Editing Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
| image          = UnderSiege2.jpg
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| alt            = Man holding on to the outside of a speeding train.
| director       = [[Geoff Murphy]]
| producer       = [[Arnon Milchan]]<br />[[Steven Seagal]]<br />Steve Perry
| writer         = Richard Hatem<br />[[Matt Reeves]]
| based_on       = {{based on|Characters|[[J.F. Lawton]]}}
| starring       = {{Plainlist|
* Steven Seagal
* [[Eric Bogosian]]
* [[Katherine Heigl]]
* [[Morris Chestnut]]
* [[Everett McGill]]
}}
| music          = [[Basil Poledouris]]
| cinematography = [[Robbie Greenberg]]
| editing        = [[Michael Tronick]]
| studio         = {{Plainlist|
* [[Regency Enterprises]]
* [[New Regency Productions]] 
* [[Seagal/Nasso Productions]]
}}
| distributor    = [[Warner Bros. Pictures|Warner Bros.]]
| released       = {{Film date|1995|7|14}}
| runtime        = 100 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = $60 million<ref>{{cite news|author=Marylynn Uricchio, P.|date=May 16, 1995|title=Box-office bonanzas or bombs?|work=Pittsburgh Post–Gazette|id={{ProQuest|391879774}}}}</ref><ref name="NUM">{{cite web |title= Under Siege 2: Dark Territory (1995) – Financial Information |url= https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Under-Siege-2-Dark-Territory |website= The Numbers |access-date= 2019-04-07 |archive-date= 2022-11-25 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221125224538/https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Under-Siege-2-Dark-Territory |url-status= live }}</ref>
| gross          = $104.3 million<ref name="NUM" />
}}
'''''Under Siege 2: Dark Territory''''' is a 1995 American [[action thriller film]] directed by [[Geoff Murphy]], starring [[Steven Seagal]] as the ex-[[United States Navy SEALs|Navy SEAL]], [[Casey Ryback]]. Set on board a train traveling through the [[Rocky Mountains]] from [[Denver]] to [[Los Angeles]], it is the sequel to the 1992 film ''[[Under Siege]]'' also starring Seagal.<ref>{{cite news|title=FILM REVIEW; All Aboard for Cataclysm And Just Forget the Bar Car|newspaper=The New York Times|date=1995-07-15|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/15/movies/film-review-all-aboard-for-cataclysm-and-just-forget-the-bar-car.html|access-date=2010-09-10|first=Stephen|last=Holden|archive-date=2022-10-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221012235944/https://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/15/movies/film-review-all-aboard-for-cataclysm-and-just-forget-the-bar-car.html|url-status=live}}</ref>  The title refers to the [[railroading]] term that the subject train was travelling through [[dark territory]], a section of railroad track that has no [[block signals|train signals]] and in which communications between [[train dispatcher]]s and the [[railroad engineer]]s were impossible.

The film was produced by Seagal along with [[Arnon Milchan]] and Steve Perry.<ref>{{cite news|title=Steven Seagal, Please Call Your Accountant|work=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1994-09-25|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-09-25-ca-42934-story.html|access-date=2010-11-25|first=Judy|last=Brennan|archive-date=2012-03-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120309194439/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-09-25/entertainment/ca-42934_1_steven-seagal|url-status=live}}</ref> The film's cast also included [[Eric Bogosian]], [[Everett McGill]], [[Morris Chestnut]], [[Peter Greene]], [[Kurtwood Smith]] and [[Katherine Heigl]]. In addition to Seagal, [[Nick Mancuso]], [[Andy Romano]], and [[Dale Dye]] also reprised their roles from the first film.

==Plot==
Following his retirement from the United States Navy, Casey Ryback settles in [[Denver]], where he runs a restaurant. When he receives news of the death of his estranged brother, James Ryback, in a plane crash, Casey meets James's daughter, Sarah, whom he will accompany to [[Los Angeles]] to attend his funeral. The two board the Grand Continental, a train traveling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles. On board, they befriend a steward/porter named Bobby Zachs and the train's chefs.

