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, and Billy Bob Thornton in one of his early appearances. Despite holding #1 position at the box office and trying to show the dangers of pollution, it was a commercial and critical failure for being stereotypical and campy. Also, its production was controversial due to the alleged tensions between Seagal and Caine. However, in later recent years, it has gained a cult following.
Plot
Steven Seagal plays Forrest Taft, a specialist in dealing with oil drilling-related fires. At a site of an oil-well fire, Taft is told by his friend and rig-foreman Hugh Palmer (Richard Hamilton) that Aegis Oil, his employer, is deliberately using faulty preventers on a new refinery in Alaska and is covering up the fact. Forrest refuses to believe it at first but while fighting the fire, discovers that the preventer is in fact faulty. He tells Michael Jennings (Michael Caine), the rude, foul-mouthed and ruthless CEO of Aegis, but is instantly rebuffed and told that the fire was caused by Hugh's carelessness and nothing else.
Later that evening, at a bar, Taft runs into Hugh, who tells him to go to Aegis 1, the new super-rig/refinery to get the answers. After Hugh leaves, Taft takes on 15 oil roughnecks then challenges their leader, Mike (Mike Starr) to a hand-slap game, which Taft easily wins. Meanwhile, back at Aegis, Jennings is making a self-indulgent commercial to convince people he is an environmentalist when he is in fact quite the opposite, saying that animals "stink" after petting one. He then makes it very clear that if Aegis 1 isn't running in 13 days, he'll lose the oil rights to the Eskimos, costing him countless billions in revenue. He is told that Hugh is planning to reveal the faulty preventers to the United States Environmental Protection Agency. He immediately orders Hugh dealt with by his henchmen MacGruder (John C. McGinley) and Otto (Sven-Ole Thorsen).
At Aegis 1, Taft discovers the truth about the preventers and the fact that the shipment of new ones has been delayed at least 90 days. Jennings is alerted to Taft's accessing information by MacGruder, who volunteers to "deal with that problem" as well. Jennings tells MacGruder to deal with Hugh Palmer first.
Back at Hugh's, Hugh is downloading all his notes onto a disk and erasing his hard drive just as MacGruder and Otto arrive. They first want Hugh to go to Jennings' press conference and take full responsibility for the fire the other day. Hugh refuses, so they then tie him up and warn him that they will torture him to get his notes. Despite this, Hugh still refuses, so Otto breaks two of his fingers and then drills into his leg with a pipe cutter while MacGruder tears his cabin apart in search of the notes. Hugh is finally tortured to death, having refused to tell Otto or MacGruder anything.
At the press conference, Jennings' assistant Liles (Shari Shattuck) downplays the environmental impact of the spill saying everything will be fine in a few months. No one believes her and the tribal chief, Ittok, presses Jennings to discuss existing problems caused by his company, to no avail. An eskimo woman, Masu (Joan Chen), pours oil on Jennings saying "the blood of their people is upon him." Jennings is angered by the damage to his suit calling the Eskimos "animals." Taft tells Jennings about his trip to Aegis 1 and expresses his disgust for what Jennings is doing. Jennings goes away to change, then informs Taft of another "accident" and asks for his help.
Taft goes along, but realizes too late that it's a trap set up for him in a bomb-rigged building after discovering Hugh's corpse. Although he is badly wounded in the explosion, Taft survives and is rescued by Masu (Joan Chen) who's the daughter of Silook, the chief of her tribe.
At another press conference, Jennings states that both the previous oil spill and the latest accident were acts of sabotage carried out by Taft and Palmer. He goes on to say that dead, this should end these "wanton acts of destruction" as well as Ittok's "crass attempts" to sabotage the completion of his refinery on time.
When MacGruder and Otto are unable to locate Taft's body, Jennings assumes he is alive and angrily orders them to keep looking. Meanwhile, Taft is being cared for by Silook's tribe. Silook refers to Taft as a bear (obviously in a positive way) but Taft, out of shame for what he's been part of, however unwittingly, says: "No. I'm a mouse." Silook responds: "That's what the bear would say."
After unsuccessfully trying to leave with a dogsled, Silook has Taft undergo a vision quest in which he sees the truth. When made to choose between two women, Seagal 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 and charges him to teach them that lesson. To make a point, she has Taft place his hand into water, the instant he does, the water changes to oil.
MacGruder and Otto arrive at Silook's village, demanding to know where Taft is. Silook denies knowing, but Otto finds his damaged coat. Enraged, MacGruder roughs Silook up, prompting the tribe to defend him, MacGruder pulls out a gun and kills Silook before leaving. Taft returns just before Silook's death. Silook tells him that he is now a spirit warrior and tells him to fulfill his task.
