Happy 20th Anniversary, Under Siege 2

It is now 20 years since Steven Seagal appeared in the manly action sequel Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.  The movie was released way back on the 14th July 1995. Under Siege 2 was probably Steven Seagal’s last ‘great’ movie.  It gathered over $100,000,000 at the box office, which was no slouch number back in the day.

Ironically, this was around the same time Jean Claude Van Damme’s career peaked and did not really go to the same heights afterwards.  And for pretty much the same reasons.  Seagal’s big ticket was Warner Bros.  But the thing that torpedoed his ship was his ego.  They’d contractually oblige his final movie years later, Exit Wounds, but his antics on set finished him.  He was too difficult to work with.

Jean Claude Van Damme, on the other hand, was with Universal.  They liked him and his potential, but when it came to negotiating a massive multi-picture deal that would have him lead the action genre up to 2000 and beyond (and, some say, succeed Stallone/Schwarzenegger), Van Damme demanded more money than they were willing to offer… which was substantial.

Anyway, let’s tip our hats to Under Siege 2.  An underrated movie.  Who cares if the snobs shat on it.  It had balls of steel and it has aged very well.  They just don’t write lines like ‘Fuck, you ruined my coat!’ anymore…