On Deadly Ground ** (1994, Steven Seagal, Michael Caine, Joan Chen) – Classic Movie Review 9118

Director Steven Seagal’s 1994 action adventure thriller On Deadly Ground has the unusual idea of pairing Steven Seagal with Michael Caine.

Steven Seagal lumbers along as Forrest Taft, a mystical martial artist environmental worker, who specialises in putting out fires at an oil rig run by villainous oil corporation mogul Michael Jennings (Michael Caine), who is using various ruthless thugs like MacGruder (John C McGinley) to protect his insidious plans to spoil the Alaskan landscape and risk the lifestyle of the native Inuit people. Taft escapes with his life when Jennings tries to blow him to bits but is rescued by beautiful Indian activist Masu (Joan Chen) and they join forces to put Jennings out of business forever.

Seagal’s directorial debut is an inept action thriller with cardboard performances from all the actors playing the bad guys, who continually do stupid things to get killed, and an insanely death defying turn from Seagal, who walks away from every bang, bullet and bad man with inhuman ability, though his acting ability is touchingly human.

However, Seagal does perform the stunts well, and the movie is professional, pacey and sharply edited, with Basil Poledouris’s thumping score driving it along, and the Alaskan scenery is gorgeous.

What’s on more deadly ground though, Ed Horowitz and Robin U Russin’s screenplay or Seagal’s five-minute climactic lecture on the state of the planet?

Also in the cast are R Lee Ermey, Shari Shattuck, Billy Bob Thornton, Richard Hamilton, Chief Irvin Brink, Elsie Pistolhead, John Trudell, Mike Starr, Sven-Ole Thorsen, Jules Desjarlais, Moses Wassillie, Nanny Kegak, Irvin Kershner, Kenji, Todd Beadle, Ivan Kane, and David John Cervantes.

On Deadly Ground is directed by Steven Seagal, runs 102 minutes, is made by Seagal/Nasso Productions and Warner Bros, is released by Warner Bros, is written by Ed Horowitz and Robin U Russin, is shot by Ric Waite, is produced by Steven Seagal, Julius C Nasso and A Kitman Ho, is scored by Basil Poledouris, and is designed by William Ladd Skinner.

By 2019, it is Seagal’s sole directorial effort.

With a fairly high budget of $50,000,000, it took $38,590,458 in the US.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 9118

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