{"id":32724,"date":"2026-01-05T21:48:32","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:48:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=32724"},"modified":"2026-01-05T21:48:32","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T05:48:32","slug":"blasts-from-the-past-4k-ultra-hd-review-under-siege-1992","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=32724","title":{"rendered":"Blasts from the Past! 4K Ultra HD Review: UNDER SIEGE (1992)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release is now\navailable from Arrow Video. A \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray version is also\navailable.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Growing up in the 1980s, one of the biggest film genres was\nthat of the action picture. Steven Seagal arrived on the scene a little later\nthan Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone towards the end of the decade\nwith the likes of Bruce Willis. Truth be told, I wasn\u2019t as much of a fan of\nSeagal\u2019s pictures. While many of these movies had their tongues firmly planted\nin their cheek or offered interesting ideas and themes, Seagal\u2019s were deadly\nserious and at times felt a little mean-spirited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of all his pictures, the ones that work best are the Under\nSiege<\/em> movies. They offered the occasional dose of humor, bigger stakes, and\neven managed to thoroughly entertain this young audience member. Arrow Video\nare now delivering a 4K Ultra HD \u201cLimited Edition\u201d release of the original Under\nSiege<\/em>, which offers greatly improved picture quality and some fantastic\nextras that help clearly identify why this is likely the best movie in the\nactor\u2019s catalog.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story begins at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii where President\nGeorge H. W. Bush announces that the USS Missouri is about to set sail for\nCalifornia where it will be decommissioned. After the festivities, the crew\nsets sail and prepares for a birthday party for Captain J. T. Adams (Patrick\nO\u2019Neal), with a band led by William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones), Ernest Daumer\n(Colm Meaney), and Playboy Playmate Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak) among the new\narrivals. As it turns out (and you should have known based simply on their\nnames alone), Strannix, Daumer and all but the playmate plan to take control of\nthe ship so that they can steal nuclear-tipped warheads and sell them to the\nhighest bidder. Helping them murder Adams and seize control is Commander Peter\nKrill (Gary Busey).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The only thing the group doesn\u2019t count on is Casey Ryback\n(Steven Seagal), a former NAVY Seal and personal friend of Adams who, after\ngetting in trouble with superiors on a mission, is now working on the ship as a\ncook. Naturally, he doesn\u2019t take kindly to the terrorists, taking them out one\nby one. He also finds Tate, along with a few other captured crew members, who\neventually launch a final attack to take down the terrorists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This title had, up to this point, the biggest budget and\nscope of any Seagal movie and it is his most impressive looking feature. The\nbattleship looks incredible on film. The ship sets, as well as the exteriors\nlook great, the action is well edited and it\u2019s all fun to watch. Ryback is the\nmost human of any character the star played. He has a little more of a sense of\nhumor than in previous titles, and tries to help his crewmates (as well as\naccept their assistance).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still, the real heroes in the title are actually the\nvillains. Tommy Lee Jones is having a great time as the ex-CIA operative turned\nterrorist, who begins the story as an ice-cold killer, but becomes more and\nmore unhinged as his plans are thwarted. Busey is a blast as the manic Krill.\nAlready cited by his superiors for having potential psychological problems, he\nleans into the craziness and creates another memorable foe. The two baddies are\nalmost in the movie as much as the protagonist. They keep things exciting and\nit\u2019s consistently fun to see them chew scenery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Overall, it’s a solid action film and it is easy to see why\nit made such a splash during its original release. The 4K restoration taken\nfrom the original camera negative and presented in Dolby Vision looks great.\nThere is a bit of natural (but not distracting) grain in a few sequences, but\nalmost everything else appears sharper and more detailed than ever. For fans of\nthe movie, it\u2019s a clear and definite step up from the old Blu-ray. This is\nespecially clear in the wide shots featuring action on the battlefield decks.\nThe immense boat really pops and wows in 4K.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The disc\u2019s extras are entertaining and illuminating as well.