Jennings berates MacGruder for killing Silook, mostly because of all the witnesses and orders him to increase security for Aegis 1. Taft and Masu leave in a snowmobile for Hugh's cabin, where Forrest finds the notes and disk that Hugh was killed for. Otto and some henchmen arrive at the cabin, but Forrest makes short work of them, killing Otto as well.
When Jennings tells MacGruder just how dangerous Taft is, he suggests hiring a group of New Orleans based mercenaries led by Stone (R. Lee Ermey) to finish off Taft once and for all before he can do anything to stop Aegis One from going on-line.
Taft visits a friend and examine Hugh's disk, which tells him that the moment Aegis 1 goes online, it will explode, causing an unprecedented environmental disaster. Taft gets a cache of weapons ad heads up to his own cabin where he gets a quantity of mines, C4 and other explosives. Meanwhile, Stone, MacGruder and his mercs are looking for Taft. Stone reveals that Taft may have once been CIA, making him even worse of a problem. Over the course of the hunt, Taft destroys their chopper and kills two of their team members.
At Aegis 1, Jennings has acquired the help of an FBI Anti-Terrorist Unit, who prove to be quite useless as they bail right after the first few explosions. Forrest goes through everyone who tries to stop him with minimal effort. MacGruder and Liles realize they shouldn't be there and flee. Taft kills MacGruder by throwing him into the escape helicopter's tail propellers where he was slashed to bits while Liles crashes into a gasoline tank and explodes, incinerating her in the process. Jennings, still determined to succeed, decides to get one pump on-line, which will keep his leases no matter what happens. As this is happening, all of Jennings' workers are fleeing, with Jennings insulting them as "gutless pricks". Taft manages to set some charges in a configuration that will result in an implosion in order to prevent an oil spill. Stone confronts Taft, but Taft manages to kill him with his own weapon.
After a few more mercenaries are killed, Taft and Masu confront Jennings who immediately derides Masu, saying that he and Taft "bought better hookers for $5 in Bangkok". Taft realizes that no environmental preaching will have any effect on Jennings. So when Jennings tries to calmly walk away, Taft lassos him and leaves him to dangle over a pool of oil. Jennings angrily dares Taft to shoot him, calling him a coward and saying that he has no guts. Taft refuses to "dirty his bullets", but after Masu asks him to dirty one, Taft shoots the rope, causing Jennings to fall into the oil, effectively drowning him in his own wealth as his body disappears in the black liquid. Taft and Masu then flee the area just as the implosion occurs and a series of explosions destroy the rest of Aegis 1.
The film ends with Forrest delivering a speech at the Alaska State Capitol about the dangers of oil pollution, the companies that are endangering the ecosystem and ways for the people to step up and do what's right. As he is speaking a montage consisting of documentary-like videos plays. Forrest is then blessed by the Tribal leader present in the auditorium. After some of the end credits, Forrest and Masu are seen taking a boat ride through Glacier Bay, where Forrest tells Masu to "look" at a hawk flying towards the tranquil sky, the same hawk seen at the beginning of the film.
Forrest Taft as the Vigilante Environmentalist
Most of Seagal's movies are stereotypical of the action film genre, especially in portraying the protagonist's use of the classic combination of martial arts and proficiency in the use of firearms and explosives. Aside from his inventory of skills in hand-to-hand combat, Forrest Taft is also depicted as a skilled marksman and demolition specialist. As a former CIA field operative, he somehow has access to various firearms and munitions. Notable examples of weapons (both conventional and improvised) used by Taft throughout the movie include:
- a 12-gauge Shotgun, with which he dispatches the attackers in Hugh's cabin;
- a .45 ACP hidden in Hugh's spare bedroom;
- a pair of M18A1 Claymore Antipersonnel Mines; the first used to harass the mercenaries trailing him, and the second detonated inside an elevator on the level defended by marksmen employed by Aegis Oil;
- an M14 Rifle, used in the battle on the Aegis-1 Oil platform;
- a USAS-12 automatic shotgun
- a submachine gun
- an impressive quantity of C4 and other explosives, used throughout the film, especially in sabotaging the Aegis-1 Oil Platform;
- M67 grenades, used along with the C4 to destroy the pursuing helicopter .
Criticisms
Departing from the usual action movie protocol, Forrest Taft does not have a traditional sidekick; rather Seagal's only foil is Masu, with whom he develops a romantic friendship, the norm for Steven Seagal's films.
Male anatomy takes center stage, but is strangely showcased without any (intentional) humor: Overdubbed sound portions of the first fight scene are notable for Taft's victims calling out the injured portions of their bodies ("my nuts!" and "my balls!"), as Taft puts them in their place. These voice tracks do not match the film, as the victims are either dazed or grimacing, and not visibly vocalizing. During this fight scene, the antagonist also vigorously refers to his own testicles as part of his display of confidence and fortitude.
