The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
#1
DVD Talk Gold Edition
Thread Starter
The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
If anyone who was an action hero in the 90's is a walking punchline it's him. He first gained a lot of notoriety in the Andrew Davis directed Above the Law. This was a pretty unique movie because it showed probably the most realistic fight scenes in a movie at that point and time. Lots of close infighting, and punches. He then followed that up with the not as interesting Hard To Kill. But once again his Akido skills showed up very well on screen. After that came Marked for Death and Out for Justice which while entertaining were just more of the same.
His big break came in Under Siege which if he played his cards right would have made him huge. Man, did he not play his cards right. After Under Siege he went on to direct On Deadly Ground which was not well received by anyone. Under Siege 2 was garbage and within six years of his biggest hit he was doing straight to video movies.
He had one more chance to be relevant again with Exit Wounds. It was a hit movie due to some effective marketing. He then immediately blew it with Half Past Dead where he came in overweight and unmotivated. Since then he's done nothing bust straight to DVD movies that keep getting worse and worse in quality. Ultimately his ego cost him a chance being one of the biggest stars of the 90's.
My 5 favorite Seagal movies:
1. Under Siege: Probably the best of the Die Hard knock offs. Well directed, Tommy Lee is a hoot and Erika Eleniak is hot even with the short hair.
2. Machete: He has a fun role as a bad guy in it.
3. Exit Wounds: Is more entertaining than it has any right to be. Plus it's fun watching him do harness work even though he isn't able to do it well and looks like he's trying not to die.
4. Marked for Death: Fun movie about him versus a voodoo gang.
His big break came in Under Siege which if he played his cards right would have made him huge. Man, did he not play his cards right. After Under Siege he went on to direct On Deadly Ground which was not well received by anyone. Under Siege 2 was garbage and within six years of his biggest hit he was doing straight to video movies.
He had one more chance to be relevant again with Exit Wounds. It was a hit movie due to some effective marketing. He then immediately blew it with Half Past Dead where he came in overweight and unmotivated. Since then he's done nothing bust straight to DVD movies that keep getting worse and worse in quality. Ultimately his ego cost him a chance being one of the biggest stars of the 90's.
My 5 favorite Seagal movies:
1. Under Siege: Probably the best of the Die Hard knock offs. Well directed, Tommy Lee is a hoot and Erika Eleniak is hot even with the short hair.
2. Machete: He has a fun role as a bad guy in it.
3. Exit Wounds: Is more entertaining than it has any right to be. Plus it's fun watching him do harness work even though he isn't able to do it well and looks like he's trying not to die.
4. Marked for Death: Fun movie about him versus a voodoo gang.
#3
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
Being a Chicago native I'll always like Above the Law. In fact that along with other Davis directed films The Fugitive and The Package captured the feel of the city well IMO.
I can still watch ATL and Under Siege today and enjoy them from a non-cynical perspective. Hard to Kill and Marked For Death are fun but didn't age well for me. Under Siege is a classic elevated by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. After that it's all crap to me.
I can still watch ATL and Under Siege today and enjoy them from a non-cynical perspective. Hard to Kill and Marked For Death are fun but didn't age well for me. Under Siege is a classic elevated by Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. After that it's all crap to me.
#6
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
Those first 5 Seagal movies are all still a lot of fun, with Under Siege obviously being the best of the bunch. As it turns out, he's a total wacko and nothing after Under Siege even merits discussion.
#11
Member
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
I know his role was small, but I really liked him in Executive Decision. I don't think I've seen him in anything since except for that reality show he did a while back.
#12
DVD Talk Hero
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
I liked Above the Law, and I thought that Under Siege was great. But I haven't seen either of them since they were new.
According to IMDB, Seagal is producing six movies in 2016. He was already a producer in 1988 for Above the Law. I think that he's become what he wanted.
According to IMDB, Seagal is producing six movies in 2016. He was already a producer in 1988 for Above the Law. I think that he's become what he wanted.
#13
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
The only Steven Seagal movies I own are Above the Law, Hard to Kill, Marked for Death and Under Siege, they're the only ones I want or need.
#14
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
Fact, Steven Seagal hasn't been in a good movie in over a decade. Another fact, a coworker paid a good chunk of change to go to his compound to test for his black belt in the presence of Steven Seagal, and I thought that was fucking bananas for multiple reasons.
#15
DVD Talk God
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
The last decent Seagal film was Exit Wounds. At least that had a decent budget and wasn't shot in Eastern Europe.
I've quite a few of his direct to video releases and most of them are super low budget ($10M budget or less) and it shows. None of them are good per se, but a few of them make okay background noise.
I've quite a few of his direct to video releases and most of them are super low budget ($10M budget or less) and it shows. None of them are good per se, but a few of them make okay background noise.
#16
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Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
I like how funny he is cuz he's a shit action actor even by shitty action actors standards....
Never liked him.
Never liked him.
Last edited by Solid Snake; 09-13-16 at 09:49 PM.
#17
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
His very first movies were the best. Skinny Segal was the best. Fat segal not so much.
Marked for Death
Out for justice
Above the law
Hard to kill
Under Siege
Marked for Death
Out for justice
Above the law
Hard to kill
Under Siege
#19
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Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
He'd to not be a fat fuck for that to happen. Cuz the fat fuck that he is now sure as hell can't move worth shit w/o the editor.
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#20
#22
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
I
His big break came in Under Siege which if he played his cards right would have made him huge. Man, did he not play his cards right. After Under Siege he went on to direct On Deadly Ground which was not well received by anyone. Under Siege 2 was garbage and within six years of his biggest hit he was doing straight to video movies.
His big break came in Under Siege which if he played his cards right would have made him huge. Man, did he not play his cards right. After Under Siege he went on to direct On Deadly Ground which was not well received by anyone. Under Siege 2 was garbage and within six years of his biggest hit he was doing straight to video movies.
The 3rd of my three favorites is ABOVE THE LAW, for all the reasons others cited. I also like EXIT WOUNDS, which had a very lively supporting cast, including Michael Jai White in one of his best roles.
Tangential note about ABOVE THE LAW. The clerk at my local GNC is named Nico because when his mother was pregnant with him she went to see ABOVE THE LAW.
#23
DVD Talk Legend
#24
DVD Talk Legend
Re: The Steven Seagal appreciaton thread
A handful of years ago, my buddy and I would have a Shitty Seagal Sunday movie viewing at work. Netflix had a bunch of his movies available to stream, maybe they still do.
Agreed with others on the general consensus of which where his best movies and that he probably could have gone somewhere but didn't. While I'll at least check out the synopsis of movies from other past-their-time action stars, I don't even bother with Seagal.
Agreed with others on the general consensus of which where his best movies and that he probably could have gone somewhere but didn't. While I'll at least check out the synopsis of movies from other past-their-time action stars, I don't even bother with Seagal.
#25