If you’re going to watch a Steven Seagal movie, let this be the one you pick. He plays Casey Ryback, chief petty officer and culinary specialist on the USS Missouri. As the ship sails off to be decommissioned, he starts making a meal for the commanding officer, Captain Adams (Patrick O’Neal), despite what the executive officer, Commander Krill (Gary Busey), wants. Why is he bringing in food and entertainment — like Jordan Tate (Erika Eleniak), Playboy Playmate for July 1989, just like Eleniak in real life — on board?

That’s because he’s working with William Strannix (Tommy Lee Jones), a former CIA operative who is now a terrorist. After Ryback is locked in the kitchen, he takes over the boat, working with Krill, who kills Adams. They want to take the ship’s Tomahawk missiles and load them onto a hijacked North Korean submarine, where they will be sold to a foreign army that will possibly start World War III.

Ryback is a former Navy SEAL with extensive training in counterterrorism tactics who was screwed over by the system, and Adams took on the role of his cook so he could finish out his Navy career. Now they went and got him angry, and he’s ready to take out every terrorist, even teaching Jordan how to fight back. This is the best use of Seagal, as the villains get so much screen time and you can’t wait to see him finally go nuts on some terrorists.

Director Andrew Davis also made Above the Law with Seagal (that one is good), as well as The Fugitive, Code of Silence, The Final Terror, Holes, Collateral Damage and more. He was also the DP on Mansion of the Doomed, which blows my mind.

Based on a spec script by J. F. Lawton called Dreadnought, Seagal actually turned this down at first, having issues with his character teaming with a woman who jumps out of a cake. Yes, really.

The Arrow Video release of this movie has a new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negative by Arrow Films approved by director Andrew Davis; new audio commentary with director Andrew Davis and writer J.F. Lawton; interviews with Davis, Erika Eleniak, Damian Chapa and visual effects supervisor William Mesa; a trailer; a reversible sleeve featuring two original artwork options and a collectors’ booklet featuring new writing on the film by Vern and a serial fiction by Martyn Pedler. You can get it on 4K UHD or Blu-ray from MVD.