As the train reaches the Rocky Mountains, a group of terrorists flag it down and murder the engineer and brakeman. The group, led by former U.S. government employee and computer genius Travis Dane and Marcus Penn, cut the train phone lines and take the passengers and staff hostage, herding them into the last two cars. Casey kills one terrorist, then slips away. For underground targets, Dane worked on Grazer One, a top-secret military satellite [[tectonic weapon]]. The military fired Dane, who later faked his suicide.

Dane threatens two former [[United States Department of Defense|Department of Defense]] colleagues with burning soldering irons in their eyes unless they reveal codes to take over Grazer. Despite their disclosures, they are thrown from the train over a deep valley after the codes are confirmed to work.

Middle Eastern terrorists have offered Dane $1 billion to destroy the [[East Coast of the United States|Eastern seaboard]] by using Grazer to target a nuclear reactor located under the Pentagon. Dane demonstrates Grazer to investors by destroying a Chinese biological weapons facility that was passing itself off as a fertilizer production plant. After one investor offers an additional $100 million, despite the weapon's primary intention for subterranean targets, Dane destroys an airliner carrying the investor's ex-wife.

The U.S. government has difficulty locating Dane or Grazer. When officials destroy what they think is Grazer, Dane explains the NSA's best intelligence satellite was destroyed. His location cannot be determined as long as the train keeps moving.

With Zachs' help, Casey takes matters into his own hands. He faxes a message to his restaurant, which relays it to Admiral Bates. Bates quickly understands that Dane and the terrorists are on the train and reluctantly approves a mission by two [[F-117]] stealth aircraft to destroy the train.

Zachs discovers they are on the wrong tracks and on a collision course with a [[Southern Pacific Transportation Company|Southern Pacific]] bulk freight train carrying gasoline tank cars. Casey kills the mercenaries one by one and releases the hostages, but Dane uses his computer skills to find the F-117s and then re-target Grazer to knock them out before they complete their mission. Aware of Casey's past, Penn uses Sarah as bait to lure him to a fight, but Casey gains the upper hand and fatally breaks his neck.

Ryback finds Dane about to depart in a helicopter hovering over the train. When Dane informs Casey that there is no way to stop the satellite from destroying Washington, Casey shoots him. The bullet destroys his computer and injures Dane, who falls out of the window of the train. Control of the satellite is restored at the Pentagon and destroyed by remote control 1 second before it would have fired on the Pentagon, just before the two trains collide.

The crash happens on a trestle, resulting in an explosion that destroys the bridge and kills Scotty, the mercenary driving the train. Ryback races through the exploding train, exits the carriage, and grabs a rope ladder hanging from the helicopter. Dane, who survived the gunshot and the crash, also catches onto the ladder. He hangs onto the helicopter but falls to his death after Casey shuts the door, severing Dane's fingers.

Casey informs the Pentagon that the passengers are safe, having previously detached the last two cars from the rest of the train. Later on in Los Angeles, Sarah and Casey pay their final respects at James' gravestone.

== Cast ==
* [[Steven Seagal]] as Lieutenant [[Casey Ryback]], a former [[Navy SEAL]] who now heads and manages a restaurant in Denver
* [[Eric Bogosian]] as Travis Dane, a crazed computer genius, cyberterrorist leader who designed the Grazer One satellite weapon for the US government before being dismissed for his mental instability
* [[Everett McGill]] as Marcus Penn, the mercenary commander & Dane's second-in-command who leads a team of mercenaries to hijack the Grand Continental train to set up the satellite equipment
* [[Katherine Heigl]] as  Sarah Ryback, Casey's estranged niece whom he accompanies on the journey to her father's funeral
* [[Morris Chestnut]] as Bobby Zachs, an eager porter of the train who reluctantly helps Ryback with the hijacked train
* [[Nick Mancuso]] as Tom Breaker, the shady CIA director who assists ATAC on Grazer One
* [[Brenda Bakke]] as Captain Linda Gilder, a member of ATAC and one of Dane's former colleagues
* [[Peter Greene]] as Mercenary #1, Penn's lieutenant who was once instructed by Ryback at [[Fort Bragg]]
* [[Patrick Kilpatrick]] as Mercenary #2, One of Penn's mercenaries 
* [[Scott Sowers]] as Mercenary #3, One of Penn's mercenaries 
* Afifi Alaouie as Fatima, the sole female of Penn's mercenaries
* [[Andy Romano]] as Admiral Bates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
* [[Dale Dye]] as Captain Nick Garza, Admiral Bates' right-hand man
* [[Kurtwood Smith]] as Major General Stanley Cooper, an Air Force general who commands ATAC and Dane's former boss
* David Gianopoulos as Captain David Trilling, a member of ATAC and one of Dane's former colleagues
* Sandra Taylor as Kelly, a barmaid on board the train
* [[Jonathan Banks]] as Scotty, the mercenary driver under the orders of Penn to drive the locomotive of the Grand Continental train
* [[Royce D. Applegate]] as Ryback's cook who runs the restaurant when Ryback is absent
* Dale Payne as Train Conductor