On Deadly Ground was also criticized for using the context of an action-adventure film to promote an environmentalist message, by those on both sides of the issue. Some environmentalists criticized the film for excessive violence while some opposed to environmentalism criticized the message.[who?] The film's final scene also received criticism on the grounds that it was overly "preachy", incorrect in its assumptions and out of place in an action movie, particularly as the scene foreshadowing the speech is one of Seagal blowing up the largest oil refinery in the world.
In the final scene, Seagal gives a speech to the Alaska state legislature, with the rescued Inuit population in full attendance in exaggerated attire and stereotypical appearance. In addressing them as "brothers and sisters" he informs them and the audience that the oil industry has suppressed technologies such as electric cars and other fuel-efficient practices so as to facilitate the need for fuel and the internal combustion engine in the automobile industry, and generally purports that many environmental issues can directly be blamed on the oil industry and "corrupt government regulation".
He also solemnly informs the audience that there are engines available that have been suppressed by these entities, able to run on "garbage" and water and utilize carburetors which are able to provide hundreds of miles to a gallon of gasoline and that large multi-national companies are responsible for destroying or toxifying the "water we drink, the food we eat, and the air we breathe". He further explains that, because they are brokers of "toxic chemicals" whom control and create world legislature for the sake of their profits, they have no qualms about destroying the environment. The amount of profit made per day by such companies is claimed by Seagal in the movie to be $10 million dollars per day; directly earned by dumping "toxic chemicals" into the ocean.
At the time of its release Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel described the film as "Lugubrious"[1] , and also included it in their "Worst of" list for 1994 under the category "Before you save the planet, save the movie!".[1]
Ebert commented that although the film depicts Seagal blowing up an oil refinery, "Seagal should have been setting fire to his dialogue" [1]. Ebert further criticised Seagal's concluding speech as "endless" [1] and "one of many egotistical vanity scenes" [1] from the movie. He also drew attention to the inaccuracy of the issues presented in the final scene and its suggestion that Alaska law-makers would have rewarded Seagal's character with a medal for putting its "number-one industry right out of business"[1]. Siskel also agreed with the sentiment that the scene was unnecessary, commenting; "It came way out of left-field, it was like a bad Billy-Jack movie. It was ridiculous."[1].
Similarly commenting about the vanity of the film, Variety magazine film critic Leonard Klady, referred to the film as "a vanity production parading as a social statement"[2] and commented that the film seemingly borrowed heavily from the earlier film, Billy Jack.[3] He also compared the star of Billy Jack, Tom Laughlin, to Seagal and commented that Seagal lacked "acting technique and the ability behind the camera to keep the story simple and direct" when comparing the two stars in similar roles.[4] In describing Seagal's character, Klady described the following:
| “ |
As Taft is of pure heart -- and graphically beats the crap out of bigots and bullies on several occasions to make that point -- he shifts sides to the noble, if primitive Inuit, who recognize him as a Spirit Warrior. It's later revealed that Taft is a former CIA operative who dropped out to enjoy the purity of the last frontier. When that's sullied, he gets mad and naturally inflicts the maximum retribution.[2] |
” |
His overall opinion of the movie was that it was "slick and hollow".[2] In discussing the final scene, he also mentions rumours that in an original production of the movie the ending scene was supposedly 10 minutes long before eventually it was reduced to a length of 4 minutes. The official figure given from Warner Brothers, according to Washington Post staff writer Richard Harrington was 15 minutes in length before they asked that it be cut down.[5]
Upon release, On Deadly Ground met with generally poor critical reviews, largely because of perceived stereotyping of Native Americans and their spiritual beliefs. It earned $38.6M during its theatrical run. Seagal's fans were also quite critical of the film. Many consider it to be the negative turning point of Seagal's career.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Siskel, G., Ebert, R. (1994). "Siskel and Ebert at the movies: Best and worst of 1994" [Television recording] Buena-Vista Entertainment Ltd
- ^ a b c Klady, L. (1994). "On Deadly Ground Review" Retrieved on 6 March 2009 from http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117902388.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&query=on+deadly+ground Variety Magazine
- ^ Klady, L. (1994). "On Deadly Ground Review", citing - "This is a vanity production parading as a social statement. It nonetheless has enough sound, fury and flash to satisfy the action crowd who have propped up Seagal's career." Variety Magazine
- ^ Klady, L. (1994). "On Deadly Ground Review", citing - "Seagal, both as actor and director, filches heavily from "Billy Jack." However, he lacks Tom Laughlin's acting technique and the ability behind the camera to keep the story simple and direct. When he ventures into the mystic, the result is patently inauthentic" Variety Magazine
- ^ Harrington, R. (1994). "On Deadly Ground (R)" Retrieved on 6 March 2009 from http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/ondeadlygroundrharrington_a0abae.htm Washington Post Newspaper
External links
