Overview: Action icon Steven Seagal serves up his signature brand of bone-crunching justice in Under Siege, the ultimate 90’s action spectacle from director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive), co-starring Tommy Lee Jones (Black Moon Rising) and Gary Busey (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) at their most unhinged.

When a gang of mercenaries hijack the USS Missouri during its farewell voyage, their plan is simple: steal the ship’s nuclear warheads and hold the world to ransom. But they’ve overlooked one tiny detail - the ship’s cook. Unfortunately for them, Casey Ryback (Seagal) isn’t just any cook... he’s a one-man army with a taste for mayhem.

Packed with explosions, knife fights, and more one-liners than you can count, Under Siege is a gloriously over-the-top blast of 1990’s action, now available in a stunning new director-approved restoration that packs a hell of a punch!

4K Blu-ray Verdict: Seagal’s first four films undoubtedly constitute his best work as far as his fans are concerned. This DIE HARD clone set on a Battleship wins mass appeal based on its premise alone and cements its stature as Best Seagal Movie with very strongly directed and acted scenes involving the villains. There’s a wonderful little cat ’n mouse feel to the film and even manages to stay interesting during the scenes in between the action with Seagal stalking the ship’s lonely corridors and various rooms, encountering various obstacles along the way.

However, there were a few worrying trends beginning to surface when this film was made. Most obviously was Seagal’s weight, which was starting to become a bit of a distraction by this film and even more-so with each concurrent film following this (aside from his commendable attempt to trim down for EXIT WOUNDS). This would be the first film of many to feature his image on the cover heavily digitally doctored to reduce his double-chin.

Additionally this is the first Seagal movie to introduce him working with a team of lackies responsible for doing a lot of his dirty work, presumably as a way to make his one-man-army routine have some semblance of realism. Okay, well, MARKED FOR DEATH had some of this too, but they were at least interesting characters. Unfortunately though, they also serve to steal attention and screen time away from our hero, villains, and quality kills to the point where (as in all his modern films) Seagal is barely even in the thing.

Now, Seagal never was the most approachable or friendly-looking guy but this film is the first time the villains are much more charming and compelling than he is. Given that Jones and Busey are charismatic actors, their characters are actually interesting and off-kilter while Seagal is just an even more one-dimensional version of himself, with all kinds of the shoehorned-in CIA and Special Forces ego-trip background motifs that have been with him since is first film.

The entire movie I was rooting for them to just shoot him and felt a little sad with each terrorist fatality. It introduces the bumbling and annoying sidekick, epitomized by Ms. Eleniak who is utterly useless in this film aside from as comic relief and the all-too-brief birthday cake scene. Seagal unforgivably makes her change in the very next scene, adding to the unlike-ability of his character!

UNDER SIEGE is a fun film, possibly the most fun of all DIE HARD’s clones. It’s got its share of disappointments though and plenty of brilliant villains whose IQ decreases by 100 points whenever they get a chance to kill the hero. At one point, one of them even dies twice if you watch closely, possibly another nod to a Seagal earlier work regarding a villain in MARKED FOR DEATH.

A little known fact is that we have the success of UNDER SIEGE to thank for the existence of Seagal’s insane tour de force in the legendarily awful ON DEADLY GROUND, which was financed to secure his appearance in this film’s inevitable sequel.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS:
Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films approved by director Andrew Davis
4K (2160p) UHD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)
Original lossless stereo audio and a brand new Dolby Atmos mix
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
Brand new audio commentary with director Andrew Davis and writer J.F. Lawton
I’m on a Boat (With a Bomb), a newly filmed interview with director Andrew Davis
One of the Guys, a newly filmed interview with actor Erika Eleniak
A Tight Ship, a newly filmed interview with actor Damian Chapa
The Introvision Files, a newly filmed interview with visual effects supervisor William Mesa
Theatrical trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options
Collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Vern and a serial fiction by Martyn Pedler

Official Purchase Link

www.arrowvideo.com