== Production ==
=== Development ===
The film was an early credit for [[Matt Reeves]] who wrote the script with a friend of his in college. Reeves later said, "There was a big action spec market, a lot of movies that were selling, and so we wrote this movie with my thought being, ‘And then I will be able to finance my student film and that way I can become a director’."<ref name="matt"/> The script was called ''Dark Territory'' at one stage and ''End of the Line'' at another. When they finished writing it "the spec market crashed and it didn't sell." But the script was optioned by Warner Bros, who decided to turn the film into a sequel to ''Under Siege''.<ref name="matt">{{cite web|url=https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/matt-reeves-dawn-planet-apes/|website=Empire|title=Director Matt Reeves Spills Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes Secrets|date=21 July 2014|access-date=9 March 2018|archive-date=26 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160626181720/https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/matt-reeves-dawn-planet-apes/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Reeves said the film was originally "meant to be very much like a ''[[Die Hard]]'' movie, which I guess ''Under Siege'' really was too, except the difference was that in the ''Under Siege'' movies that tension is how soon before Seagal will rip out someone's larynx. And what I love about ''Die Hard'' was this idea of the underdog, that here's this guy, especially in that first movie, who's a cop from New York who doesn't even have shoes. And somehow he has got to save this building, save the day. That was what that movie was supposed to be, but it didn't end up being that."<ref name="matt"/>

=== Filming ===
According to [[Morris Chestnut]] Seagal rewrote many of the scenes he was in. "The only time they really stuck to the script or had ad libs was the stuff when he really wasn't there. It was a lot of stuff, because at that time I think he was flying a helicopter, he was doing something... He would come to set, "Okay, you're gonna say this. I'm gonna say this and this is gonna happen and then you do that." That's how we did a lot of that movie."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.craveonline.com/site/750069-exclusive-interview-morris-chestnut-legends-siege-2#9BOZeTCMp4EYbzwK.99|website=Craveonline|title=EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: MORRIS CHESTNUT ON 'LEGENDS' AND UNDER SIEGE 2|first=Fred|last= Topel|date=August 27, 2014}}</ref>

