The Perfect Steven Seagal Die Hard Ripoff Fans Need To See
A common through line in Steven Seagal movies is that his characters can do no wrong, and 1994’s On Deadly Ground is a perfect example of this motif being heightened to ridiculous proportions. Not only is Seagal an expert firefighter who suits up without hesitation to neutralize environmental damage in Alaska, he also has a super-secret military background that is never fully revealed to conveniently explain why he’s just so awesome all the time.
This first (and only) feature-length directorial effort on Seagal’s part boasts epic explosions, clever one-liners, a 12 percent critical rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and can be watched on demand on platforms like Apple TV+.
It’s during this sequence that Taft realizes what he has to do, and vows to stop at nothing to take down the corrupt Aegis Oil the only way he knows how: through brute force, and with a snow-mobile.
On Deadly Ground quite literally starts out with a bang, and we’re introduced to Steven Seagal’s Forrest Taft. We quickly learn that Taft is a “blowout specialist” whose expertise finds him working on contract for Michael Caine’s Michael Jennings, the CEO of Aegis Oil, and the primary antagonist in the film. When an oil rig is about to explode, they know just the guy to call to extinguish the blaze, and minimize the potential environmental fallout.
That guy, of course, is the one and only Forrest Taft, who suits up, but only before putting a stogie in his mouth, and using the fire to light it because he’s such a badass, and we need to know this immediately.
On Deadly Ground doesn’t take long to reveal to the viewer that Aegis Oil is on a tight deadline to finish construction of their biggest refinery, the Aegis 1. Becoming suspicious of the number of blowouts he’s faced, Steven Seagal’s Taft hacks into the company’s mainframe to confirm his suspicion that Aegis Oil is using faulty parts with a high failure rate for budgetary reasons.
Having caught wind of Taft’s suspicion, Jennings tasks him with checking out yet another accident site, which he plans to blow up while he’s inside the refinery. Steven Seagal gets thrown away from the explosion like a rag-doll on fire and is presumed dead. But if there’s one thing that we know about Steven Seagal’s movies, it’s that he always narrowly escapes death, and On Deadly Ground is no exception.
“I’m not sure, but blowing up oil refineries does not make you that popular in Alaska.”
-Roger Ebert on On Deadly Ground
On Deadly Ground quickly changes pace and perspective, and we find Forrest Taft fighting for survival after being rescued by an Inuit Tribe and getting sent on a spiritual vision quest. It’s during this sequence that Taft realizes what he has to do, and vows to stop at nothing to take down the corrupt Aegis Oil the only way he knows how: through brute force, and with a snow-mobile.
Meanwhile, Jennings and his goons hire a mercenary portrayed by R. Lee Ermey (Full Metal Jacket) named Stone, who does some digging to find out exactly who they’re dealing with. But here’s the thing… even Stone can’t figure out Taft’s top-secret background, which any Steven Seagal connoisseur will tell you is a pretty typical beat that can be found in movies like On Deadly Ground.
The rest of On Deadly Ground gives us the classic Steven Seagal “f*ck, he’s good” treatment, and Jennings even refers to Taft as “the patron saint of the impossible” when his right-hand-man, MacGruder, suggests that Taft would be absolutely out of his mind to try raiding the Aegis 1 by himself. As it turns out, Taft does just that, and with explosive results.
Throughout the duration of On Deadly Ground, we’re met with a heavy-handed environmental message, and there are two very long-winded Steven Seagal soliloquies that stress how important Taft’s mission truly is.
Despite On Deadly Ground’s ham-fisted messaging and one-dimensional characters, it’s still a must-watch if you find yourself enjoying unintentionally funny action movies.
But despite the environmental message that On Deadly Ground boasts, you can’t help but wonder how many innocent and honest blue-collar workers become collateral damage when Steven Seagal’s Forrest Taft goes on his rampage. What’s more, you can’t help but wonder how blowing up oil refineries with everything you’ve got is good for the environment. In fact, Roger Ebert went on record, stating, “I’m not sure, but blowing up oil refineries does not make you that popular in Alaska.”
One thing we do know for sure, however, is that Stone’s verbose description of all of Forrest Taft’s redeeming qualities is poetry in motion in On Deadly Ground. When Stone suggests that “you could drop this guy off at the Arctic Circle wearing a pair of bikini underwear, without his toothbrush, and tomorrow afternoon he’s going to show up at your poolside with a million dollar smile and fist full of pesos,” you know that it’s about to get serious. Needless to say, Steven Seagal lives up to these expectations and does not fail to deliver.
On Deadly Ground pulled in $78 million at the box office against its reported budget of $50 million. Unfortunately for Steven Seagal, the film took a beating on the critical front and received a 12 percent critical score. Despite On Deadly Ground’s ham-fisted messaging and one-dimensional characters, it’s still a must-watch if you find yourself enjoying unintentionally funny action movies.
We didn’t even have time to talk about the first-act bar fight scene, because words simply can’t do it justice. If you want to see even more wanton destruction of small businesses over a petty dispute, then we strongly suggest you rent Steven Seagal’s On Deadly Ground on Vudu, Apple TV+, or Google Play Movies. We promise you won’t regret it.
