rating:
Summary: Getting the job done
Review: Go figure: Under Siege 2 was driven purely by contractual obligation. It's also superior to Seagal's previous effort, On Deadly Ground, an abomination he also directed and produced.Being the most successful Seagal film at the time (and subsequently, ever) Under Siege could not get away without a sequel. The producers follow a tried and true method: they just make the same exact movie all over again. Once again, Seagal dispatches a team of highly trained yet bumbling terrorists. Instead of a battleship it's a massive train that gets taken over by terrorists with a master plan to kill a lot of people and make a lot of money. In other words, Die Hard on a train. Eric Bogossian plays yet another insane former CIA resource running amok, having stolen a top-secret satellite thingee that can fire laser beams from space and cause earthquakes. Or something like that. It's up to Seagal, as Casey Ryback (former Navy SEAL who, according to the niece/hostage whom with he's travelling, has 'medals so secret he can't show to them anybody') to bump off the terrorists one by one. Dressed entirely in black in order to hide his expanding waistline, Seagal does it all: shoots, stabs, blows up, punches, kicks and maims a team of bad guys led by Everitt McGill, another arch bad guy who actually wants to fight Seagal because 'he scares me'. Seagal himself gets shot, falls off a train, falls off a cliff, and outruns a speeding train. He even gets in a plug for the first PDA, the Apple Newton, which saves the day while Seagal breaks necks and shoots ears off. I enjoyed this one immensely. Eric Bogossian is perfect as the loony toons leader of the pack, another guy who plans to blow up half of America for a lot of money (not wondering what his money would be worth after that). Seagal utters about 100 words in this film, another direct correlation to the quality of the film. The less Seagal says, the better. The more bones he's breaking, baddies he's shooting, and bombs he's making out of the contents of a wet bar, the better. No preaching, no Zen philosophy. At one point he tells his sidekick, a scared porter hiding in the luggage car, "I'm gonna get through my bag of tricks, and we are going to rescue those hostages." Then he stares into the distance, doing that crazy eyebrow thing in what is supposed to represent grim determination in the face of grave danger. Whatever. The movie is brisk at under 100 minutes, the direction is sharp and economical. The bad guys are evil. They die violently, including a female assasin who gets dropped out of a helicoptor and bounces off the side of a train with a loud, satisfying *thunk*. Fingers get chopped off, necks are broken, people get thrown off moving trains, and Seagal makes a constipated face as he settles into a martial arts stance that suggests he's going to rip his pants. Plot holes? Sure, like who's driving the train after Seagal shoots everyone in the locomotive? Seagal even takes a sniper bullet but ignores it, as if he only deals with serious wounds. ('This ain't being shot.') His black blazer is in great shape at the end despite the fact that he's been dangling off the side of cliffs, crawling on top of trains, getting shot, etc. It's completely acceptable on a slow night. Incidentally, Basil Pouledouris' score is not bad. Also note that Morris Chestnut, playing Seagal's 'sidekick', would go on to play the villain in a later and much worse Seagal outing (Half Past Dead) which is a high or low, depending on your pov.
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