Post your review of On Deadly Ground here.
Originally posted by METROdee
Great action scenes. Joan Chen was a great co-star w/ Steve. I nearly died laughing at the Michael Caine "Moose commercial!!" ("We're protecting this little guy."--on camera; "Get that sticking f**ker out of my sight!!"--off camera)
I wish Steve hadn't directed this one (they let him because it followed Under Seige, so he had clout). The environment propaganda at the end turned a lot of people off, NOT because of the MESSAGE, but the amateurish way Seagal handled it (like w/ the tacky eagle flying around).
Finally, Steve indulged his ego too much, and that turned me off. Like the bar-room fight scene--where he protects the poor Indian guy. When Steve hit the white, rascist troublemaker, the camera pans over the crowd of wowed "little people" who go "OOOOOOOOHHHHHH" and "AAAAAHHHHHH!!" Steve doesn't need such tacky build-up. He's great enough just being plain ole Steve...
Webmaster FU&D! said:Sadly, Seagal's first directorial effort is also his worst movie (at least it was until The Patriot and the recent straight-to-video disasters came along). As Forrest Taft, Seagal tries to save the environment and crack skulls when he should just be cracking skulls. Alas, the fights are few and far between. We get a pretty decent bar fight up front to get us in the mood.
There is also a firefight at Seagal's friend's house where Steven gets to show off his new MP5 skills he picked up in Under Siege. It seems he didn't pick up too many skills, however, as the gun jams and Steven is unable to clear the receiver. This is good news for us though as we get to watch him dispatch a few bad guys the old fashioned way!
At the end of the movie, Seagal assaults a drilling station and we get some more violence but the whole effect is marred by the environmental subplot, the touchy-feely sessions with American Indians and the ridiculous speech at the end.
A friend of mine hates Seagal, and bases that hate on one movie alone: On Deadly Ground. Let me put it this way, if On Deadly Ground was the first Seagal movie I saw, I wouldn't stick around to see the others either. I've even taped over my copy of the movie. That's how bad it is. The problem with hating this movie, however, is that Seagal directed it himself. Let us just put it down to too many Chinese potions (powdered deer penis anyone?) and leave it at that. The Great One is capable of much better movies, as he later proved. Do I even have to tell you how many guns this movie got? Well, it's not guns, it's gun. That's right, one lousy gun. Don't see this movie and keep your Seagal-doubting friends from seeing it too.
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