Roger Ebert
Just one Oscar
Tommy Lee Jones
Overacting Award
Gary Busey
The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award · 1:18:53
Kyle Brandt: Seagal was proposed as a better Dr. Richard Kimble, with the action rewritten around him.
Bill Simmons: Tommy Lee Jones was argued to play essentially the same character in Under Siege and The Fugitive.
The Coach Finstock Award for Best Life Lesson · 1:43:45
Bill Simmons: A military cook may have a formidable background and should not be dismissed.
Selected cast credits · Film reference
In the order the hosts got to it. Open a row for the discussion.
The missile-launch hug; final kiss; Ryback and Tommy Lee Jones action passages
Entrances, Seagal’s accidental comedy and hand technique, the supporting character design, war-room celebrations, ruthless villains, and the Navy look
Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child (Slight Return)”
The Ryback menu
The ocean
The emotional final salute
Lieutenant Krill, for failing to neutralize Ryback
Split: Jordan’s rapid competence; Seagal disappearing into the refrigerator
George H. W. Bush and Barbara Bush (playfully)
Seagal’s conduct and final kiss, gratuitous nudity, Casey Ryback’s name, a visibly living dead captain, indoor smoking, body doubles, and Busey’s later public image
“I do have 50 gallons of bouillabaisse that I could prepare for tomorrow”
Two takes were preserved: Seagal would improve The Fugitive as Richard Kimble, and Tommy Lee Jones gives essentially the same performance in both movies.
No casting what-ifs; Seagal almost did not star
Dwayne Davis, remembered as Alvin Mack from The Program
The war-room officer describing Honolulu reaching 10,000 degrees
Samuel L. Jackson replacing Gary Busey
Erika Eleniak’s E.T. appearance, Alabama shooting locations, budget-saving rewrites, Seagal’s Pearl Harbor idea, and the film persuading Harrison Ford to make The Fugitive
Seagal, Erika Eleniak, and the June 1989 Playboy issue: yes
The takeover plan, surprise-party cover, one-woman entertainment plan, haircuts, accents, cake logic, pills, injury continuity, ovens, and payment
No prestige-series remake
Philip Baker Hall as the captain
Could Ryback or Seagal cook? Did Seagal need a ponytail? How did his action-hero physique work?
Two dark speculative futures for Casey and Jordan were offered; neither was treated as fact.
The panel is imagining how this might look in the future.
The Ryback menu; Tommy Lee Jones’s aviators and leather jacket
“Don’t underestimate the cook”
Tommy Lee Jones won for carrying the film into The Fugitive and an enduring career.
Double Feature
The Rewatchables · aired February 6, 2024
The Package / Under Siege / Presumed Innocent / Enemy of the State
