Ranking all the Steven Seagal films from worst to best
Steven Seagal started as an alternative and more visceral action hero in the 80s, He did not rely on pure muscle prowess but rather he employed a set of skills that violently incapacitated goons and villains alike. As his fame grew larger, so too did Seagal’s ego and myth. He was claiming to be a CIA operative, a master of several martial arts, a mystic, someone who does not bow down to the Hollywood rules. A steady upwards trajectory of action motion pictures quickly fizzled out in the mid-90s with subpar outputs eventually placing him exclusively in direct-to-video territory. Steven became a joke, grew sideways and continued to weave additional threads into his own myth. Any goodwill and legitimacy to his earlier cinematic and life origins (i.e., 7th-dan black belt, fluency in speaking Japanese) was undone to the degree that even his actual martial art credentials were brought into question.
Nevertheless, he has his own spot (albeit briefly) as an action star showcasing new martial arts which felt appropriate for movies displaying far more shocking violence than what Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Willis, or Van Damme had demoed at that point. Broken limbs, wrists, teeth, and legs along with stabs and gunshot wounds generally populated this theatrical résumé (especially in the first five films) under a grittier, more realistic tone. We won’t be covering any DTV duds where Steven is floating around space, doing tai chi moves while wearing an obvious headpiece and being doubled by obvious stunt doubles. Still, you gotta hand it to the guy. He did a few things that other self-important and contemporary action stars never did. He wasted $50 million in his passion project to preach about the environment and the treatment of Native Americans (On Deadly Ground (1994)), he was killed on screen by himself(!) (Machete (2010)) and to shock audiences (Executive Decision (1996)), self-deprecated his presence in the new millennium (Exit Wounds (2001)) and deeply wanted to portray himself as Italian-American (Above the Law (1988), Out for Justice (1991))! You can’t make that stuff up! So we will rank only the theatrical releases of Steven Seagal from worst to best.
Seagal characters:
Detective (vice squad, internal affairs): 5
Agent (DEA, FBI, EPA): 3
Chief petty officer: 2
Firefighter
Lieutenant colonel
Drug lord
Countries: USA, Mexico, Italy
Cities: Chicago (2), Los Angeles (2), Jackson, Detroit, New York, Denver, Trieste, San Francisco
13.Half Past Dead (2002)
The last of Seagal’s theatrical output received a low-profile release and continued the trend set in the surprisingly successful Exit Wounds a year prior seeing the American Aikido master partner up with 2000s rappers. This time instead of DMX, we get Ja Rule whose acting skills are even more embarrassing than Seagal’s whose 80s/early 90s charisma has left for Russian pastures. Sporting a bandana and featured in remarkably anemic action sequences, the towering star is a mere shadow of his former self unable to deliver anything convincingly. He has no chemistry with Ja Rule and any good will shown in the trashy but fun Exit Wounds has disappeared altogether in a film so devoid of appeal that that it thinks dated and cheap post-Matrix (1999) visuals would do the trick. To quote Raiden from Mortal Kombat(1995): “I don’t think so!“
Seagalism
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Stuntwork
🎞️
Quality
👌
Critical success
🌟
Commercial success
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12.The Glimmer Man (1996)
Due to enlightenment issues, Seagal decided to stop killing on the big screen which is the only thing Seagal was good at in the first place. John Gray’s movie opts for a buddy comedy vibe involving a serial killer, a Seagal novelty at that point. However, its aspirations to be both Seven (1995) and Lethal Weapon (1987) are laughable as it has neither the visual panache of the former or the verbal banter of the latter. Despite a solid cast, an unengaging Seagal sports boring spiritual mambo jumbo in a script clearing the way for his mythical attributes he will exemplify later on in real life: he deeply understands Asian philosophy, he is a (cool) pacifist, he speaks Mandarin, he hangs out in Chinatown, he passes a lie detector test like a champ and he can kill you as an uber secret CIA operative within the duration of a glimmer. Seagalism activated!
