Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
Directed by Geoff Murphy
- action
- thriller
The story
A passenger train has been hijacked by an electronics expert and turned into an untraceable command center for a weapons satellite. He has planned to blow up Washington DC and only one man can stop him, former Navy SEAL Casey Ryback.
What it’s like
Hard-edged 1990s studio action shot in saturated, glossy colour, with the bright blue-grey of mid-range sky, sodium-orange lamps in cramped interiors, and the cold white glare of fluorescent corridors and control rooms. Much of it unfolds on a long train: narrow carriage aisles, tight handheld-style coverage during fights, and abrupt cuts that keep the pace jittery. The sound design is loud and percussive, with thudding gunfire, clanging metal, and a synth-heavy, bombastic score that pushes every confrontation forward. Violence is frequent and punchy, mostly gunplay and hand-to-hand brawling with some blood and a few lethal moments, but no gore for its own sake, and the tone is more tense than frightening. Emotionally it is blunt and lightly sardonic, a stoic hero against a cold, mechanical villain, with little room for quiet reflection. It suits a loud, distracting Friday night, a rewatch with friends who enjoy old-school action hokum, or a long-haul flight where you want something kinetic and easy to follow. It is for people who want escapist, wisecracking mayhem rather than gentle or slow-burning drama.
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