Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995)

This bastard son of DIE HARD-- and there are so very *many* of them!-- 
has a playful awfulness that's missing from the other summer 
blockbusters.  Master thespian and martial-arts expert Steven Seagal 
returns to the role of Casey Ryback, the former Navy SEAL turned 
civilian chef.  This time, he's taking a train ride through the Rockies.  
Why?  Because he doesn't want to fly, or something like that.  (His 
parents just died in a plane crash.  Or was it his brother?  Who can 
tell!?) 

Along for the trip is his pretty niece (Katherine Heigl), who gets to 
spar with her uncle for all of fifteen minutes before she and the rest 
of the passengers are taken into custody by a band of terrorists.  They 
chose this train because it's there, and because it's such a great way 
to transport a satellite uplink that will let Eric Bogosian (as the 
villain, if you can buy *that* one!) control a satellite with truly 
devastating power.  Scary.

Meanwhile, Ryback is hiding in one of the compartments.  He's a master 
of guns, knives, and a mysterious form of yoga that can hold all facial 
muscles immobile, even during dramatic close-ups.  Like UNDER SIEGE, 
PASSENGER 57, DIE HARD 2, and all the rest of those movies, our hero 
spends the duration of the film slowly staking the bad guys while trying 
not to fall in/out/onto something.  Of course, Bruce Willis never had to 
undergo the humiliation of falling off a train ala Gene Wilder in THE 
SILVER STREAK.  Luckily, these bad guys are really not-so-bad guys.  
They actually back the train up to get him!

Grade: D+  (delightful)

Copyright 1995 by Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies