Under Siege
Short description
A US Navy battleship is on its final voyage before decommissioning, with a reduced crew aboard. Under the cover of a birthday celebration for the captain, a group of armed intruders posing as a band seizes control of the ship and its nuclear weapons, planning to blackmail the American government. The conspirators include a disaffected former CIA operative and a corrupt officer serving as their inside man. They believe they have accounted for everything, except the ship's cook, Casey Ryback, a quietly capable veteran whose real background is known only to the captain.
Andrew Davis directed Under Siege, his fifth feature, arriving between The Package and The Fugitive in a run of films he made from the mid-1980s onward. J.F. Lawton wrote the screenplay, and Arnon Milchan, Steven Reuther and Steven Seagal produced. Steven Seagal plays Ryback, with Tommy Lee Jones as the operation's leader, William Strannix, Gary Busey as Commander Krill, Erika Eleniak as Jordan Tate, and Colm Meaney and Damian Chapa among a credited cast of 66.
The film was released in October 1992. Against a budget of about 35 million dollars, it took roughly 157 million dollars worldwide, a strong return. On IMDb it holds 6.5 out of 10 from about 102,000 votes, and on TMDB 6.3 out of 10 from a much smaller group of voters. A critics' rating of 6.5 out of 10, from 30 reviews, sits level with the IMDb figure.
What's left behind the scenes
- The same issue of Playboy magazine appeared in the film "Home Alone" (1990).
- Nine actors who participated in the film moved with director Andrew Davis to his next project, which was the thriller "The Fugitive" (1993).
- Admiral Bates states in the film that Casey Ryback led a special forces team on a mission in Panama and was the only survivor of the group. In reality, during this mission, 4 people were killed and 8 were injured.
- The opening narration is read by Don Marsh, a former news anchor for KTVI/KDNL television.
- The USS Drum submarine played the role of a North Korean submarine.
- Filming took place from March 2nd to May 19th, 1992.
- Steven Seagal appears in this film without his signature ponytail. The US Navy prohibits hair longer than 10 cm.
- At the beginning of the film, a Navy ship is shown – it is indeed the battleship Missouri, which was still in service at the time of filming. Afterwards, the battleship Alabama was used for filming the ship both externally and internally.
- The film's box office success led to delays in filming the third installment of the Die Hard franchise. Initially, it was supposed to be about terrorists taking over a cruise liner, but it was then decided that the similarity to the plot of Andrew Davis's action film would be too obvious, and the plot was rewritten several times until the version that John McTiernan filmed as Die Hard 3: Vengeance (1995) emerged.
- Filming this movie made Steven Seagal a major star, but the actor had already shown arrogance towards his co-workers on set. He exhibited this behavior even during filming with Andrew Davis. During the filming of one scene, for example, he ran over Troy Evans, which made Evans furious, ask to stop filming, and give Seagal a dressing-down, warning him that he wouldn't limit himself to words next time. Seagal tried to apologize, but Evans, a war veteran, refused to accept the apology, and since then, Seagal tried to avoid him.
- At the time of filming, stuntman and actor John Rottger was still serving in the US Navy, and in working on this film, he acted as a technical consultant. He was given a small role as an officer who the terrorist played by Tommy Lee Jones killed first. This was Rottger's first role in a movie, and afterwards he participated as a stunt performer in the making of many films. In addition, he became very friendly with Tommy Lee Jones, and they subsequently worked together repeatedly on various projects.
- The battleship Alabama was used as the legendary battleship Missouri during filming. Since 1964, it has stood as a museum ship on permanent display in Mobile, Alabama. One of the biggest challenges for the film crew was to create the illusion of a moving ship in the open sea. To this end, a 35-meter barge draped in black fabric was created, which, when necessary, blocked the lights and buildings of the large city from entering the frame.
- For the British release, several scenes were slightly cut and re-edited to achieve a milder '15' age rating.
- Harrison Ford watched this film while deciding whether to accept the lead role offered to him in 'The Fugitive'. The actor was so impressed with the work of director Andrew Davis that he immediately accepted the offer.
- Erika Eleniak, who plays 'Miss July 1989' in the film, was actually named Playboy's Playmate of the Month for July 1989.
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