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On Deadly Ground | Year: 1994 Directed: - Steven Seagal Actors/Actresses: - Steven Seagal - Michael Caine - Joan Chen On Boring Ground: Aikido & the Environment Don't Mix Steven Seagal made his mark in action movies that allowed him to brutalize a non-stop series of oafish thugs with his trademarked open-handed bashes to their collective noses. Early in his career, he was able to capitalize on his height, his surly disposition, and his martial arts to establish his reputation as a serious action star. But with ON DEADLY GROUND, Seagal seems to be taking the same path that Tom Loughlin took a few decades ago. Loughlin, you remember, was an up and coming hapkido star who took a wrong turn in his Billy Jack spiritual message movies. His career flattened out, and Seagal's own career path has not, even now, recovered from the debacle that is this film. Seagal goes against the big oil companies whose leader is a sadly miscast Michael Caine, who ought to have known better than to sign on the dotted line for this one. Seagal spends most of the latter part of the film in an oilrig, planting bombs as he goes. They go off, not leaving him much of an opportunity to manhandle the usual bunch of flunkeys. Fans of fight scenes will surely be disappointed with ON DEADLY GROUND since these scenes are few, far between, and generally uninteresting. Fans of a tightly plotted drama will also be disappointed since the climax is hardly a thrilling one. Finally, the last few minutes of the film is a laughable surrender to the politically correct Green Peace fringe who surely plunked down his salary. What ON DEADLY GROUND proves is that the 'deadly' of the title refers more to a sense of boredom than to a sense of danger. Suggestion to Mr. Seagal: go back to punching out hoods and leave the speechifying to Tom Loughlin. Better than Marked for Death Without a doubt, On Deadly Ground is Steven Seagal's funniest movie to date. Of course, with his directorial debut, Seagal decided to make a movie completely about his political views. As a result, we find ourselves facing not only a bad action flick, but also a lecture about saving the environment at the end of the movie. Other memorable moments include the famous barfight scene where Seagal beats an oil worker beyond recognition, then poses the philosophical question, "What does it take to change the essence of a man?" After recieving the correct response of "time" from his adversary, Steven pats his new friend on the shoulder and moves on to the next scene. What did I learn from watching this movie? Explosions will extinguish fires, oil rigs would constantly be on fire if it weren't for a special device called a "preventer," and that Steven Seagal can actually make a movie that is funnier than Marked for Death using his own directing talent. My problem with Seagal... 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? Buy On Deadly Ground at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on On Deadly Ground Search with the Priority Search Engine on On Deadly Ground This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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