\nThere is a great new interview with Andrew Davis, as well as a commentary track\nfeaturing the director alongside writer and executive producer J.F. Lawton (who\nwrote Pretty Woman<\/em>, and wrote\/directed The Hunted<\/em> with\nChristopher Lambert). Davis is a great speaker telling incredible stories about\nthe production. He notes some of the clever tricks used to boost the film\u2019s $30\nmillion dollar budget. The first is with the decommissioning ceremony in Hawaii\nfeaturing President Bush. He managed to secure a spot at the event for Warner\nBros. and was allowed to shoot \u201cstock footage\u201d, as well as follow the real\nbattleship during its final voyage. Naturally, since he was working on this\nparticular picture, he incorporated his footage specifically into the film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He also has great stories about the shoot. He recalls how\nmuch fun it was to work with Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey. Since the director\nhad worked with Seagal previously on Above the Law<\/em>, he appeared to know\nhow to manage him. The star\u2019s popularity was exploding at this point, and the\nfilmmaker notes that the actor was difficult and rarely appeared on set without\nan entourage. Seagal refused to smile on camera, but Davis managed to put him\nin areas with other happy performers, and then would do things behind the shot\nin order to make the performer laugh. He managed to get Seagal to crack a smile\na few times and incorporated those bits into the movie to make the lead\ncharacter more relatable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s also a lot of good back and forth between the\ndirector and writer about how the script changed. Initially, Seagal\u2019s character\nwas only a cook and Davis liked it that way, but the studio and lead demanded\nthat he become a trained operative. The Playboy playmate character was\ninitially part of the villain\u2019s gang, but that was changed as well. This\nalteration does explain why her character is completely forgotten by the\nseemingly (at least, initially) clever antagonists. Both the participants offer\na lot of interesting facts about the production. And they talk about the title,\nand how the studio at the time was insisting on three-word monikers for the\nstar\u2019s movies. Apparently, they had to fight to call the picture Under Siege<\/em>.\nIt\u2019s a great audio commentary and director interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Co-star Erica Eleniak is also interviewed as a bonus\nfeature. In this recently recorded discussion, she talks about her experiences\nas a fresh-faced talent on set. Once again, it seems the studio and some higher\nups decided that she should bare her all in the movie, and the actress notes\nthat this type of demand wouldn\u2019t occur today. However, she does have kind\nwords for director Andrew Davis and the crew. Eleniak also speaks about how\nwonderful Jones and Busey were on set. The two actors were protective and\nconstantly looking out for her throughout the shoot, which she appreciated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There is also a new interview with co-star Damian Chapa and\nhis experiences on the set. He talks about his character, as well as working\nwith Seagal (who did seem to be a bit distant and intimidating to others) and\nthe crew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another great extra is a nearly half-hour interview with\nvisual effects supervisor William Mesa. The Introvision process was used for\nvisual effects involving the ship shooting down a plane, as well as with\nmissile-related footage. The featurette shows how some of the shots were\ncreated and there is also archival footage from other titles that used the\nprocess. It’s quite an amazing and cost-effective system that produces\nremarkably convincing effects, and one still wonders why it isn\u2019t being used\ntoday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Finally, the disc includes a trailer for the picture. And it\nall comes packaged in a reversible sleeve with two original artwork options, as\nwell as a booklet with essays on the movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As mentioned, Under Siege<\/em> did end up becoming\nSeagal\u2019s highest grossing picture, grossing $156 million dollars against a $30\nmillion dollar budget. Andrew Davis would helm the massively successful\nthriller The Fugitive<\/em> as his next gig with Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee\nJones. Seagal faltered with his next project and directorial debut. However,\nhis next picture, Under Siege 2: Dark Territory<\/em>, was underrated (if\nmemory serves, anyway). That one ended up marking something of a last\nbig-budget hurrah for the performer and I\u2019d be very curious to revisit it too\n(if Arrow Video also has the rights).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under Siege<\/em> marks the high point of Steven Seagal\naction pictures and Arrow Video has done a fantastic job delivering an upgraded\nexperience for the home viewer. The image quality is excellent, and the bonuses\noffer plenty of enlightening background detail about the production. 80s and\n90s action cinema enthusiasts are certain to enjoy this release.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This \u201cLimited Edition\u201d 4K Ultra HD release is now available from Arrow Video. A \u201cLimited Edition\u201d Blu-ray version is also available.   Growing up in the 1980s, one of the biggest film genres was that of the action picture. Steven Seagal arrived on the scene a little later than Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone towards the end […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32734,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[126,697,1375,1836,2923,2969,2970,7046,8117,12427,19101,23061,23507,23508,23509,23510,23511],"class_list":["post-32724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dvdblu-ray-reviews","tag-126","tag-action","tag-andrew-davis","tag-arrow-video","tag-blasts-from-the-past","tag-blasts-from-the-past-under-siege","tag-blasts-from-the-past-under-siege-review","tag-erika-eleniak","tag-gary-busey","tag-limited-edition","tag-steven-seagal","tag-tommy-lee-jones","tag-under-siege","tag-under-siege-4k-ultra-hd","tag-under-siege-4k-ultra-hd-disc-review","tag-under-siege-4k-ultra-hd-review","tag-under-siege-review"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=32724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32724\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=32724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=32724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=32724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}