Under Siege 02 (1995)

Introduction

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory is a 1995 American action thriller film set on board a train travelling through the Rocky Mountains from Denver to Los Angeles.

Directed by Geoff Murphy, it stars Steven Seagal as the ex-Navy SEAL, Casey Ryback, and is the sequel to the 1992 film Under Siege also starring Seagal.

The title refers to the railroading term that the subject train was travelling through dark territory, a section of railroad track that has no train signals and in which communications between train dispatchers and the railroad engineers were impossible.

Outline

Casey Ryback retires from the United States Navy and settles in Denver, Colorado, owning and running a restaurant named Mile High Cafe, where he is also an executive chef. Sometime after, his estranged brother, James Ryback, dies 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 travelling from Denver to Los Angeles through the Rocky Mountains. Onboard, they befriend a porter named Bobby Zachs and the train’s chefs.

As the train approaches the Rocky Mountains, it is hijacked by armed mercenaries, led by former US government computer hacker Travis Dane and his right-hand man and mercenary leader Marcus Penn. Dane worked on Grazer One, a top-secret military satellite particle weapon designed to destroy underground targets. The military fired Dane due to his mental instability; Dane later faked his suicide.

The mercenaries take the train’s passengers and staff hostage, herding them into the last two cars. Casey kills one mercenary, then slips away. Among the hostages are two former US Department of Defence colleagues who worked with Dane. Dane threatens them with torture unless they reveal the codes to take over Grazer. Despite giving up the codes, they are thrown from the train. During the course of events, Zachs becomes Casey’s sidekick.

Middle Eastern terrorists have offered Dane $1 billion to destroy the Eastern seaboard through using Grazer to target a nuclear reactor located underneath the Pentagon. Dane demonstrates Grazer to investors by destroying a Chinese chemical weapons plant. After one investor offers an additional $100 million, Dane destroys an airliner carrying the investor’s ex-wife.

The US government has difficulty locating Dane or Grazer. When officials destroy what they think is Grazer, Dane explains the NSA’s premier intelligence satellite was destroyed instead. As long as the train keeps moving, his location cannot be determined. However, Casey faxes a message to his assistant manager at the Mile High Cafe, who contacts Admiral Bates. Bates reluctantly approves a stealth bomber strike to destroy the train.

Zachs discovers that they are on the wrong tracks and on a collision course with a Southern Pacific freight train hauling gasoline tank cars. Since the trains are in dark territory, it was impossible for the train dispatchers to communicate with the trains’ engineers to stop the trains to avoid collision. Casey kills the mercenaries one by one and detaches the last two cars containing the hostages from the rest of the train while Dane and Penn plan to abandon most of the mercenaries to certain death with the hostages by leaving via helicopter with some of their elite members.

Dane uses his computer skills to locate the stealth bombers and re-targets Grazer to knock them out before they can complete their mission. Meanwhile, Penn had previously captured Sarah and uses her as bait for Casey. Casey confronts Penn and breaks his neck after a fight that spills into the kitchen.

Casey then finds Dane about to depart in a chopper hovering over the train. When Dane informs Casey that there is no way to stop Grazer from destroying Washington, Casey shoots him. The bullet destroys Dane’s computer, cellphone and injures Dane. Pentagon control of the satellite is restored and it is destroyed by remote control seconds before it would have fired on the Pentagon.

The Grand Continental and freight train collide on a trestle. Casey races through the exploding train and grabs a rope ladder dangling from the chopper. Dane, who has survived Casey’s bullet, catches on to the ladder. He attempts to climb into the helicopter but falls to his death in the fireball below when Casey shuts the helicopter door on his hands. With Casey, Sarah, Zachs, and the mercenary helicopter pilot (who Zachs has at gunpoint) as the survivors, Casey confirms the safety of the hostages. Later, Sarah and Casey pay their last respects at James’s grave.

Production & Filming Details

Director: Geoff Murphy.
Producers: Arnon Milchan, Steven Seagal, and Steve Perry.
Writers: Richard Hatem and Matt Reeves.
Music: Basil Poledouris.
Cinematography: Robbie Greenberg.
Editor: Michael Tronick.
Production: Regency Enterprises, New Regency Productions, and Seagal/Nasso Productions.
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 14 July 1995 (US).
Running Time: 100 minutes.
Country: US.
Language: English.

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