10 Things I’ve Learned So Far In Life, and 10 Continuity Errors In “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory”

Photo of me and a turtle.

In my admittedly short time on this earth, I’ve learned a great deal about myself and about the world. Here’s just 10 things I’ve learned (in no order of importance) along with 10 continuity errors in the 1995 action film “Under Siege 2: Dark Territory” starring Steven Seagal and Eric Bogosian.

1. I’ve never once regretted showing love, kindness, and compassion to someone — even someone who I didn’t think deserved it at the time. When Under Siege 2’s main protagonist Casey Ryback (played by Steven Seagal) is driving in the truck to get back on the train, his car windows are open. When he drives through the water, the windows are closed, but they’re somehow open again in the next shot.
2. There’s no bad mood a truly great ripe peach can’t turn around. When Casey Ryback is dangling from the cliff after the train stops, a close-up shot shows both of his feet together on one small ledge. A long shot 10 seconds later shows his feet on separate rocks.
3. 99% of the people I’ve encountered are doing the best they can. When one of the bad guys leaves the locomotive to look for Casey, someone else takes his seat. In the next shot, the “seat-stealer” is inexplicably back to where he originally was.
4. Baking pies is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever taught myself. The café’s fax machine has at least two sheets of paper in its output tray when Casey’s fax message comes through, yet when the manager removes the page with Casey’s message, the tray is empty.
5. I should never argue about politics with family … unless I’m sure I can win :) When Casey sends the fax, he is seen signing his name in cursive. When the fax arrives at the restaurant, there is no signature.
6. Growing my own food is a simple gift — and a strangely more wonderful one than I ever would have imagined. At one point in the film, Casey hotwires the truck and forcibly breaks the steering interlock to drive the truck away, yet in later images of him driving, there are clearly keys in the ignition.
7. Anger is a choice, and almost always a draining one. After recovering the CD from under the train, Penn says to Sarah, “Guess your uncle wasn’t that good after all.” But none of the bad guys has yet established the exact connection between Sarah and Casey, except that Sarah is traveling as Casey’s +1 on the passenger manifest.
8. Discovering (and rediscovering) a work by Miles Davis makes everything worth it. When Penn slips the noose around Sarah’s neck, it’s tied off with a knot. In the very next shot the end is crimped on with a metal clasp, no knot visible. It changes back and forth several times after that.
9. Running is cathartic, empowering, and peaceful. After the capture, the train starts to pull away with a shot of the locomotive moving off. The very next shot of one of the helicopters taking off however shows the train in the background not moving.
10. There’s enough beauty in the world to fill a thousand lifetimes. Experiencing as much of it as I can in just one is all that matters. When the 20-minute countdown to the firing of Grazer I at the Pentagon begins, the military brass watch as the countdown clock ticks down from 20:00, with a beep sounding at each passing second. When the clock hits 19:54 the scene shifts to conversation among the officers while the beeps continue to be heard. A careful count of the beeps indicates that when the clock is next shown it should read 19:41, but after the passage of 13 seconds, when the clock is again seen it reads 19:50.

Under Siege 2 continuity errors used in this list are quoted verbatim or modified slightly from the film’s IMDb page here.