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On Deadly Ground (1994)
Rate:
5
Viewed:
2/13, 5/19
2/13:
Say what you want about Steven Seagal, but he kicks ass.
Many movies that he appeared during the 90's are watchable and entertaining. On Deadly Ground is one of them.
Steven Seagal directs, stars, and makes a statement about the environment. And guess what? It's still relevant as ever.
The ending has one of the best editing I've seen when it comes to making a gist of all what had transpired during the film.
Yeah, the movie is Billy Jack while borrowing a lot of elements from
Above the Law including an obligatory bar scene where Steven Seagal does his thing to prove his
manhood.
On the other hand, I thought Michael Caine learned his lesson in Jaws: The Revenge, yet
he's unintentionally funny as CEO Michael Jennings. What a bad man he is.
All in all, On Deadly Ground may be misguided in terms of protecting the environment, but it works out in the end.
5/19:
The best and funniest part of On Deadly Ground is Michael Caine.
His CEO character is such a total jerk that he absolutely loves it. My favorite is the commercial bit when Michael Caine
was all nice and caring and then changed his personality once the camera went offline. It's hard to believe this, but the movie
predicted everything about the BP Oil Spill. Even the fired CEO acted like Michael Jennings.
As for Steven Seagal, he's okay. It's not his finest hour. Reminding me of the misguided messages in
Billy Jack,
Steven Seagal claims to be for the environment yet blows the shit out of everything across the Alaskan frontier.
At least, he manages to save some face by ending the film with a nice video, which was originally going to be
forty minutes long but got thankfully pared down to seven minutes, about the effects of environmental pollution. I guess
the only aspect that's missing is the Crying Indian.
All in all, Michael Caine, who hated filming in Alaska, found On Deadly Ground an apt title.