Casey Ryback: Difference between revisions

Casey Ryback
Casey Ryback
Under Siege character
	Steven Seagal as Casey Ryback in Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
First appearance	Under Siege
Portrayed by	Steven Seagal
In-universe information
Gender	Male
Occupation	Chief Petty Officer
Nationality	American

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Casey Ryback is a fictional character and action hero from the Under Siege films of the 1990s. Played by Hollywood action star Steven Seagal,^[1] Ryback is a Chief Petty Officer and former Navy SEAL operator turned chef^[2] with top training in martial arts, explosives, special-weapons and tactics. He is a master of unarmed combat, highly skilled with firearms, knives and other forms of combat which enables him to defeat mercenaries/terrorists with ease. He appears in the 1992 film Under Siege and its sequel, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, in 1995.^[3]

References

^ Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes (Lone Eage Pub., 2000), 45.
^ M. Ray Lott, The American Martial Arts Film (McFarland, 2004), 98.
^ Sylvia P. Flanagan, "Movies to See: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," Jet (Jul 31, 1995): 56.

External links

"Casey Ryback (Character) from Under Siege (1992)," The Internet Movie Database.

[1] Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders, The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes (Lone Eage Pub., 2000), 45.

[2] M. Ray Lott, The American Martial Arts Film (McFarland, 2004), 98.

[3] Sylvia P. Flanagan, "Movies to See: Under Siege 2: Dark Territory," Jet (Jul 31, 1995): 56.

