Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-kicking Films of Steven Seagal [Paperback]

 

 

Create your own review

Vern is the guy who used to write reviews of action movies for Ain't It Cool News, mostly low-budget, direct-to-video/DVD stuff that most people wouldn't touch with a bargepole. Whilst writing these reviews he'd engender a lot of debate and flamewars with one exception: the movies of Steven Seagal. It turned out that there are many fans of the Seagal out there, people who watch his movies religiously, drink cans of Steven Seagal's Lightning Bolt (his own energy drink) and listen to his albums whilst analysing the themes and motifs of his work. And some of them weren't being all cool and ironic. Fascinated, Vern set out on a mission to watch and review all of Seagal's movies. This proved difficult, as Seagal was entering his most prolific period to date. However, with his next couple of pictures delayed, Vern was finally able to catch up and write a book about his experiences.

This is a very good book. It's genuinely funny, interesting and, in its own way, incredibly barmy. Vern isn't writing serious film criticism here but he's also not taking the mickey either. He obviously respects Seagal (and given how many people he's thrown through windows over the years this is probably a good thing) and is genuinely interested in what makes his films tick.

An early discovery is that Seagal is a left-wing action star, which immediately puts him in a different boat to Schwarznegger, Stallone etc. His films usually don't portray America in the best light, and the most common theme between them is how corrupt the CIA can be and how the US' own developments in areas like WMDs are not really helping make the world a safer place. By analysing the motifs that repeat themselves in every single movie, Vern draws some interesting conclusions.

Most of the book is taken up by a film-by-film analysis of his works. There are 27 movies here, ranging from the very-well-known action flick Under Siege to the debacle that is Submerged. Vern clearly loves the early movies, when Seagal is younger, does all his own stunts and the plots are pretty straightforward, generally a variation on the "Bad guy killed his partner/wife or kidnapped his daughter/pen-pal and he has to sort it out," set-up. The first movie or two are generic action flicks enlivened by Seagal's slightly unorthodox fighting abilities, but very quickly we start seeing some of Seagal's iconic touches coming in as he becomes able to exert influence on the movie's direction. He starts wearing some rididculous outfits, gets a ponytail, and delivers message about karma. Vern points to On Deadly Ground as being a vital point in Seagal's movie development, namely the legendary bar fight scene where, having defeated his goons, Seagal suddenly neutralises the bad guy by playing a weird game with him and then engaging him in a debate about if it is possible to change the essence of a man whilst stirring, epic music plays in the background.

From then on, it's insanity all the way as Seagal stops some villains from blowing up a petrol station with a stick of dynamite by shooting the burning fuse off the dynamite whilst it's tumbling in mid-air, saves the USA from a horrific virus by spraying the countryside with flowers from a helicopter and travels across the planet to save his teenage pen-pal after he's sold into white slavery, even though Seagal hasn't actually been told this and just guesses randomly that something is up. Along the way, he plays cops, ex-CIA agents, ex-Navy SEAL chefs, and a respected expert in Chinese archaeology serving at Yale (but who actually turns out to be the male, retired version of Lara Croft). He fights the mafia, yakuza, corrupt government agents, drug-dealers and bent cops with guns, martial arts, swords, a snooker ball wrapped in a handkerchief and, on one bizarre occasion, a credit card. He throws dozens of people through windows and narrowly avoids enormous explosions on countless occasions. On one occasion he even dies, which is rather jarring.

You also find out more information than you ever needed to know about the formulation of energy drinks and Steven Seagal's musical career. I must admit I found the revelation of his musical background to be pretty cringe-inducing, but a quick trip to YouTube reveals that Seagal is a surprisingly accomplished guitarist, although his vocal range is limited. He even has a few decent reggae, funk and blues songs up there. I mean, Jimmy Cliff doesn't need to start worrying about the competition, but it's light-years beyond most actor-turned-musician projects (Dogstar comes immediately to mind).

Vern's central thesis, that Seagal is an auteur film-maker who imprints all his movies, even the ones not written specifically for him, with his own interests and unique sensibility in a way that Chuck Norris or Jean-Claude Van Damme do not, is hard to refute. This is partially what makes the book a success. The other part is that it is absolutely hilarious. Whenever Vern seems to be getting a bit too serious about his ideological analysis of the politics of the films or something, he'll drop in a casual comment or train of thought that will leave you giggling like a fool. By the time you reach the end of the book you can't help but agree with Vern that there is something interesting going on with some of these movies beyond a surface reading.

Complaints? Well, if reading a book makes you want to go and watch Attack Force or Submerged, it's probably not an entirely good thing. Also, the later DTV movies tend to blur into one and it's rather hard at times to care enough about some random awful film you're never going to watch to read a ten-page analysis of it, but Vern ususally drops in enough interesting analysis or comedy to make it all worthwhile.