Seagalism
🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟
Commercial success
💰
11.Under Siege 2: Dark Territory
The beginning of the end. Although not as successful as its predecessor, Under Siege 2 has Seagal beginning to achieve all his Seagalistic goals - to become the ultimate master even if he should have hit the gym instead of the buffet. From the use of obvious stunt doubles in kinda bourgeois fight sequences (there is little thrashing around) to a lamer and less entertaining version of Die Hard (1988) on a train, Under Siege 2 is almost banal. Almost. Some kills are fun though, the villain (portrayed by Eric Bogosian with a gleeful eye) somewhat energizes the proceedings and there is a young Katherine Heigl as Seagal’s niece surrounded by mercenary noobs that will meet unwillingly their maker soon. It pales in comparison with the original though and its use of dated CGI effects places it in the utterly forgettable territory.
Seagalism
🎬🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰
10.Exit Wounds (2001)
Exit Wounds is actually pretty ok bearing all the early post-Matrix qualities of action American films. There is slo-mo, funny wire fu, leather jackets (or coats, pick one), famous (now forgotten by the zeitgeist) rappers, and black urban culture depicted by an almost exclusively black cast. Seagal is at the forefront after being absent since 1997 and does a decent pair with DMX. Director Andrzej Bartkowiak who dug into the contemporary hip-hop culture in the Matrix clone Romeo Must Die (2000) stages a few serviceable fights and the zen master does for the first time three things in his … eclectic career: wire fu, self-deprecation (“This is a happy face!”), and witty banter with rapid mouth supporting players giving the movie the biggest of smiles. It is pretty disposable entertainment for sure although it pales when it is compared to his earlier outputs.
Seagalism
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Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟
Commercial success
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9.On Deadly Ground (1994)
As a comedy, Seagal’s directional and writing debut should be placed way higher on this list. It is hilarious how an environmental friendly firefighter ends up blowing up all of Alaska to make a point towards Michael Caine’s sleazebag oil CEO. Seagal aims for a snowy action epic ($50 million!), yet he ends up delivering an incomprehensible mess with terrible editing. He even fails to deliver a memorable brawl (e.g., a bar melee (his specialty) bears no sense whatsoever). Nevertheless, this profound lack of irony is what designates On Deadly Ground a must watch. There is a certain amount of intrigue in seeing how Seagal wasted such a big sum of money with flaws being the stuff of legend. To be fair to him and his ego though: he did try to have some sort of pre-school level environmental and Native American commentary. So extra points for that!
Seagalism
🎬🎬🎬🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰
8.Hard to Kill (1990)
Hard to Kill is not a bad movie but it is not a super interesting either. It is a typical 90s action thriller that contains all the expected traits: hot babe (Kelly LeBrock), R-rated violence, one-liners, and corrupted politicians wrapped around a pretty straightforward story of revenge. The villain might be a nothingburger but some of the fights do maintain a visceral feeling which nowadays is missing from all the Netflix cookie cutter flicks. These are real people being thrown around like ragdolls and there is some sort of a cinematic quality watching stuntmen get knocked out for our pleasure. Le Brock is an exquisite physical specimen as a 80/90s goddess but she lacks both the pathos to carry the celluloid drama and the chemistry with her then husband. Nevertheless, this is one of the few Seagal films where he displays some vulnerability and even gets shot down. So we have that!
Seagalism
🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰💰
7.Fire Down Below (1997)
The second environmental attempt of Seagal’s is actually better than you would remember despite following the same formula of On Deadly Ground. The villain this time around is being played to perfection by a steely Kris Kristofferson and the landscapes of Kentucky which usually do not make it on screen are breathtakingly beautiful to watch due to the crisp cinematography of Tom Houghton. The fight scenes are solid and since 1992 entertaining, the villain’s son a proper little shit in immediate need of an ass-whooping and there is a welcome return to more concrete stuntwork that had not been seen since the days of The Glimmer Man, On Deadly Ground, and Under Siege 2. It is one of the most watchable Seagal outputs and any Seagalisms are toned down a bit propelling the film further up.
Seagalism
🎬🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌👌
Critical success
🌟
Commercial success
💰
6.Out for Justice (1991)
Infamous for the brief pool cue fight sequence between Seagal and Bruce Lee’s student Dan Inosanto in a bar (Seagal’s favorite fight scene in his career), Out for Justice is easily his bleakest. It has relentless and inventive violence (e.g., pool table ball in a cloth makes perfect sense to dispatch goons), nasty stuntwork, and Seagal at the peak of his star power chasing down an American Brooklyn mobster played by William Forsythe with manic gusto. However, Out for Justice rests at the sixth spot because of its final confrontation between Richie and Gino which calling it disappointing is an understatement. Watching Forsythe getting thrown around like a piece of meat is not that appealing after a while. After the uber thin Hard to Kill and Marked for Death, it’s a good vehicle for Seagal’s stoic charisma.
