Steven Seagal

[dead-ced-dead]

After the thread about JCVD, with people concluding that he's good fun and a bunch of his films are good, silly fun, can anyone plunge the depths far enough to find anything nice to say about Seagal's career?

Aside from him being an alleged rapist, puppy killer, a pathological liar. Is anyone willing to say they liked his movies?

I don't mind the first Under Siege... but for Tommy Lee Jones, Colm Meaney and Gary Busey. Executive Decision is alright... once his character dies.

Rumour has it Kurt Russell hated Seagal so much that he's the one that got his role shortened so much. He was meant to be second or third lead. The script had to be reworked and his dialogue given to John Leguizamo who LOVES Seagal.

[Mr Banlon]

[sevendaughters]

great musician, has range

[checkoutgirl]

He was equal to Van Damme in like 1991/1992. Hard to Kill is ok. His peak was relatively quick though. And he's a complete bellend of a man and I think he did a bad sex offence.

Of all the action stars his talent to ego ratio is the highest.

[selectivememory]

great musician, has range

One of the great guitar virtuosos of our age:

[Blumf]

He is an excellent runner.

[Epic Bisto]

I liked Under Siege as a kid but even then he was always low-tier in the action film stakes.  The coke must have been so good in the 80s for a film exec to look at him and think he's got the A-list factor.

great musician, has range

A Paul Nicholas that thinks he's summat.

The masochist in me wants to watch these.  He's always been a bit lumpy and a fan of camera-above-the-waist cinematography, but these recent films look astounding.  Imagine having an ego so big that he can look back at this stuff and think "yep, still got it!".

Considering his Ali Campbell-esque descent into blackthroat territory, maybe his dream project is a remake of Birth Of A Nation but with more Elvis-singing-Hound-Dog camerawork and tight-fitting kimonos.

[Famous Mortimer]

I know you've all probably heard this one, but this is a great story about how "Judo" Gene Lebell made him shit his pants once. One of those stories where I don't care if it's true.

[dead-ced-dead]

I know you've all probably heard this one, but this is a great story about how "Judo" Gene Lebell made him shit his pants once. One of those stories where I don't care if it's true.

I binge all stories about Steven Seagal being a loser and or arsehole, so this story is the stuff of legends.

[dontpaintyourteeth]

Out for Justice and Above the Law were both sort of alright I guess

[Epic Bisto]

Say what you will about Seagal, he is a good interviewee:

[Sebastian Cobb]

I saw Exit Wounds in the early 00's as it happened to be in a holiday home I'd been dragged to with the family. I quite enjoyed it but prior to sticking it on I was in full "we're in the middle of nowhere and I'm bored shitless with nothing to do" mode and much like Under Siege, it was largely down to other people (DMX, Isaiah Washington, and Anthony Anderson(.

[dead-ced-dead]

I saw Exit Wounds in the early 00's as it happened to be in a holiday home I'd been dragged to with the family. I quite enjoyed it but prior to sticking it on I was in full "we're in the middle of nowhere and I'm bored shitless with nothing to do" mode and much like Under Siege, it was largely down to other people (DMX, Isaiah Washington, and Anthony Anderson(.

That's the strange thing with the man. He's a real charisma vacuum that he's outclassed in all his starring vehicle.

I sometimes wonder if the directors/writers deliberately sideline him when they realise just what a black hole he is. He spends a good quarter of Under Siege locked in his kitchen while Lee Jones, Busey etc. do their scenery chewing shenanigans.

Well, to answer my own question, when Stephen Tobolowski was interviewed about a scene he did with Seagal, the director took him aside to warn him about what Seagal was getting up to, so I imagine even in those early days there were a lot of "aside" conversations about how to make the film work in a way so that they can honour his contract while not letting him ruin the film.

Executive Decision must have been one long aside amongst Russell and the director.

[beanheadmcginty]

I know you've all probably heard this one, but this is a great story about how "Judo" Gene Lebell made him shit his pants once. One of those stories where I don't care if it's true.

This is worth a watch for any fans of that story:

[checkoutgirl]

The coke must have been so good in the 80s for a film exec to look at him and think he's got the A-list factor.

Had a quick check and in his day his box office hovers from 15m to 50m except for Under Siege which is an outlier at 150m worldwide. That's a genuine smash.

In the 90s if you could bang out a Seagal film for 10m you would probably make a few quid.

[Famous Mortimer]

And another good story about what a legendarily bad Saturday Night Live host he was.

[elliszeroed]

Podcast Fraudsters did a great three part series on him, including his time as a deputy sherrif. I've never been able to spell that word. Really funny, informative and enjoyable.

There's also a book, Seagology which is a fantastic indepth look into the mans career. Utterly hilarious too.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

This is worth a watch for any fans of that story:

This might be the best thing I have ever seen.

[Sebastian Cobb]

Is Segal a bigger fraud cop than Sheriff John Bunnell?

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Bunnell has the more distinguished film career.

[BlodwynPig]

This channel features all Steve's greatest hits

https://www.youtube.com/@SpaceIce

[A Hat Like That]

Marked for Death is my personal go-to Seagal one, even if its never on telly anymore.

Who's next? Lundgren?

[Terry Torpid]

John Leguizamo gets a lot of mileage out of dissing Seagal. He's been going on about him in interviews for years.

I think I've heard him tell this story about a dozen times. Leguizamo comes across as a bit of a prick too, but very much the lesser one.

Stephen Tobolowsky has a good one:

[Sebastian Cobb]

Under Siege 2 is on Film4 at 23:40 tonight if anyone fancies a bit of shit.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

I liked Under Siege as a kid but even then he was always low-tier in the action film stakes.  The coke must have been so good in the 80s for a film exec to look at him and think he's got the A-list factor.

That's basically what happened. Michael Ovitz, who was the head of CAA, turned his personal trainer into the lead of a movie by negotiating with Warner.

Ovitz later became president of Disney and was ousted less than a year and a half later. He then explained that the Gay Mafia at Hollywood was responsible for his downfall.

[greenman]

Rewatching Under siege I think its notable how little Segal is actually in it, director puts Busey and Tommy Lee Jones on screen as much as he can.

[Blumf]

Under Siege 2 is on Film4 at 23:40 tonight if anyone fancies a bit of shit.

Also starring the love-child of Tim Curry and Elliott Gould, Eric Bogosian.

[AliasTheCat]

On Deadly Ground is worth watching because of how mad it is, basically just a vanity film with an unusually large budget. Under Siege is properly good though, but as others have said, despite Seagal, not because of him. 

[MojoJojo]

Behind the Bastards did a few episodes on him. AIRC there are rumours of dodgy mafia links getting him his break.

[Ant Farm Keyboard]

On Deadly Ground is worth watching because of how mad it is, basically just a vanity film with an unusually large budget.

When it was time to negotiate a sequel to Under Siege, Seagal got written in his contract that he could direct an outside project, which ended up being On Deadly Ground.
However, they didn't grant him final cut, which means that they cut a lot of footage that was in the previews. Reportedly, the rambling speech about the environment at the end, the one with all the conspiracy theories, was three times longer and contained many more ridiculous statements.

However, Seagal's best acting was preserved forever.

It is from a video presentation for a sommelier from a restaurant in Hollywood who wanted to start his own business and persuaded a few celebrities to be his partners and be part of a video to show to prospective investors.