Part of the film was shot in Chatsworth's Stony Point Park. The production painted some of the boulders, which upset rock climbers who claimed it made them unsafe.<ref>{{cite news|author=Riccardi, N.|date=Apr 7, 1995|title=Rock climbers see red when film crew paints boulders outdoors: Movie company covers over graffiti-and tiny ledges and wrinkles-at two spots in a chatsworth park. climbers blame city for allowing it|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|id={{ProQuest|293182019}}}}</ref> The locomotive seen in the film had previously appeared in the 1985 film ''[[Runaway Train (film)|Runaway Train]]''. Director Geoff Murphy called making the film "a very dreary process and very highly contentious at the time – lots of arguments and stuff. There was a point during the editing where I observed this incredibly high energy beast emerging, and I didn't know where it had come from, because there wasn't any of that energy on the set. It seemed to grow out of the editing process."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/72483779/Filmmaker-Geoff-Murphy-on-building-a-film-industry-frame-by-painful-frame|website=Stuff|title=Filmmaker Geoff Murphy on building a film industry, frame by painful frame|first=Nikki|last=MacDonald|date=October 3, 2015|access-date=March 9, 2018|archive-date=December 4, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181204102056/https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/film/72483779/Filmmaker-Geoff-Murphy-on-building-a-film-industry-frame-by-painful-frame|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Reception ==
=== Box office ===
''Under Siege 2'' opened at #2 at the box office under ''[[Apollo 13 (film)|Apollo 13]]'' in 2,150 theaters and made $12,624,402 for the weekend.<ref>{{cite news|title=Weekend Box Office : 'Under Siege' Opens in No. 2 Spot|newspaper=[[The Los Angeles Times]]|date=1995-07-18|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-18-ca-25014-story.html|access-date=2011-01-13|first=Elaine|last=Dutka|archive-date=2012-11-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104194124/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-18/entertainment/ca-25014_1_weekend-gross|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Critical response ===
On [[Rotten Tomatoes]], the review aggregation website, the film has an approval rating of 34% based on 32 reviews and an average rating of 4.73/10. The site's critical consensus states, "Utterly forgettable and completely unnecessary, ''Under Siege 2'' represents a steep comedown from its predecessor – and an unfortunate return to form for its star."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/under_siege_2_dark_territory/ |title=Under Siege 2: Dark Territory |website=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |access-date=2013-07-07 |archive-date=2012-02-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208101350/http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/under_siege_2_dark_territory/ |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Metacritic]], the film has a score of 52 out of 100 based on reviews from 21 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".<ref>{{Citation|title=Under Siege 2: Dark Territory|url=https://www.metacritic.com/movie/under-siege-2-dark-territory|access-date=2019-04-30|archive-date=2020-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919163643/https://www.metacritic.com/movie/under-siege-2-dark-territory|url-status=live}}</ref> Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |title= Cinemascore |url-status= live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/ |archive-date= 2018-12-20 }}</ref>

[[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' gave the film a three-star rating in his review,<ref>{{cite news |title= Under Siege 2: Dark Territory |newspaper= [[Chicago Sun-Times]] |url= https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/under-siege-2-dark-territory-1995 |access-date= 2019-09-19 |archive-date= 2013-06-18 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130618132134/https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/under-siege-2-dark-territory-1995 |url-status= live }}</ref> while Peter Rainer of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote that "the action upstaged the actors."<ref>{{cite news|title=Under Siege 2 Plays Out Pyrotechnics|newspaper=The Los Angeles Times|date=1995-07-17|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-17-ca-24758-story.html|access-date=2010-09-05|first=Peter|last=Rainer|archive-date=2012-05-30|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120530082652/http://articles.latimes.com/1995-07-17/entertainment/ca-24758_1|url-status=live}}</ref> Leonard Klady of Variety magazine notes Seagal's confidence but says he is betrayed by his limited performance. Klady praises the villains for their performances, but says "they and others are saddled with pedestrian dialogue and motivation."<ref>{{Cite web | date = July 17, 1995 | title = Under Siege 2: Dark Territory | url = https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/under-siege-2-dark-territory-2-1200442143/ | website = Variety | access-date = March 22, 2018 | archive-date = March 1, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210301051550/https://variety.com/1995/film/reviews/under-siege-2-dark-territory-2-1200442143/ | url-status = live }}</ref>

