On Deadly Ground

On Deadly Ground
Directed by	Steven Seagal
Produced by	Steven Seagal A. Kitman Ho Julius R. Nasso
Written by	Ed Horowitz & Robin U. Russin
Starring	Steven Seagal Michael Caine Joan Chen R. Lee Ermey John C. McGinley Billy Bob Thornton Richard Hamilton Mike Starr Kenji Nakano
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Cinematography	Ric Waite
Editing by	Don Brochu Robert A. Ferretti
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	February 18, 1994 (USA)
Running time	101 min
Language	English, Inuktitut
Budget	$34,000,000 (estimated)
Box office	$38,590,500 (USA)

On Deadly Ground is a 1994 environmental action-adventure film, co-produced, directed by and starring Steven Seagal, and co-starring in an all-star cast, Michael Caine, Joan Chen, John C. McGinley, R. Lee Ermey, Kenji Nakano, and Billy Bob Thornton in one of his early appearances. The film held a #1 position at the box office and exemplified the dangers of pollution. It earned $38.6M during its theatrical run.^{[citation needed]} In recent years, the film has gained a cult following.^{[citation needed]}

Synopsis

Aegis Oil operates Aegis 1, an oil refinery and several oil rigs in Alaska. They purchased the oil rights from the local Eskimos twenty years ago, but will lose them if the refinery isn’t on-line by a certain deadline. With 13 days to go, and billions of dollars at stake, the company cuts corners and uses faulty equipment. Hugh Palmer, a rig foreman, is aware of this; as he predicts, his rig catches fire. It takes Forrest Taft (Seagal), a specialist in dealing with oil drilling-related fires, to extinguish the fire. Taft refuses to believe Hugh’s story of faulty equipment, but discovers that it’s true after accessing the company’s computer records. Michael Jennings (Michael Caine), the ruthless CEO of Aegis, believes that Hugh's carelessness is to blame and arranges for him to be ‘dealt with’ by his henchmen MacGruder (John C. McGinley) and Otto (Sven-Ole Thorsen).

Jennings is alerted to Taft's activities and orders that Taft be also removed. MacGruder and Otto torture and murder Palmer. Taft is set up for a trap by investigating a supposedly damaged pump station. He is badly wounded by an explosion, but survives and is rescued by Masu (Joan Chen), the daughter of Silook, the chief of her tribe.

MacGruder and Otto are unable to locate Taft's body, and Jennings assumes that he is still alive. Taft is being cared for by Silook's tribe. After unsuccessfully trying to leave, using a dogsled, Silook has Taft undergo a vision quest in which he sees the truth. When made to choose between two women, Taft opts for the elderly, clothed grandmother, forgoing the erotically-charged nude Eskimo seductress. The grandmother warns Taft that time is running out for those who pollute the world. Taft realizes that he has no choice but to see the refinery closed. He leaves, with MacGruder and Otto hot on his trail.

At Silook's village, they demand to know where Taft is. Silook refuses to give the information and is fatally shot by MacGruder. Jennings berates MacGruder for killing Silook. They bring in a group of New Orleans based mercenaries led by Stone (R. Lee Ermey) to finish off Taft before he can stop Aegis 1 from going on-line. They also have an FBI Anti-Terrorist Unit at the refinery.

Accompanied by Masu, Taft (who is probably ex-CIA and an expert on sabotage and demolition), collects weapons and explosives and manages to enter the refinery complex. MacGruder, Otto and Jennings’ ruthlessly efficient female assistant Liles, are powerless to stop him and are all killed in various gruesome ways.

Taft and Masu confront Jennings and string him up, dropping him into the oil, effectively drowning him in his own wealth. A series of explosions destroy the rest of Aegis 1.

As an epilogue, Taft, far from being arrested for sabotage and multiple murders (self defense), is asked to deliver a speech at the Alaska State Capitol about the dangers of oil pollution, and the companies that are endangering the ecosystem. This speech is reminiscent of Charlie Chaplin's monologue at the end of The Great Dictator. This speech at the end of the film is parodied in the South Park episode Over Logging. During the speech they show a scene of one of the first commercial hydrogen fuel cell systems developed by Perry Energy Systems.

References to the testicles

The film features numerous references to the testicles. In the bar fight scene, Taft grasps one of his opponents in the groin eliciting the unlikely exclamation "My nuts" and then immediately kicks another man in the groin causing him to say "My balls". The main antagonist in the fight scene then brags to Taft that he has "A big pair of balls" right between his legs, and Taft talks about his opponents "balls" a few times while challenging him to a "hand slap" game. At the conclusion of the game Taft strikes him several times including once in the groin. Later in the movie, company gunmen enter a house search for Forrest. He fires a shotgun at one gunman, and we clearly see the blast impact on the gunman's groin. ^[1]

Critical response

The film bears a 0% freshness rating on the review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.^[2]

At the time of its release Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel included the film in their "Worst of" list for 1994, singling out the melancholy tone of the film, and the quality of Seagal's dialogue. Ebert in particular singled out the speech by Seagal's character that concluded the film, which he saw as extraneous, and an example of the film's "egotistical vanity scenes", as well as its inaccuracies.^[3]

Variety film critic Leonard Klady referred to the film as "a vanity production parading as a social statement" and commented that the film seemingly borrowed heavily from the earlier film, Billy Jack but opined that Seagal lacked "acting technique and the ability behind the camera to keep the story simple and direct" that Billy Jack star Tom Laughlin, exhibited. Like Ebert, Klady also singled out the speech by Seagal's character at the end of the film.^[4][5]

Awards

On Deadly Ground was nominated for six Golden Raspberry Awards, including Worst Picture, Worst Actor (Steven Seagal), Worst Actress (Joan Chen), Worst Screenplay and Worst Original Song ("Under the Same Sun"), with Seagal "winning" Worst Director.

References

1. ^ [1]
2. ^ On Deadly Ground, Rotten Tomatoes, accessed May 24, 2011.
3. ^ Siskel, Gene, Ebert, Robert. (1994). "Siskel and Ebert at the movies: Best and worst of 1994" [Television recording] Buena-Vista Entertainment Ltd
4. ^ Klady, Leonard. "On Deadly Ground Review", Variety, February 21, 1994, accessed May 24, 2011.
5. ^ Harrington, Ricard. "On Deadly Ground (R)", The Washington Post, February 19, 1994, accessed May 24, 2011.

External links

• On Deadly Ground at the Internet Movie Database
• Audio of Seagal's closing environmental thoughts