Casey Ryback (Seagal) is (ry)back in this sequel where the ex-Navy SEAL chef has to save the day again. In the last outing, it was a ship. Now it's a train. When Ryback and his niece Sarah (Heigl) board a train heading from Denver to L.A., they naturally think they're going to take in the sights and relax. Unfortunately, a psychopathic techie named Travis Dane (Bogosian) and his cadre of goons has commandeered the train. They're using it as a mobile command station so they can hijack a satellite named Grazer, and ask for a billion dollars or else the Pentagon, and perhaps the whole east coast, will be obliterated. But the baddies didn't count on one thing: the guy who's "just a cook", Casey Ryback. Teaming up with one of the train's porters, Bobby Zachs (Chestnut), the two unlikely allies then proceed to take down the goons, slowly making their way to Dane. But will they save the hostages, Ryback's niece, and a large swath of America itself? Find out, as you relive the ultimate Kitchen Nightmare! Much like how a young Kevin McCallister must have felt in Home Alone 2 (1992), Casey Ryback must have thought, "I'm under siege...again? What are the odds?" Or maybe he's under siege all the time and these are just the two instances we know about. Maybe he's tired of being under siege all the time. While we could go further into a discussion comparing Macaulay Culkin and Steven Seagal and all their surprising similarities, just think about how Speed (1994) was on a bus, and Speed 2 (1997) was on a ship. As hijacked train movies go, the good news is that Under Siege 2 is better than Derailed (2002). The bad news is that no movie can hope to compare with the majesty that is Hostage Train (1997). Seagal is backed up with a nice ensemble cast - Bogosian gets to ham it up as the diabolical baddie with the sweet typing skills, a young Katherine Heigl looks a lot like a young Candace Cameron (it was the heyday of Full House, after all, although to our knowledge DJ never threw a grenade at anybody), and Morris Chestnut puts energy into his sidekick role. Other B-movie names that you know and love, such as Peter Greene, Kurtwood Smith, Nick Mancuso, Brenda Bakke, and Patrick Kilpatrick fill out the supporting cast well, and it was especially welcome to see a pre-Breaking Bad Jonathan Banks in there. But only Seagal gets a triumphant musical swell when he first shows up on screen. 90's fans will especially appreciate the fact that people smoke indoors, even the most high-tech government computers look like someone using Mario Paint, and Seagal is armed only with an Apple Newton. Well, that and several guns, knives, grenades, and his fists and feet. But the Newton does play an important role in the plot, and this was back when most people didn't hold Apple in very high esteem. Of course, all this great 90's nostalgia has a flipside. If it's possible, the movie has gotten stupider over time. What you remember fondly from back then may have soured in the intervening years. The dialogue is so repetitive, you could start watching at any point because the characters are constantly recapping what went on before, or restating what's happening at that moment. And never mind the fact that a group of baddies take time out of their busy hijacking schedules to shoot a bunch of luggage with their machine guns. Why they felt the need to do this remains puzzling.Under Siege 2 was notoriously cut to ribbons in the UK, so make sure to never buy any UK DVDs of the film. Watching a Seagal movie with the violent bits taken out is a bit like eating unflavored mush. Although it must be noted that while we are against the censorship, the BBFC director at the time was quite prescient and perspicacious when he commented that he didn't like the "sadism" of Seagal's violence. We're impressed that he picked up on Seagal's sadism so early on. We can only wonder what he would have thought of out-and-out sadistic crud like Kill Switch (2008). Seagal n' Smallwood only contribute one song this time around (usually they do at least two), "After the Train Has Gone", and they even managed to rope in Gregg Allman for it. As for the movie itself, it remains watchable, but darn stupid. But, then again, if you wanted to watch something that wasn't stupid, you wouldn't be watching Under Siege 2: Dark Territory. The cast, the silliness, and the 90's nostalgia make this train coast for the first 80 minutes or so, but then it starts to run out of steam.