=== Legacy ===
Seagal was later criticized for his behavior during the film. 
[[Jenny McCarthy]] unsuccessfully auditioned for a role in the film. She said Seagal auditioned her and asked her to take off her clothes.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movieline.com/2010/04/16/exclusive-the-full-steven-seagal-story-jenny-mccarthy-told-movieline-in-1998/|website=Movieline|date=10 April 2010|title=EXCLUSIVE: The Full Steven Seagal Story Jenny McCarthy Told Movieline in 1998|access-date=9 March 2018|archive-date=26 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180226215306/http://movieline.com/2010/04/16/exclusive-the-full-steven-seagal-story-jenny-mccarthy-told-movieline-in-1998/|url-status=live}}</ref> Katherine Heigl, who was 16 at the time the film was made, said that on the last day of filming Seagal told her, "'You know Katie, I got girlfriends your age.' And I said, 'Isn't that illegal?' And he said, 'They don't seem to mind'."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1649050/the-skeezy-way-steven-seagal-treated-katherine-heigl-on-the-set-of-under-siege-2|website=Cinemablend|title=The Skeezy Way Steven Seagal Treated Katherine Heigl On The Set Of Under Siege 2|date=19 April 2017|access-date=9 March 2018|archive-date=4 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170804231808/http://www.cinemablend.com/news/1649050/the-skeezy-way-steven-seagal-treated-katherine-heigl-on-the-set-of-under-siege-2|url-status=live}}</ref>

==Future==
===Sequel===
In October 2016, Seagal announced that a script for a third film was being written by Woodie Mister. By December of that year, Mister stated that the script was completed and whether it moves forward was up to Seagal and studio executives. The pair collectively stated that the project would be a joint-venture production between [[Steamroller Productions]], eAtlantica Productions.<ref name="Part3_Seagal">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/sseagalofficial/status/783013363680964608|work=Twitter|title=Steven Seagal on Twitter|author=Seagal, Steven|date=October 3, 2016|accessdate=October 1, 2022|archive-date=July 31, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220731032010/https://twitter.com/sseagalofficial/status/783013363680964608|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Part3_Mister">{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/woodieatlantica/status/813840204981215232|work=Twitter|title=Woodie Mister on Twitter|author=Mister, Woodie|date=December 27, 2016|accessdate=October 1, 2022|archive-date=October 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001205230/https://twitter.com/woodieatlantica/status/813840204981215232|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Reboot===
In November 2021, it was announced that the reboot of the original film series was in development. [[Timo Tjahjanto]] will serve as director, with a script written by Umair Aleem, based on an original story co-written by the pair. The project will be a joint-venture production between [[Warner Bros. Pictures]], and [[List of HBO Max original films#Original films|Max Original Films]], and is intended to be released exclusively via [[Streaming media|streaming]] on [[HBO Max]]. Production is expected to commence after the completion of Tjahjanto's work on ''The Last Train to New York''.<ref name="Reboot_Deadline">{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2021/11/under-siege-remake-warner-bros-hbo-max-1234876156/|work=Deadline|title='Under Siege' Reboot In The Works At Warner Bros For HBO Max With Timo Tjahjanto Directing, Umair Aleem Writing|author=Anthony D'Alessandro|date=November 17, 2021|access-date=October 1, 2022|archive-date=November 18, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211118002433/https://deadline.com/2021/11/under-siege-remake-warner-bros-hbo-max-1234876156/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links|auto=yes}}
* {{IMDb title|0114781}}
* {{mojo title|undersiege2}}
* {{Rotten Tomatoes|under_siege_2_dark_territory}}

{{Geoff Murphy}}
{{Matt Reeves}}

[[Category:1995 films]]
[[Category:1995 action thriller films]]
[[Category:1990s English-language films]]
[[Category:American action thriller films]]
[[Category:American sequel films]]
[[Category:Films about hijackings]]
[[Category:Films about terrorism]]
[[Category:Films directed by Geoff Murphy]]
[[Category:Films scored by Basil Poledouris]]
[[Category:Films set in Arizona]]
[[Category:Films set in California]]
[[Category:Films set in Colorado]]
[[Category:Films set in Denver]]
[[Category:Films set in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films set on trains]]
[[Category:Films shot in Arizona]]
[[Category:Films shot in California]]
[[Category:Films shot in Colorado]]
[[Category:Films shot in Denver]]
[[Category:Films shot in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:Films with screenplays by Matt Reeves]]
[[Category:Regency Enterprises films]]
[[Category:Siege films]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. films]]
[[Category:Films produced by Arnon Milchan]]
[[Category:1990s American films]]
[[Category:English-language action thriller films]]