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 '''Casey Ryback''' is a fictional character and [[action hero]] from the ''[[Under Siege]]'' films of the 1990s. Played by Hollywood action star [[Steven Seagal]],<ref>Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever, and Sue Viders, ''The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes & Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes'' (Lone Eage Pub., 2000), [http://books.google.com/books?id=GNNFrwdF9eQC&q=%22Casey+Ryback%22&dq=%22Casey+Ryback%22&ei=oveNSduoJIagyATtp5W6BQ&pgis=1 45].</ref> Ryback is a [[Chief Petty Officer]] and former [[Navy SEAL]] operator turned [[chef]]<ref>M. Ray Lott, ''The American Martial Arts Film'' (McFarland, 2004), [http://books.google.com/books?id=3r0yDJcHYtYC&pg=PA98&dq=%22Casey+Ryback%22&ei=BPqNScuIH4WSMtaO6LAF 98].</ref> with top training in martial arts, explosives, special-weapons and tactics. He is a master of unarmed combat, highly skilled with firearms, knives and other forms of combat which enables him to defeat mercenaries/terrorists with ease. He appears in the [[1992 in film|1992]] film ''[[Under Siege]]'' and its [[sequel]], ''[[Under Siege 2: Dark Territory]]'', in [[1995 in film|1995]].<ref>Sylvia P. Flanagan, "Movies to See: ''Under Siege 2: Dark Territory''," ''Jet'' (Jul 31, 1995): [http://books.google.com/books?id=PT0DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56&dq=%22Casey+Ryback%22&ei=oveNSduoJIagyATtp5W6BQ 56].</ref>
-==Biography==
-Casey Ryback was born in the backwoods of Kejimkujik National Park in Nova Scotia in 1945.  Contrary to popular belief,{{Clarify|date=January 2011}} Casey is not half Cherokee Indian but actually one quarter Mi'kmaq, one quarter Metis and half Cape Bretoner. He was born to parents Peter Rogers and "Little Bear" Ryback. When Casey was 8 years old, he trained a wild buffalo living in the Kejimkujik area and rode it from that day forward. The buffalo was named "Mersey" for the river on which Casey wrangled the wild beast. Casey left Nova Scotia for the Navy in 1970 after graduating the NSCC Culinary arts/Martial arts joint masters program. He was a former operator with [[SEAL Team Four]] before he was demoted to his posting as a [[Culinary Specialist (US Navy)|chef]] (in U.S. Navy terms, Ryback was a Chief Mess Management Specialist, or MSC for short) aboard the USS Missouri for striking his CO (Commanding Officer) when most of his SEAL team was killed during the [[US invasion of Panama|invasion of Panama]] in [[Operation Nifty Package]] to disable General Manuel Noriega's private jet at Punta Paitilla Airport due to poor intelligence. He had lost his security clearance and was said to only be able to serve as an administrative [[yeoman]] or a cook. Due to the SEAL incident, he is seen as an outcast in front of the higher-ranking officers. At the end of the first film his former position was given back to him in a ceremony following his bravery, but at the beginning of the sequel it appears that he had retired from the Navy as a [[Chief Petty Officer]], as shown by the salute and verbal greeting from his driver in the beginning of the film, and was working as a chef at the Mile High Cafe in [[Denver]], Colorado. However, at the end of the second film when Ryback visits his brother's grave, we see Ryback is wearing his Navy Dress Whites with the shoulder boards of a [[Lieutenant#Naval rank|Navy Lieutenant]] (O-3), which means he was awarded a [[Direct Commission Officer|direct commission]] after the events of the first film. In the original poster art of the first film, he is wearing the shoulder boards of a flag officer, but not enough is shown to see if he is a one-star, two-star, etc. admiral, however in the first film he has the role of Chief.
-As a SEAL, Ryback was the recipient of the some of the U.S. military's highest honors, including the [[Navy Cross]], [[Silver Star]] and [[Purple Heart]] with clusters.
-[[File:Missouri post refit.JPG|thumb|left|300px|{{USS|Missouri|BB-63}}]]
-In the first film it is unknown to the mercenaries on the {{USS|Missouri|BB-63|6}} who Ryback is, believing he was just a mere cook which added an element of surprise to the onslaught which followed. However in the sequel, ''Under Siege 2'', where Ryback boards a train with his niece Sarah to visit a recently deceased brother James (Sarah's father) in [[Los Angeles]] from [[Denver]] the mercenaries that hijack the train have full knowledge of the man they are dealing with once they hear his name. He is considered to be the most skilled counter-terrorist in the world and even the fearless mercenary leader Marcus Penn ([[Everett McGill]]) claims that Ryback is the only man he has ever been afraid of. One reason for this could be that the events of the first film made Ryback an international hero. In the second film, one of the chefs at the restaurant claims that people come to hear Ryback's stories.
-==Influence and reception==
-Casey Ryback became one of well known names of action heroes in the action film genre in the 1990s compared to the likes of [[John McClane]] from the [[Die Hard (franchise)|''Die Hard'' films]].  As David West writes, ''Under Siege'' is "cut from the same cloth as the 'Die Hard' series and stars Seagal as Casey Ryback..."<ref>David West, ''Chasing Dragons: An Introduction to the Martial Arts Film'' (I.B.Tauris, 2006), [http://books.google.com/books?id=vZFWu7EZwNEC&pg=PA223&dq=%22Casey+Ryback%22&lr=&ei=rfqNSbMQn5oy-pbwsAU 223].</ref>  Often the character of Ryback has been criticised in the media due the fact that he is invincible and would defeat his opponents rather too easily, removing the element of surprise in his personal combat.  As Eric Lichtenfeld writes, "Ryback...is the ultimate warrior.  As the action genre tends toward hyperbole, Ryback is an amalgam of everything that signifies Ultimate Warrior status, even more than [[Martin Riggs|Riggs]] had been in ''Lethal Weapon''.  It is fitting then, that...Ryback's costuming progresses from a white cook's uniform...to an olive tank top, to the all-black garb that merges Ryback with the ship, and with which Seagal came to be identified.<ref>Eric Lichtenfeld, ''Action Speaks Louder: Violence, Spectacle, and the American Action Movie'' (Wesleyan University Press, 2007), [http://books.google.com/books?id=jHhbLBgVLS0C&pg=PA169&dq=%22Casey+Ryback%22&ei=oveNSduoJIagyATtp5W6BQ 169].</ref>
 ==References==