On Deadly Ground
| On Deadly Ground (R) | |
|---|---|
| File:Ondeadlygrounddvdcover.jpg | |
| Directed by | Steven Seagal |
| Written by | Ed Horowitz Robin Russin |
| Produced by | Steven Seagal A. Kitman Ho Julius R. Nasso |
| Starring | Steven Seagal Bart the Bear Michael Caine Joan Chen R. Lee Ermey John C. McGinley |
| Music by | Basil Poledouris |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date | February 18, 1994 |
Running time | 101 min |
| Languages | English, Native American |
| Budget | $50M (US) |
On Deadly Ground is a 1994 action-adventure film directed by and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring, Bart the Bear, Michael Caine, Joan Chen, and John C. McGinley. It was produced by A Kitman Ho, Julius R. Nasso, and Seagal and distributed by Warner Bros. Studios.
Synopsis
Steven Seagal plays Forrest Taft, a specialist in dealing with oil drilling-related fires. Taft discovers that Aegis Oil, his employer, is using faulty equipment on a new refinery in Alaska and is covering up the fact. He later discovers that the reason is so that the land doesn't revert back to the Eskimo tribes, which would cost Aegis Oil countless millions in revenue. Aegis' CEO, the arrogant Michael Jennings (Michael Caine) is, like Taft, a former member of an elite military unit. Jennings puts on a facade of caring for the environment and the Eskimo people, but, in reality couldn't care less about them.
Aegis engineer named Hugh Palmer (Richard Hamilton) has also come to the same conclusion and confides to Taft, suggesting he go public with the startling information. When Jennings learns of this he hires a group of mercenaries led by Stone (R. Lee Ermey) and MacGruder (John C. McGinley), who gets the henchman Otto (Sven-Ole Thorsen) to torture and murder Palmer. To get Taft out the way they set a trap for him. Although he is wounded, Taft survives and is rescued by Masu (Joan Chen) who's the daughter of Silook, the chief of her tribe.
Silook has Taft undergo a vision quest in which he sees the truth. Silook refers to Taft as a bear (obviously in a positive way) but Taft, out of shame for what he's been part of, however unwittingly, says: "No. I'm a mouse." Silook responds: "That's what the bear would say."
Taft, with Masu's help, assures that the refinery does not go on line, using Seagal's trademark blend of Aikido and Terrorism.
Criticisms
Departing from the usual action movie protocol, Forrest Taft does not have a traditional sidekick; rather Seagal's only foil is Masu, with whom he develops a romantic friendship, the norm for Steven Seagal's films.
Male anatomy takes center stage, but is strangely showcased without any (intentional) humor: Overdubbed sound portions of the first fight scene are notable for Taft's victims calling out the injured portions of their bodies ("my nuts!" and "my balls!"), as Taft puts them in their place. These voice tracks do not match the film, as the victims are either dazed or grimacing, and not visibly vocalizing. During this fight scene, the antagonist also vigorously refers to his own testicles as part of his display of confidence and fortitude.
On Deadly Ground was also criticized for using the context of an action-adventure film to promote an environmentalist message, by those on both sides of the issue. Some environmentalists criticized the film for excessive violence while some opposed to environmentalism criticized the message. The final scene, with Seagal giving a speech about the obsolescence of the internal combustion engine and the need for cleaner alternative fuels, was cut from its original 11 minute length before the film's release after audiences at initial screenings complained it was overlong and preachy.
Reviewer Michael Dequina of RottenTomatoes.com called it "a vanity project in the strongest sense of the term, this film has it all: bad acting, bad writing, bad direction, bad action sequences."
Upon release, On Deadly Ground met with generally poor critical reviews, largely because of perceived stereotyping of Native Americans and their spiritual beliefs. It earned $38.6M during its theatrical run.
Some audiences felt that the scene of Hugh Palmer being tortured and killed was too violent and sadistic.
Some film critics characterized the film as rehash of Billy Jack [1].
Trivia
- This is the only film in which Steagal co-starred with Bart the Bear.
- Steagal agreed to appear in Under Siege 2 if Warner Bros let him direct this film.[citation needed]
- Jeremy Irons was originally intended to play Michael Jennings. [2]
- Originally had titles of Rainbow Warrior and Spirit Warrior, but both were replaced shortly before release. [3]
- It is rumored that the original cut of the film featured an 11-minute speech at the end by Seagal about pollution. Test audiences reportedly walked out during the closing speech and thus, the film was re-edited. [4]
Quotes
- Caine: "Who is he? You wanna know who he is? Try this! Delve down into the deepest bowels of your soul! Try to imagine the ultimate fucking nightmare! and that won't come close to this son of a bitch when he gets pissed!"
- Stone: "We're not dealing with the student here; we're dealing with the professor. Anytime the military has an operation that can't fail, they bring this guy in to train the troops, okay? He's the kinda guy that'll drink a gallon of gasoline just to piss on your campfire. You could drop this guy off at the Arctic Circle wearing a pair of bikini underwear, without his toothbrush, and tomorrow afternoon he's going to show up at your poolside with a million dollar smile and a fistful of pesos. This guy's a professional, you got me? If he reaches this rig, we're all gonna be nothing but a big goddamned hole right in the middle of Alaska. So let's go find him and kill him and get rid of the son of a bitch!"