Damsels: Erika Eleniak – Under Siege
Erika Eleniak and I spent a lot of time together when I was young. Not physically but I saw her “performance” in Chasers about 600 times and she played the ultimate damsel in distress in one of the classic action movies of the early 90’s, Under Siege. Despite how easy Tommy Lee Jones, Gary Busey and crew make it seem, it can’t be that easy to take over a U.S. Naval Battleship. What does come easy, however, is falling desperately in love with the curvaceous and drop-dead gorgeous Erika Eleniak. Steven Seagal was right to take up arms against the terrorists who took over his ship but surely he could have spared a few minutes for some James Bond-esque hanky panky with Ms. Jordan Tate.
Check out that get-up!
Eleniak, who plays “Miss July 1989” Jordan Tate, was actually the Playboy Playmate for that issue. The magazine passed around by the servicemen is actually the same issue that is used by Kevin McCallister in Home Alone. I guess these two films share the same world. Does that mean that Kevin will show up in the rumored third edition of the Under Siege series? I doubt it, but it doesn’t make it any less fun to think about. What’s also fun to think about is that scene where Tate pops out of the birthday cake, oblivious that the entire ship had been taken over by terrorists and still intent on stripping down to her birthday suit. I should probably re-watch this scene for research purposes….
The inclusion of Eleniak was apparently not in the original script and Seagal appears to be the one to have pushed the idea of her being a stripper to add some humor to the story. It also added a great pair of tits, which I am always of a fan of. I salute you Mr. Seagal for your thoughtfulness and you Ms. Eleniak for your tasteful displays of nudity that have delighted me for years.
Luckily a man teaches her how to fire that weapon.
