Critic Reviews
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Leonard Klady, Variety
This is a vanity production parading as a social statement.
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, Time Out
In contrast to his short, sharp fighting style, Seagal's presentation of the human conflicts and underlying issues consists of vague, sweeping gestures.
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Janet Maslin, New York Times
You can't preach about preserving the environment and make movies full of sludge.
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James Berardinelli, ReelViews
The less said about Joan Chen, the better. To say that her talents are wasted is to understate the matter.
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Richard Harrington, Washington Post
Martial arts maven Seagal has long been on deadly ground with critics, and this, his directorial debut, is likely to keep him there.
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, TV Guide's Movie Guide
As a performer, Seagal is singularly lacking in grace and charisma. As a director, he more than lives up to his ham-fisted acting.
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Michael Dequina, TheMovieReport.com
A vanity project in the strongest sense of the term, this film has it all: bad acting, bad writing, bad direction, bad action sequences.
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Jeffrey Westhoff, Northwest Herald (Crystal Lake, IL)
Just what the world needs, environmental lessons from Steven Seagal.
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Oz, eFilmCritic.com
In the end, you want a good movie with message about ecology and how to preserve human nature? Forget it; go to a Green peace conference.
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Marjorie Baumgarten, Austin Chronicle
Certain things must be answered, like Seagal's environmental lip service that is utterly mocked by the movie's need to blow things up and destroy property.
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Chris Hicks, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Seagal's character -- whose name is Forrest! -- blows up so much of the Alaskan ecology, one wonders why he's so concerned about oil spills.
Read all 11 critic reviews
Featured Audience Ratings
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"On Deadly Ground" is definitely not one of Steven Seagal's best movies. In this movie, he stars as an oil rig worker who is environmentally concerned, and he ends up going against his employer who is searching for him.
"On Deadly Ground" does have a plot,… More
"On Deadly Ground" is definitely not one of Steven Seagal's best movies. In this movie, he stars as an oil rig worker who is environmentally concerned, and he ends up going against his employer who is searching for him.
"On Deadly Ground" does have a plot, but not that great of one and that's really where the movie suffers. If it would've had a better storyline, it could've been a great movie. The action and fighting sequences in the movie are well done. It also has good special effects. The scenery in the movie is another good thing about it with the snowcapped mountains all through the movie.
All in all, "On Deadly Ground" does have some mildly entertaining action sequences, but overall it's just an average movie. I'd recommend getting other Steven Seagal movies such as either one of the "Under Siege" movies before I'd recommend getting this one. NOTE: That was my Amazon review from the year 2001.
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An environmental message wrapped up in a typical Seagal movie. Michael Caine is in this, but then again so are half the movies ever made and he still manages to put in a great performance as the heartless and overall asshole Michael Jennings. This has a good cast in it and means well,… More
An environmental message wrapped up in a typical Seagal movie. Michael Caine is in this, but then again so are half the movies ever made and he still manages to put in a great performance as the heartless and overall asshole Michael Jennings. This has a good cast in it and means well, but that doesn't always equal a great movie.
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Oh Michael Caine...I guess everyone needs a little coke and whore money.
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I see director-star Steven Seagal has come up with a martial arts movie with an environmental message.
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Steven Seagal expresses his love of the environment by blowing stuff up and killing off a vast number of extras in his usual dour and bone headed way. Caine's penchant for cinematic self-prostitution is well documented, but this is something else entirely...MICHAEL, YOU ARE A… More
Steven Seagal expresses his love of the environment by blowing stuff up and killing off a vast number of extras in his usual dour and bone headed way. Caine's penchant for cinematic self-prostitution is well documented, but this is something else entirely...MICHAEL, YOU ARE A WHORE!!!
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Steven Seagal, just like many stars in his time, set back American movie back because they played invincible characters that took away any of the excitement we want in a action movie. On Deadly Ground delivers nothing from the action that people like in a Steven Seagal movie and is… More
Steven Seagal, just like many stars in his time, set back American movie back because they played invincible characters that took away any of the excitement we want in a action movie. On Deadly Ground delivers nothing from the action that people like in a Steven Seagal movie and is just another joke in his career.
Steven Seagal plays, and i'm making this up, a martial artist/environmental agent who takes on a ruthless oil corporation. I know story is mostly a Seagal movie weak point, but did the writers have nothing in mind besides extending every scene longer than it needs to be. The movie also has some pointless scene like the vision scene which just add an extra layer of badness to the movie. I haven't watched a more poorly written story developed since I saw BKO: Bangkok Knockout.
I never found Steven Seagal to be a bad-ass for numerous reasons, one being is that he barely or never get hit at all in his movies. Second being he can't act as everyone knows, so I find no reason to root for him as a hero in any movie. Third, he always plays a tough guy which makes us wonder if he's badly acting the main character over and over. The only redeeming value are shots of the mountain in the beginning of the movie.
I never like Steven Seagal to begin with, nothing against him personally, it just his awful movies that I don't like. To think what started as man being used in a bet ended with Steven Seagal being the most boring action star we'll ever have.
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Good movie concerning drilling oil in Alaska. I see director-star Steven Seagal has come up with a martial arts movie with an environmental message.
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In his eventual Academy Awards career retrospective I do hope Michael Caine's role as Jennings is featured as the centerpiece, the crown jewel of his long and illustrious career.
And now, reasons why this movie is awesome:
1. Seagal blows up an oil rig
2. Seagal proves himself to… More
In his eventual Academy Awards career retrospective I do hope Michael Caine's role as Jennings is featured as the centerpiece, the crown jewel of his long and illustrious career.
And now, reasons why this movie is awesome:
1. Seagal blows up an oil rig
2. Seagal proves himself to be a true Inuit warrior
3. Seagal vs. Bear
4. Michael Caine's caribu tantrum
5. Seagal beats up an entire bar in order to teach one man a lesson in tolerance
6. Old man in said bar fight tries to throw a weak punch at Seagal and gets owned
6.5. Guys in bar fight who yell: "I'll cut you!" and "MY NUTS!"
7. Seagal survives being in an enormous explosion
8. Dr. Cox from Scrubs pistol wips some eskimos
9. Liles: "Alaska IS a third world country, it's just one we happen to own"
10. Seagal's "the hocus pocus spirit world won't save us now" speech.
11. "Seagal's "background is so top secret it doesn't even flag top secret when you run his jacket"
12. Seagal blows up another oil rig
13. Lee Ermy with one of the best lines in a Seagal film:
"Any time the military has an operation that can't fail, they call this guy in to train the troops, OK? He's the kind of guy that would drink a gallon of gasoline so he could piss in 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 pool side with a million dollar smile and fist full 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!"
14. Billy Bob Thornton gets blowed up.
15. Seagal's "save the planet" speech at the end.
Read all 10 featured audience ratings
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