Top 5 Steven Seagal Movies
Ok, so most people probably can't name ONE top five Steven Seagal film (especially if you're not a dude), but I'm a sucker for ridiculous action movies. And if you want a ridiculous action movie, then a Seagal film is exactly what you're looking for. Unfortunately, I'm of the opinion that Seagal really hasn't done anything "good" since the mid nineties -- not that it hasn't stopped him from filming one, two, even THREE films a year for the past decade. You can only recycle the same character so many times, and it's a good thing to "grow" as an actor and try on a different persona every once in a while... especially when you're "growing" as a person... so to speak. But hey, if he believes he can still pull off the role of a semi-retired [circle one: Explosives Expert, Hit Man, Secret Agent, Commando] from the [circle one: Navy Seals, Special Forces, CIA, NSA, Russian Mob, Ultra Secret Government Organization] that is still the best at what he does/did, despite recently hitting the 60 year old mark and having tipped the 350lb mark somewhere around the time Lady Marmalade and Enrique Inglesias' Hero were the only things playing on the radio... well, you just go for it, man. I'll close one eye, squint with the other, and pretend to suspend disbelief long enough to get through the entire film.
1. Under Siege: My first exposure to Steven Seagal was probably his best film. (Of course the down side to that is that I've been more and more disappointed with his work ever since.) The good thing about this movie is that we essentially have a washed up, ill-tempered commando that pulls off a Die Hard scenario where there is simply no way to get away, and bad guys all around. His sidekick is a playmate (fun fact: Erika Eleniak, in addition to being an actual Playboy Playmate, was the "pretty girl" in E.T., although she was uncredited for her role), and he gets to do all kinds of cool aikido slap fighting, which is also fun. Throw in some decent one liners, a cool setting, and some awesome veteran actors to play off of (Tommy Lee Jones, and Gary Busey), and it was no wonder that this (essentially) B movie was a hit. Good fun, and still a blast to sit through.
2. Above the Law: This is the first movie that Seagal starred in and instantly launched him into action movie stardom. A corny little flick, to be honest (as 90%+ eighties films are), this is a cop revenge film where Seagal goes off the reservation to take down some gangsters -- all of which are, of course, white and wearing the same stupid looking blazers ALL action movie bad guys wore in the eighties. Seagal's character was the unholy trifecta of cop, CIA operative and former Special Forces Vietnam-vet -- and he has essentially played this same damn role in every movie ever since! This was a fun film, and Seagal was an instant action/martial arts film hit. If you want to see Seagal in a movie where he actually looks like he can perform deadly martial arts, then this is the film to see (although he was still in his late thirties at the time). It probably helped that there were plenty of film veterans in this one as well including rising star, Sharon Stone, and declining star, Pam Grier.
3. Under Siege 2: Not as good as the first one, but still good fun. Interestingly, Seagal plays off of two young actors in this film that would go on to have impressive acting careers of their own several years down the road: Katherine Heigl and Morris Chestnut; as well as several B-movie/television-bit-part veterans: Eric Bogosian, Everett McGill, Brenda Bakke, and David Gianopoulos to name a few. Unfortunately for Siege 2, the cat and mouse scenario is not nearly as convincing (?) as the one in the first. Like the ridiculousness of Passenger 57, Segal is essentially hiding from armed gunmen in a long narrow tube. Why couldn't a squad of 20 people manage to check all the baggage compartments in all of the cars is totally beyond me, but apparently there are just as many believable places for a person to hide in a moving train as there are in a flying 747. (Whatever...) Unfortunately for Seagal, this was the last film he starred in that would make it to the movie theaters until 2010's Machete, as all of his work thereafter went straight to video. Technically he received top billing in Executive Decision that released a year later, but his role was essentially a cameo -- it was really a Kurt Russell vehicle, not a Steven Seagal film.
4. Out for Justice: I have always kind of thought of this movie as Above the Law II. Seagal plays pretty much the same guy in this one, albeit in a slightly different scenario. There isn't much more to say about it than that, unfortunately, except that there were a few other names in this movie you might recognize, including bit role favorite William Forsythe, Jerry Orbach (playing essentially the same character as he did in Law and Order), and the ever demure and eternal bad girl, Gina Gershon. Still a fun movie on a short list of "good" Seagal films.
5. On Deadly Ground: Although I have always wondered what on earth possessed Michael Cain to star opposite Seagal in this flick, I have to say that he added an element of credibility that would otherwise have dumped this film into the same preachy wastebasket as many of Seagal's films tumble into (I'm thinking of The Patriot and his ultra forced scene of soldiers in full MOPP gear picking flowers on a hillside in particular). The message of this film isn't just "save mother earth," but Seagal even ends the film with a point blank, in your face, 'news conference' where he says just that: oil is bad, let's save the planet. It's not that I necessarily disagree with his message, but it is just hit SO HARD in this film, that it often feels like a public service message with an action film squeezed in the middle. The pedantic theme aside, there is still good fun in this film as we see Seagal run around the film in a native-esque leather jacket (with full fringe and bead work), cracking skulls, and shooting his infamous Colt 1911 at better armed bad guys as he becomes the hero of the native Alaskan people... despite not being an indigenous Alaskan native. (Incidentally, Seagal's Alaskan native love interest in the film, the character Masu, isn't a native Alaskan either; she's the famous veteran Chinese actress, Joan Chen!) Yes, it's insulting to the native people of Alaska; yes, it is a pedantic "message" piece rather than a credible film; yes, the over-the-top violence coupled with it's poorly delivered message makes bona fide environmentalists a little antsy; and yes, it's preachy nature is probably why most of his films thereafter went straight to video; but dammit, I still enjoyed it! I just can't explain it, but I still enjoyed this movie. It's a moral train wreck, but still worth a viewing, in my opinion. Other than Michael Cain, this film also has notable appearances by Billy Bob Thornton, R. Lee Earmey and John C. McGinley (you know, the mean doctor from Scrubs).
