Under Siege – 30th Anniversary

By Reggie's Take on October 9, 2022

Under Siege sees a former Navy SEAL who must stop a group of mercenaries, who have taken over the U.S. Naval battleship Missouri.

Under Siege, was released to theaters thirty years ago on this date (October 9, 1992) staring Steven Seagal as Chief Petty Officer Casey Ryback, a former Navy SEAL who currently serves as the culinary specialist on the Missouri.

The film was based on an original spec script entitled Dreadnought. Seagal initially had an issue with the character of Ryback being teamed up with a “bimbo” (Erika Eleniak as “Jordan Tate”) who jumps out of a cake being paired up with him, but after revisions to script were made the character gradually shows her intelligence. Andrew Davis who previously directed Seagal in Above the Law, directed Under Siege. Segal only appears in just forty-one minutes of the movie, Tommy Lee Jones who stars as “Strannix,’ the former CIA operative who leads the team of mercenaries has more screen time.

While a majority of the movie takes place on the Naval battleship Missouri the USS Alabama (a museum in Mobile, Alabama) stood in for most of the movie’s sequences involving the Missouri. Footage of the real Missouri sailing in Pearl Harbor and the Pacific Ocean was used for the movie.

The title of “Dreadnought” did not test well with audiences, the studio wanted to change it to “Last to Surrender”, but Seagal hated the title and fought to get it changed and in the end was given the title of “Under Siege.”

Under Siege opened at the box office as the most successful film not to have been screened for any critics prior to its release in theaters at the time. Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey’s performances were praised for their performances as the film’s villains and is just one of three Seagal movies to have a fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned the title of “Die Hard on a battleship” by critics. Under Siege is also the only movie starring Seagal to earn Academy Award nominations, earning two for Best Sound Effects Editing and for Best Sound, loosing in both categories.

A heroic loner takes on a group of nuclear terrorists. Posing as a rock band, the terrorists get themselves hired for a party aboard the USS Missouri, a battleship en route to Pearl Harbor for decommissioning. They plan to steal the ship’s nuclear arsenal but haven’t reckoned on the intervention of the ship’s chef, a decorated former Navy SEAL.