Seagalism
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Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰
5.Marked for Death (1990)
This is pure 90s action cheese. The master himself said that from all the fights he has done, Marked for Death includes perhaps his favorites and it shows. Continuing the trend of excessive on-screen brutality, Seagal goes toe to toe with a Jamaican voodoo gang (for real!) and the results are as you have expected, glorious. The violence is excellent (the brawl on the shopping mall is pretty cool), the kills flirt deep with gore, the antagonist someone who can be genuinely intimidating unlike most of Seagal’s opponents and the actor is having a ball with the limited material showcasing at every shot his stoicism and badassery which knows no bounds! It is a by no means peak 90s actioner but it is damn entertaining and its sly twist makes it stand out from the Seagal pile of his latter career half.
Seagalism
🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰
4.Executive Decision (1996)
The first of the two Seagal films where he is a secondary character, Executive Decision might be described as another Die Hard clone set within the confinements of a commercial plane but it has a few neat tricks up its sleeve. In his directional debut, Stuart Baird (Tango and Cash (1989), Die Hard 2 (1990), Demolition Man (1993)) delivers an excellent thrill ride with Steven in shotgun mode making room for the always brilliant Kurt Russell and an excellent supporting cast. While you would expect Seagal to board the plane and start smashing it by using the terrorists-stuntmen as tools of destruction, Steven thought it would be cool to go the other route and bite the dust long before any dispatching would have occurred in a shocking 90s moment! You have to hand it to him. No Sly, Arnie, Van Damme, or Willis ever died unexpectedly on-screen!
Seagalism
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Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰💰💰
3.Machete (2010)
Robert Rodriguez’s grindhouse inspired knock off boasts a stellar ensemble which would be the envy of many directors. While not a Seagal movie per se, it was his first after eight years in theatrical exile. Despite becoming a pompous … individual over time, he nevertheless jumped on the opportunity to work with the manic Rodriguez taking villain duties. Although his towering (across any dimension) frame is hard to hide, Seagal is one of the first bright spots of a surprisingly unfocused flick sharing a pretty cool fight sequence with the Machete himself, Danny Trejo. Seagalisms cannot be restrained even here though; ***spoiler*** Seagal opts to kill Seagal himself at the end while laughing at the whole irony of the moment. Despite being a dud in SNL, his comic timing is spot on here.
Seagalism
🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️
Quality
👌👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰💰
2.Above the Law (1988)
The motion picture that kicked the (brief) era of a new action star. In their first collaboration together, Steven Seagal and director Andrew Davis (The Fugitive (1993)) made Above the Law. Featuring a surprisingly effective gritty take on the cop thriller that has more brains than brawn and not sardonic doses of humor, Davis delivers a pretty good pic and Seagal’s alternative charisma as the stoic and more lean hero does shine through. Davis’ movie was the first to demonstrate in American cinema the dynamic and bone-crunching qualities of his on-screen version of Aikido. Seagal created this unique form of violence and for the first time, it worked really well with the martial artist actually trying a bit harder than his later career to act. Watch out for a pre-famous Sharon Stone and the 70s icon that is Pam Grier in supporting roles.
Seagalism
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Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰💰
1.Under Siege (1992)
In the second and final collaboration together, Davis and Seagal made the Oscar nominated (!) Die Hard on a Boat which resulted in massive box office revenues. Following Steven’s successful 4 films in a row, Under Siege establishing Seagal as a mainstream action star whose skills can be put convincingly on the big screen with the right director. The Die Hard (1988) template is always something of a cheap but essential ingredient for a moderate form of success. Although there is no Alan Rickman here, we have Tommy Lee Jones and Gary Busey having a blast - the latter sporting a hilarious drug costume in the movie’s most bizarre and perhaps memorable moment. If you include a unique setting of a military ship in the middle of the ocean, splatter territory kills, almost zero Seagalisms (“Just a lonely, lonely cook”) and solid set pieces and you can see that Seagal made it briefly into A-list status.
Seagalism
🎬🎬
Stuntwork
🎞️🎞️
Quality
👌👌👌👌
Critical success
🌟🌟🌟
Commercial success
💰💰💰💰💰