Em Terreno Selvagem

I'm certainly not an authority when it comes to the filmography of Steven Seagal. In fact, I don't think I've seen a single film of his made after the year 2000. And yet, me thinks it's safe to state that Seagal's best period was between 1992 and 1996, thanks to the really good "Under Siege" movies and "Executive Decision". During this brief period, Seagal apparently also was confident enough to make his directorial debut! I enjoyed "On Deadly Ground", but for all the wrong reasons. The film is nothing but a mediocre action vehicle, but Seagal takes it much too seriously. The plot is beyond preposterous, the environmental messages are shoved down our throats, and the characters are pure stereotypes and caricatures. Michael Caine is terrible as the mean and greedy oil tycoon, and John C. McGinley is even worse as his bodyguard/goon. Joan Chen is utterly redundant as the native love-interest, Shari Shattuck is pitiable as the supposedly heartless female businesswoman, and R. Lee Ermey depicts his umpteenth hard-shouting platoon leader role. Worst of all, though, Seagal grabs every possible opportunity to let literally ALL the other characters repeat how fantastic he - Forrest Taft - is. "Damn, this guy is good", "We are not dealing with a student here, we're dealing with the Professor", blah blah blah. How full of yourself are you, when you are the director who makes actors say these sorts of lines, about a characters that you depict yourself; - ha.

Steven Seagal is now an employee of Aegis Oil where he is some sort of hired muscle and a former member of the CIA (his exact job seems unclear). After stumbling upon a sinister plot from his boss (played by an angry Michael Caine), he is marked for death by his employer and nearly killed. But after being revived by a tribe of Eskimos (including Joan Chen, who is actually Chinese) he returns to fight the oil company and give long speeches about the environment.

The formula here is the same as "Hard to Kill" -- Seagal finds a powerful man doing evil, is left for dead, healed by some spiritual stuff and returns to fight with a new love interest. So if you're looking for something new from Seagal, you're looking in the wrong place. The only new thing here is his directing and increased monologues.

This film's strength is in its co-stars. Joan Chen ("Twin Peaks"), Michael Caine, John C. McGinley, Bart the Bear, R. Lee Ermey and Billy Bob Thornton. An incredible line-up. Unfortunately, as good as they all are (especially McGinley, as the feminine assassin) they are stuck in a poorly written film with re-hashed plot and action sequences that are old and revolve around characters who yell "ow, my balls" a lot. I also think the emphasis on the Eskimo spirits was too intense. I appreciate what Seagal was trying to do by promoting the native people and their culture, but it was boring and took away heavily from the flow of the film.

Of the Seagal films I've seen, this was by far the least enjoyable. I found it a bit of a challenge to finish. See "Hard to Kill" or "Under Siege" if you like some Seagal action... this one is a bit of a bland flavor. Only for Seagal completists.

Well, as the IMdB reviews show, not everyone is a fan of this film. It's true that the philosophising and Eskimo mystique in the mid-section of the film do slow it down. It is also true that the closing environmental speech may be a tad heavy-handed. Yet I find it refreshing to see a large-budget action movie that actually tries to be about something. To his credit, Seagal's films have generally struck an anti-Establishment tone, in contrast to the complacent Republicanism of Schwarzenegger. Of course, having said all this, the tactics of Seagal's hero Forrest Taft, in blowing up large quantities of Alaska, are not perhaps what Greenpeace would recommend! As to the qualities of the film, there are some strong, savage action scenes, a stylish if over-the-top villain in Michael Caine, and wonderful photography. After all those "Die Hard"/"Under Siege" efforts, with characters running around claustrophobic buildings in semi-darkness, the panoramic views of Alaska make a nice change. Another good score by Basil Poledouris.

Forrest Taft is a trouble shooter for Michael Jennings' oil company. When the rig foreman comes to Taft with tales of faulty equipment Taft looks into it and finds Jennings is rushing the rig, compromising safety in order to drill within a 13 day deadline before the oil rights revert to the Eskimos. Jennings kills the foreman and frames Taft for industrial terrorism, bringing in mercenaries and the FBI to stop him. With Taft saved by the Inuits and taught the way of the bear he arms himself to stop the rig drilling.

In Seagal's debut as director he is given clear reign to base a story on a muddle of mysticism and environmental concern. The story is pure cod but it allows him to not only battle evil oil corporations but actually do physical battle with them. For half the film Seagal `dances with wolves' before he dumps all thoughts of spirituality, arms himself with a cabin full of weapons and does battle with the mercenaries as he tries to blow up the oil rig - he conveniently ignores the environmental damage done by this!

The action is the usual unimaginative stuff where Seagal does moves on baddies who come at him one at a time. He's starting to look a little old and out of shape here, but if you like his fighting generally then this is OK. It's a little hard to swallow when he takes on a elite group of soldiers but I suppose that if you're watching this type of film then you're happy with whatever you get! Once the film ends we are treated to a straight lecture on the environment and big business - it is full of open statements and sweeping requirements with no real practical solutions. Unlike his fights he doesn't hit the target once.

Seagal is as usual a terrible actor - only one facial expression, terrible one-liner delivery and generally no talent. Here, he shrouds himself in smugness and native American mysticism making it even harder to accept him. Caine has a laugh, hamming it up as the oil baron, but it's not a performance one could describe as good in any sense of the word - his American accent keeps changing to Cockney and back again! The rest of the cast are neither good or bad - they don't really have the material to do anything with - but it has a load of `name' actors. John C McGinley is alright, Ermey does what he always does (but has done better) and Billy Bob Thornton is in there if you keep your eyes open!

Overall it's slightly worse than most Seagal's films because of the environmental message being unsubtly rammed down the audiences throats. However if you like his fighting then there's maybe 15 minutes of enjoyment to be had here.

Steven Seagal isn't exactly the poster child for peace and prosperity, so it's quite surprising that he was chosen for this film which preaches a sermon against pollution and so on and so forth; it justifies violence by saying, "Hey, but we're saving Mother Earth!" Sorry, Steven. It's not that black-and-white in the real world.

I admire that Seagal is trying to promote a "new image" with this film. Well actually no, I don't admire him, but at least he provided me with some laughs. This ranks right up there with some of Arnie, Stallone and Willis' most brutal films.

Please, stop with the pretentious, peaceful action movies. We pay to see your films for morally degrading butt-kicking and no-holds-barred fisticuffs. Not boring messages about saving the earth. Geez, Steven, if I wanted that, I'd go to church.