Seagalogy is an impressive book, a witty and affectionate account of Seagal's work that sort-of ironically makes a claim for Seagal as being one of the great star-auteurs of modern cinema and also identifies Seagal's films as putting forward a largely progressive and liberal worldview. These are all points (the progressive elements in Seagal's films, his screen persona, the quasi-ironic entertainment that the films offer) that I remember discussing with friends in the early 1990s, after we had been to see whichever Seagal film was showing at the local cinema, and in these days of Seagal's straight-to-video output these are still the topics of conversation following the release of whichever straight-to-video Seagal film has just hit the shelves; because of this, the book feels like revisiting those old dialogues with friends, and the author has clearly studied the films very closely, producing a detailed analysis of the films. At the same time, the author's style is very witty and is frequently laugh-out-loud funny.

However, the book could really have benefited from some tighter editing: there are some clumsy spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that stick out like a sore thumb (one of the chapters is accidentally titled 'Transtional Stage' instead of 'Transitional Stage'). Vern's style is also undisciplined: there are a huge volume of interjections in the first-person ('I think', 'I feel') and this often heavy subjectivity frequently disrupts the flow of the writer's argument and there are times when the book feels like a largely-subjective A Level Film Studies essay. A good editor would have suggested rephrasing some of these passages. The book could also have greatly benefited from some primary research too: interviews with people who have worked with Seagal would have been relatively easy to arrange and would have given some of Vern's points added credence.

In sum, this is a very good book that has some niggling flaws in terms of presentation and writing style. The book offers insight and wit, together with a central thesis/argument that is strongly grounded in the author's analysis of the films. Action cinema has had much written about it, but these kind of mid to low-tier action pictures tend to be neglected by both film criticism and film studies, and this book is a very good attempt to address that issue: it offers insight into a type of action cinema (those late-1980s/early-1990s semi-independent films that rode on the coat-tails of the Stallone/Schwarzenegger blockbusters of the 1980s) that has now fallen by the wayside, being driven off the big screen and directly onto the shelves of your local video (or DVD) shop.

I don't think any fan of action cinema will regret buying this book; you may sometimes find Vern's writing style slightly frustrating or bemoan the lack of interviews and primary research, but you'll leave the book behind feeling a great deal of respect for the author's dedication to his subject and his sheer enthusiasm for a type of cinema that many people simply treat with disdain.

I love this book !

OK, no-one's going to pretend that Seagal is Laurence Olivier, but 'Vern' treats his subject in just the right way. He's obviously a true fan but this book is no gushing, uncritical fan-job as so many of this type are. He makes a compelling case for Seagal's work while at the same time making many, very funny, asides about the 'action movie' genre. I literally laughed-out-loud throughout.
If you've ever enjoyed a Seagal movie, then do buy this book. At the very least, it will make you want to scour the DVD racks for more Seagal movies ; and that, to me, is the sure sign of a good book of criticism.
( Only four stars ? Well, that's only because there are no pictures which is understandable in that it's an 'unauthorized' work. So don't be put off....)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Great seagal book
This is exactly the right tone for an analysis of steven seagal. Its not making fun of him and it doesnt try to pretend he's marlon brando either. Read more

Published 4 months ago by jamo

5.0 out of 5 stars All Hail Mr Seagal
I have to say right here and right now that are few books that cause me to set them down due to wholly uncontrollable fits of laughter. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Löst Jimmy

1.0 out of 5 stars Not even ying to balance the yang
This was altogether too violent for my tastes. Everyone is aware of Mr Seagal's more feminine side- his work with animal sanctuaries, lepers and his submergence in Eastern... Read more

Published on 26 Sep 2009 by harold adams

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Idea
This is a book that needed to be written!

Steven Seagal has sort of become a joke with his movies being dubbed and some of his movies he uses stunt doubles for some... Read more

Published on 31 May 2009 by Mr. Conrad Steven Malpas

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious but done with love for the subject
This is a fantastic read for fans of action movies, especially fans of a certain Mr Steven Seagal. The authors love for the mans movies is clear to see but this doesn't stop him... Read more

Published on 4 Mar 2009 by T. Grant

5.0 out of 5 stars Top stuff
Vern's love of Seagal is matched by my enthusiasm in general for the action flix of the 80's. These days there are just not enough DVD's with covers emblazened with mercenaries... Read more

Published on 7 Jan 2009 by Fingerbar Fiddleston

5.0 out of 5 stars The perfect Seagal book
This book is excellent.

It treats Seagal's films with just the right tongue-in-cheek attitude, Vern obvoiusly worships Seagal (and rightly so) but he doesn't write a... Read more

Published on 22 Oct 2008 by Zin

5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing, thought provoking and worth your time
This could be a ground-breaking book.

Usually in a book with a subject like this the reader would expect one of two things - either predominantly fawning and... Read more

Published on 26 Jun 2008 by David Moran

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 11 customer reviews on Amazon.co.uk

Search Listmania!