Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

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Under Siege 2: Dark Territory

Directed by	Geoff Murphy
Produced by	Arnon Milchan, Steve Perry, Steven Seagal
Written by	J.F. Lawton (characters), Roger Hatem, Matt Reeves
Starring	Steven Seagal, Eric Bogosian, Katherine Heigl, Morris Chestnut, Everett McGill
Music by	Basil Poledouris
Distributed by	Warner Brothers Pictures
Release date(s)	July 14, 1995
Running time	99 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Under Siege 2: Dark Territory is a 1995 action film, and is the sequel to Under Siege.

[edit] Synopsis

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

As in the film that preceded it, Steven Seagal plays Casey Ryback, an ex-Navy SEAL, who is travelling onboard a passenger train from Denver to Los Angeles. The train is hijacked by a group of terrorists, including a brilliant rogue ex-government electronics expert, who tries to use the train as a mobile base for a plot to hijack a satellite weapon. As the terrorists hold the world for ransom, destroying several targets to demonstrate they are not bluffing, Ryback plots to elude the guards and proceeds to take back control of the train. But added to his problems is a fuel-laden train coming in the opposite direction on the same line—and because of the mountainous location (the eponymous 'Dark Territory') no radio communication with the train is possible. Ryback must try to destroy the satellite and escape in time.

[edit] Trivia

Roger Hatem and Matt Reeves adapted their script Dark Territory, which they had sold to Richard Donner's company for $1 million, into a sequel to Under Siege.

Jon Peters left from being a producer after learning that Gary Busey's character was killed off in the first film.

The UK version of the film, although rated 18, was cut for violence by nearly three minutes.

The railroad passenger cars were built especially for the movie by Colorado Railcar Company and are still in existence today.

The scene of the destroyed industrial facility in China uses unused footage from On Deadly Ground (1994) (also a Seagal Movie). In "On Deadly Ground" it's the burning Aegis Oil facility.

Julian Sands and Jeff Goldblum were among those who refused the role of Travis Dane.

Travis Dane's signature line, "Chance favors the prepared mind," is a phrase originally said by Louis Pasteur.

The countdown timer blip sound effect on the computer used by Eric Bogosian (Travis Dane) is a blip sound from a Motorola-brand pager.

Filmmakers pioneered a new technique that enabled them to film all the interior train scenes (practically all the film) in the studio. Tennis balls glued on the studio walls were used as reference points to allow computers to insert footage of Colorado scenery, even when the camera moved around.

During initial test runs for filming of the external scenes, sparks from the locomotives caused flash fires along the railroad. The locomotives had to be fitted with spark arresters before filming could begin.