Steven Seagal (“Under Siege”, “Above The Law”) directs and stars in “On Deadly Ground”, a disappointing action flick with a confused environmental message. There is distinct lack of action during the first half of the movie and it’s only really in the last act that we get to see some shootouts and fistfights.

In “On Deadly Ground”, Forrest Taft (Seagal) is a specialist when it comes to dealing with oil drilling-related fires but when he finds out that wealthy businessman (Michael Caine “Get Carter”) is intentionally using low-grade materials, he sets out to blow up the oil refinery… to ‘save’ the environment.

Seagal’s lack of charisma makes him very dull to watch in this film and it’s particularly noticeable here compared to some of his other work due to the lack of fight scenes. There is a bizarre sequence where he goes on a mystical journey whilst spending time with some Native Americans. Michael Caine would be enjoyable as the villain if he was in a better movie. The film criminally underuses R. Lee Ermey (“Full Metal Jacket”), who plays a mercenary here. The other characters aren’t very interesting, especially the Native Americans, who have nothing interesting to say or do.

“On Deadly Ground” is arguably the stupidest film I’ve seen about saving the environment. The movie ends with a preachy speech from Seagal about how people have to stand up against big oil companies that are destroying the planet but this comes straight after we see him cause a major environmental disaster by blowing up an oil refinery. This is a silly film with some mild enjoyment to be had during some of the action scenes, the finale is amusing because it is so dumb and Michael Caine is somewhat enjoyable as the villain. The movie was a flop and it’s not surprising Seagal hasn’t been back in the director’s chair since.