Runtime: 103 minutes
Directed by: Andrew Davis
Starring: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak, Colm Meaney
From: Warner Bros.
The only time you'll see me use the term fo'c'sle (that's usually the living quarters for the crew on a ship).
This was a movie I just finished watching on Netflix; in fact, I went to Netflix early in the afternoon to try and find something to watch. This popped up and as I hadn't seen this in MANY years, it was time for me to finally talk about Steven Seagal here. Way back in the past I have put up brief reviews of a few Seagal movies. Steven's real life behavior (whether it be political or his alleged behavior towards multiple women) and how increasingly lazy-& bad-his films in the 21st century have been... this is why I haven't gone back to do longer reviews or seen anything not talked about here beforehand. I won't otherwise be going in depth on his real life issues (or make cheap wisecracks concerning his increasing mass; why do that when there are more valid criticisms of him?) as I discuss something that had a far bigger budget than Seagal's first four movies.
The movie does strain credulity... not only does Seagal play a badass Navy cook named Casey F'ing Ryback (that phrase is the main thing I remember about this movie's sequel), but he is allowed to be disrespectful to his superiors, not follow orders or wear appropriate clothing while on duty. I excused that and went along for the ride as Seagal had to be the hero on the USS Missouri when both Gary Busey and Tommy Lee Jones-sporting a tremendous look-take it over for means of revenge against the United States government.
This movie has assets that help make it rise above the typical Seagal work from the first decade or so of his career. The fact that he is off-screen for long stretches while time is spent with the villains... to be frank, that helps in the acting department. Having a talented director like Andrew Davis definitely helps, along with having both Busey and Jones (right before he became a big deal to the public with Davis' next film, The Fugitive). The rest of the cast has some other familiar faces: Colm Meaney, Patrick O'Neal, George Chung, Nick Mancuso, Damian Chapa, Bernie Casey, and providing a memorable bit of on-screen nudity that I know many others around my age recall fondly, Erika Eleniak. This Die Hard clone is a goofy yet unforgettable piece of slick entertainment w/ big stakes that has exciting action and a story that always kept my attention.
I could write paragraphs about how Old Steven is a fascinating character but there is all those bad things he's apparently done and if someone would want to avoid anything he's ever done because they think he's trash... I get it. However, I am still able to see most of the movies he did when it seemed like he was trying, even if some of those are also rather lousy. It was a relief that it still thrilled me after all of this time.
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