Check Out the Trailer

This film is DIE HARD on a boat. Before seeing this film, I had never seen a Steven Seagal film before. It didn’t really change my perception of him all that much. He looks cool while kicking butt. He is an action actor where the adjective is more important than the noun. However, I must admit I did enjoy the adrenaline ride.

Seagal (HARD TO KILL) plays badass Navy cook Casey Ryback. He butts heads with Commander Krill (Gary Busey, THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY), who plots with renegade former military officer William Stranix (Tommy Lee Jones, THE FUGATIVE) to steal his ship’s weapons then off load them to a rogue North Korean submarine that will take the nukes to the Middle East to sell them to terrorists. Like Bruce Willis in DIE HARD, Ryback finds himself in a solo battle against the crazy terrorists. However, Ryback gets a dead weight around his waist in the form of Playboy model Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak, TV’s BAYWATCH), who was on the boat as part of a surprise party for the murdered captain.

Seagal is perfectly suited for what he is given. The film reminds us of the physical prowess that he did have at one time in his career. However, Busey and especially Jones steal the movie with their witty dialogue. They chew the scenery at every turn, but it’s so well done we like the taste too. Jones’ crazed Stranix is really into heavy metal and we sense his unhinged nature as he spouts political slogans, changing his plans from maniacal to deranged. Also Busey in drag is a deadly experience. Eleniak’s role is to look pretty and get into trouble. This addition could have been really annoying, but the filmmakers make it work.

One of the chief reasons the film works is because the action is swift. Director Andrew Davis (THE FUGITIVE) has a knack for injecting a real inertia into his action sequences. They help move the story along unlike so many action films where the story stops when the action starts. He creates a realistic world around his characters, even if some of those characters are bigger-than-life. He smartly builds each new dilemma off the previous one instead of relying on contrivances to add new tension. Action fans will enjoy this film greatly and for mindless entertainment there are a lot worse films to give an hour and forty minutes to.