A Time Capsule of 90s Excess

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MOVIE REVIEW
Under Siege [Limited Edition]
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Genre: Action, Adventure
Year Released: 1992, Arrow Video 4K 2026
Runtime: 1h 43m
Director(s): Andrew Davis
Writer(s): J.F. Lawton
Cast: Steven Seagal, Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey, Erika Eleniak, Patrick O’Neal, Damian Chapa
Where to Watch: available January 6, 2026, pre-order your copy here: www.arrowvideo.com, www.mvdshop.com, or www.amazon.com

RAVING REVIEW: UNDER SIEGE is one of those films whose reputation has solidified less because of its originality and more because of how it executed a familiar formula. Released at the height of early-90s action cinema, it offered the audience all the confidence of a studio picture that knows exactly what it is selling. There are no illusions of reinvention here. The film’s goal is momentum, escalation, and clean delivery, and in those areas, it largely succeeds.

At its core, the film is a textbook siege thriller, transplanting the DIE HARD framework onto a battleship and letting the confined environment do most of the heavy lifting. The USS Missouri functions as a floating maze, full of narrow corridors, engine rooms, and restricted spaces that naturally favor close-quarters combat. This setting plays directly to Steven Seagal’s physical style, which works better here than in many of his other films. The emphasis on tight spaces minimizes his limitations and highlights his strengths, giving the action a grounded urgency that helps sell the fantasy.

Seagal’s Casey Ryback is not a character so much as a position and title. He exists to move through the plot, neutralize threats, and keep the story advancing. There’s little interest in vulnerability, personal growth, or internal conflict. The performance is stoic to the point of stiffness, but in this specific context, that detachment works. The film doesn’t ask the audience to connect with Ryback; it asks them to trust that he’s capable, and then it repeatedly proves that point.

Where UNDER SIEGE genuinely comes alive is in its antagonists. Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey inject the film with a level of unpredictability that elevates the entire experience. Their performances are theatrical, erratic, and unapologetically larger-than-life. Jones, in particular, plays his role with a gleeful menace that contrasts sharply with Seagal’s reserved demeanor. This imbalance is intentional and effective. The villains are meant to be memorable, and they succeed precisely because they seem to be enjoying themselves more than anyone else on screen.

Andrew Davis’ direction is a major reason the film holds together as well as it does. He approaches the material with professionalism rather than irony, staging action sequences with intent and maintaining awareness throughout. The film never loses track of where characters are in relation to one another, which keeps the tension intact even when the plot becomes increasingly implausible. Davis’ experience with action filmmaking shows in the pacing and structure, and it’s no accident that this project led directly to more prestigious work afterward.

That said, the supporting characters outside the villains are thin at best, often existing only to react or assist when convenient. Erika Eleniak’s role, while iconic in a purely cultural sense, feels underwritten and tonally out of sync with the rest of the film. The script struggles to justify her continued presence once the initial novelty wears off, and her arc lacks logic. It’s one of the few areas where the film’s efficiency turns into laziness.

Narratively, the film doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises. Each moment lands where expected, each confrontation escalates according to conventions, and the resolution arrives exactly on schedule. This predictability isn’t fatal, but it does cap the film’s ceiling. UNDER SIEGE is entertaining, not absorbing; satisfying, not memorable in a deeper sense. It functions best as a well-oiled machine rather than a statement piece.

What ultimately keeps the film in positive territory is its commitment to the production. The action is on point, the stakes are clearly defined, and the film never overstays its welcome. There’s a sincerity to how it presents its absurdity, and that sincerity is key. UNDER SIEGE doesn’t apologize for its excess. It leans into it, trusting that spectacle and momentum are enough.

The film plays as a time capsule of a very specific era of studio action filmmaking. It reflects a period when star power (and this was packed with it) could carry straightforward premises and when practical staging mattered more than digital stages. While it doesn’t transcend its genre, it represents one of the stronger executions within it.

UNDER SIEGE isn’t great cinema, but it’s competent, fun, and occasionally inspired in its casting and direction. It’s a rare Steven Seagal film in which the supporting talent and technical polish elevate the material beyond the limitations of its lead. That alone earns it a solid, respectable place in the action canon, even if it never aims higher than that.

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[photo courtesy of ARROW VIDEO, MVD ENTERTAINMENT]

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