Under Siege
Unclear and Present Danger
Jamelle Bouie
4.7 • 660 Ratings
🗓️ 28 May 2022
⏱️ 68 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
For episode 16 of Unclear and Present Danger, Jamelle and John discuss “Under Siege,” 1992 action thriller directed by Andrew Davis and starring Steven Seagal in what is clearly his best role. We talk about Seagal’s career, Hollywood’s view of the American military in this era of filmmaking, and the strange, almost left-wing politics of this movie in particular. Jamelle also attempts a bad impression of Seagal. It’s a good time.
“Under Siege” is available for rent on Amazon and iTunes.
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Links from the episode!
New York Times frontpage for October 9, 1992
Steven Seagal’s infamously unwatchable appearance on Saturday Night Live.
Scene in “Austin Powers” where Austin learns the Cold War is over.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It was the final voyage of America's mightiest battleship. |
| 0:05.0 | Imagine this arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons falling into the wrong hands. |
| 0:11.0 | Now, a team of terrorists have taken over. |
| 0:15.0 | Wake up the president. |
| 0:16.0 | But there's just one thing they didn't count on. |
| 0:19.0 | The cook. |
| 0:21.6 | They're coming! |
| 0:23.6 | Are you like some special forces guy or something? |
| 0:28.6 | No, I'm just a cook. |
| 0:30.6 | I'll see you in hell, Senator Boy! |
| 0:32.6 | Under Siege Welcome to Episode 16 of Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast about the political and military thrillers of the 1990s and what they say about the politics of that decade. |
| 1:18.5 | I'm Jamel Bowie. I'm a columnist for the New York Times opinion section. |
| 1:22.1 | My name is John Gans. I write a substack newsletter called On Popular Front, and I'm working on a book about American |
| 1:29.6 | politics in the early 90s. |
| 1:31.8 | And today we are talking about the 1992 action thriller Under Siege, directed by Andrew Davis, |
| 1:37.9 | who previously directed the package, another unclear and present danger film, and starring Steven Sago, Tommy Lee Jones, |
| 1:47.3 | Elena L. Aeneak, and Gary Busey. Here is a very quick plot synopsis. Disgruntled ex-CIA |
| 1:56.0 | operative Stranix, his assistant Krill, and their group of terrorists seized the battleship with nuclear |
| 2:01.5 | blackmail in mind. They've planned for every contingency but ignored the ship's cook, |
| 2:06.4 | former Navy's T.O. Casey Ryback, an error that could be fatal. If you would like to watch the |
| 2:12.0 | movie before you enjoy this conversation, you can find it on iTunes and Amazon. It's available to buy or rent on either. |
| 2:21.6 | Okay. I did that stupid Steven Seagull. I'm having, I'm having trouble keep it together. |
... |
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