Under Siege Blu-ray offers decent video and mediocre audio in this mediocre Blu-ray release
It's not a job. It's an adventure! Steven Seagal comes aboard and comes on strong, combining humor and heroics in a fireball of a movie. The excitement starts when the USS Missouri welcomes aboard musicians and caterers set to provide entertainment during the famed battleship's last voyage. The visitors throw a party, all right. A war party. Led by a rogue CIA operative (JFK's Tommy Lee Jones) and a turncoat officer (Lethal Weapon's Gary Busey), they're really killer-elite commandos out to hijack the ship's nuclear arsenal. They overpower the crew. Except for one man. "I'm just a cook," that man says. But he's a cook with a recipe for action. He's ex-Navy SEAL and highly decorated combat operative Casey Ryback (Seagal). Relying on his slam-bang martial-arts skills and equipped with enough hardware to single-handedly wage World War III, Ryback turns the Missouri's deck and below deck areas into guerilla combat zones. All hands ready, action fans!
Under Siege is billed on the back of its box as "Die Hard on a boat." There is certainly a
similarity between the films, and it's not a wholly unfounded comparison, but this film never
approaches the level of excellence that the first Die Hard film enjoys. The charm and
charisma of Die Hard's hero and villain are hard to top, and Steven Segal and Tommy Lee
Jones pale in comparison to Bruce Willis and Alan Rickman in delivering believable and memorable
performances. While Die Hard is a bona fide action movie classic, Under Siege is
simply nothing more than solid escapist entertainment. I wouldn't go as far as calling it a "rip-off,"
but it is a film that almost certainly exists as-is because of the influence of Die Hard on
modern cinema action films.
Never point your weapon at anything you don't intend to destroy. Hmmmm....
Built to avenge Pearl Harbor, the U.S.S. Missouri is on her final voyage some fifty years
later, about to be de-commissioned and scrapped. The ship's final voyage is upset when a band of
terrorists led by William Stranix (Tommy Lee Jones, Space Cowboys) and the Missouri's
own executive officer Commander Krill (Gary Busey, Predator 2) take over the ship, kill
the captain, and imprison the crew. Only the ship's cook, Casey Ryback (Steven Seagal,
Executive Decision) stands in their way. Ryback is not any ordinary cook. He's a former
Navy SEAL, and a highly trained and decorated one at that. With the help of a dancer named
Jordan (Erika Eleniak, The Beverly Hillbillies) who was flown in for the captain's surprise
birthday party, Ryback will fight to prevent the terrorists from offloading the ship's nuclear
weapons
arsenal onto a stolen North Korean submarine.
Under Siege is a fine concept for a film. Though not in the least plausible, it's certainly
scripted well enough to make it believable enough to move the story along. The character of
Casey
Ryback is one of the better ones in action movie history. The backstory developed for the
character
is credible and believable, and the angle of former special forces turned cook is very intriguing.
Seagal, in his heyday, was a fine and exciting actor and Under Siege marks the pinnacle
of
the martial artist's career. He's an Arnold Schwarzenegger light who carries himself well,
generally
comes up with decent one liners, and proves physically imposing despite his more diminutive
stature.
It's a shame he's fallen into the direct to video arena because what he once was in films like this
one,
Hard
to Kill and Above the Law represented the actor's, and perhaps action movies, glory
days.
Taken as a whole, I was fairly pleased with Warner's 1.85:1, 1080p presentation of Under
Siege.
Although the print was not in the most pristine of conditions, exhibiting some minor blemishes, it
nevertheless sufficed for a mostly fine presentation. There is a heavy amount of grain in some
scenes, mostly in darker, indoor shots. The image looks highly detailed form beginning to end with
a nice depth and clarity to it that makes it a decent upgrade over the 10+ year old DVD version I
have. Black levels are uninspired and a little off in a few scenes. While clarity and detail are good,
colors are drab, muted, and lifeless with little discernible pop and no vibrancy to speak of, and the
resulting flat and uninspired image proved to be too much for the transfer's strengths to
overcome. This is a
pretty mediocre transfer for a film that deserves better.
The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack that accompanies Under Siege is mostly unremarkable
and dull. It's more or less solid but it lacks any real punch that a film of this nature almost
demands as a vital part of the experience. It's a track that serves its purpose but it never immerses
the viewer in the action, and as a result it was hard to truly get into the spirit of the film.
Technically, there are a few flaws here to strike another point or two off of the final score. Dialogue
sounds fine, but it is a little muted and I had to turn up the volume to a slightly higher level than
normal to hear it clearly. There are some nice discrete effects across the front soundstage. The
sound of the ships engines is always heard underneath the track,
which is a nice effect. Otherwise, there isn't a whole lot of positive praise for this track.
Unfortunately, this soundtrack never passes
above the level of average. This Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is wholly forgettable.
Under Siege is certainly not a film where I expect a plethora of supplements, but something
more than the included 480p theatrical trailer for the film would have been most welcome. There is
bound to be some kind of promotional material out there, but unfortunately it hasn't been
included with this release. I'd welcome a special edition down the road, and perhaps as the Blu-ray
format matures, especially with a now Blu-ray exclusive Warner Brothers, we may very well see one
several years from now.
Under Siege is fine entertainment that offers two solid performances by Steven Seagal and
Tommy Lee Jones. Anyone expecting a film as good as Die Hard will be disappointed, but
rest assured that this is a fine action movie that delivers the goods. Unfortunately, this Blu-ray
presentation is not a major upgrade from the DVD edition. It lacks superior audio and video quality,
and the inclusion of the film's theatrical trailer as the only supplement proved disappointing to
say the least. Under
Siege is recommended as a purchase only if you don't already have it on DVD.