In 1992, there came a film which popularised a new action superstar to the world. That film was UNDER SIEGE, and that man was Steven Seagal. Three years later, the inevitable sequel arrived, and it was a flop. In fact, it went straight to video in this country. The law of diminishing returns simply meant that it just wouldn't hold up to the original film. But then I found out something strange. It did. And, in fact, it's better than the original classic, which was pretty darned good as well. Perhaps it's the pacing, the setting, or the creative force behind the film which makes it work, or perhaps it's simply the sight of Seagal beating up bad guys once again. I don't know, but I love this film.The use of a train as a setting is a neat idea, and the scenes are all played very well. Every inch of the train is used for action and stalking sequences, and Seagal even gets off the train at one point, only to board it (by jumping from a speeding car) later on. It's fantastically unrealistic, but it's still hugely enjoyable. Seagal hides in the toilet, in the cold storage, everywhere really, and as it's a double decker train, there are always enough places to hide in.Although there's been an obvious weight gain since UNDER SIEGE, Seagal is still on top form, using a wide variety of weaponry against the many bad guys he kills in this film. He throws knives, shoots different guns, stabs, breaks wrists and necks, burns, throws people from trains (and under trains), punches, kicks, and even practises martial arts on the baddies, so that the death scenes are never boring, just very creative. The claret is on full flow in this film too, with all of the wrist-snapping neck-cracking bone-breaking bloody action that we have come to expect from a Seagal movie. Seagal confessed that he was down while making the film due to a split up with his wife, but don't worry, it doesn't show. In fact he doesn't need to show much expression, as he's simply a quick, agile, intelligent killing machine with literally hundreds of tricks up his sleeve.Eric Bogosian hams it up deliciously as the over the top villain, and he's memorable for it; hardly threatening though, and more like a computer geek. The brawn is supplied in the hefty form of Everett McGill, a guy who uses pepper spray as mouth wash and who cuts an imposing presence on screen. The final showdown between himself and Seagal is superb, probably the best fight ever, and it lasts for a while as well (something of a change in a Seagal film). I loved it. The rest of the cast support the main actors well, with an unwilling accomplice, a young tough teenage girl facing certain death, Brenda Bakke as the glamour interest, two military guys returning from Under Siege and memorable screen villain Kurtwood Smith as a stuffy officer.If you're interested in DIE HARD rip-offs, then this really is one of the best. It has it all, a brilliant explosive climax where Seagal outruns a moving train wreck, gun play, gore, violence, suspense, everything. In fact, it's one of my favourite films of all time, and along with UNDER SIEGE, is one of the very best films in Seagal's filmography. I really can't think of a way to make it better or make my enjoyment of it greater.

„Under siege 2 " is a totally over the top, totally unbelievable yet highly entertaining sequel to Seagal's best movie. Objectively if you compare it to the original it's a disappointment . The story is pretty much a copy of the first movie with small changes. It's also unrealistic and dumb in places. Despite it's faults it's still an entertaining movie.What we have here is basically "Die hard on train". The train itself is a good location. There is lot of pretty scenery and since the train is in constant motion the movie is also fast paced. I had problems with Geoff Murphy's direction in "Young guns 2" . Here he directs "US 2" with formidable energy. The movie is edited very quickly, almost like a music video. Speaking of music Basil Poledouris score is far superior than Gary Chang's from first movie. It's one of best soundtracks for action movie ever made. The special effects are adorably cheesy and add to the overall campy entertainment value. The script has some quotable one-liners : "Nobody beats me in the kitchen" , "Chance favors the prepared mind" , "Guess I'm not trained for this...".There is lot of cool train action here (on the train , under the train , in the train) . Every bad guy is dispatched with minimum of effort as no-one is anywhere near as hard as Casey Ryback . Broken bones, severed limbs, terrorists in agonizing pain … This movie has an obvious comic book feeling to it and I really liked the non stop carnage. They just don't make them like this anymore. Steven Seagal is basically invincible here. He gets shot , but the movie quickly forgets about it. His doing unbelievable stuff without breaking a sweat . "US 2" it does stretch reality to the breaking point and beyond, but it can be forgiven.Steven Seagal was forced to do this movie after the failure of his very personal movie "On deadly ground" . There is even an unused footage from "ODG" here . Seagal doesn't even try to act here. His obviously unhappy that his making this movie and more stiff than usual. There is a damsel in distress here- Ryback's niece Sarah played by Katherine Hiegl who is a good eye candy and nothing more. Seagal also gets a sidekick - naive porter Bobby Zachs played nicely by Morris Chestnut.The movie belongs to Eric Bogosian as crazed computer genius Travis Dane and menacing Everett McGill as Penn. There is veteran supporting actor Jonathan Banks ("Beverly hills cop") in small role of terrorist. Watch out for Kurtwood Smith ("Robocop") as a US general (too bad they didn't used him as a villain).Idiotic , yet fun movie full of testosterone. Best cheap thrills you can find. I give it 5/10.

Geoff Murphy took over directing duties for this sequel, which sees Steven Seagal returning as former Navy Seal now chef Casey Ryback, who is on a Colorado to California train trip with his niece whose parents have recently died. As luck would have it, the train is targeted for takeover by mercenaries led by a crazed scientist/inventor(played by Eric Bogosian) who wants to use the mobile train to hijack a top secret Pentagon satellite to hold the U.S. government for ransom, or he will destroy the Eastern Seaboard, so once again Ryback must go into battle to stop them. Mostly routine sequel does have the novelty of the train setting, and Bogosian is amusing as the bad guy. Still, this mostly comes up short, with strained credibility, though there is a spectacular climax.