''Diplomatic Siege'' is a 1999 American direct-to-video

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by Gustavo Graef-Marino and starring

Peter Weller Peter Francis Weller (born June 24, 1947) is an American actor and television director. He has appeared in more than 70 films and television series, including ''RoboCop'' (1987) and its sequel ''RoboCop 2'' (1990), in which he played RoboCop ( ...

Daryl Hannah Daryl Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her film debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film ''The Fury (1978 film), The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various films across the ...

and

Tom Berenger Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in ''Platoon'' (1986). He is also known for playing ...

Plot

When Steve Mitchell is covertly dispatched to the US embassy in Bucharest, Romania, to neutralize a long-undetected nuclear device left there since the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

's conclusion, he finds himself entangled in unforeseen complications. Teaming up with Erica Long, a diplomatic attaché whose true identity remains obscured, they must collaborate to input the correct computer code, deactivating the weapon and fulfilling the mission. However, while monitoring video feeds from an abandoned surveillance room, Steve witnesses an unexpected and perilous takeover of the embassy by the Serbian Liberation Front. Thirty-seven individuals, among them Steve's stepson, are held hostage, with demands for the immediate release of their incarcerated leader, accused of war

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. They threaten to execute a hostage every hour unless their demand is met. With time running out, the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff dispatch General Swain to quell the deadly siege and avert the looming threat of a nuclear detonation.

Cast

as Steve Mitchell *

as Erica Long *

as General Buck Swain *

Adrian Pintea Adrian Virgil Pintea (; 9 October 1954 – 8 June 2007) was a Romanian actor. Career Pintea graduated from the Theatrical and Cinematographical Arts Institute in Bucharest. He appeared in the 2005 Romanian film '' Femeia visurilor'' directed by ...

as Goran Mladenov * Irina Movila as Petra *

Uwe Ochsenknecht Uwe Adam Ochsenknecht (; born 7 January 1956) is a German actor and singer. Career Films Ochsenknecht has starred in include ''Das Boot'' (1981), '' Schtonk!'' (1992), and the TV miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' (2000). In the early 1990s ...

as Colonel Peter Vojnovic / Giorgio Borghelli *

Brion James Brion Howard James (February 20, 1945 – August 7, 1999) was an American character actor. He portrayed Leon Kowalski in '' Blade Runner'' and appeared in '' Southern Comfort'', '' 48 Hrs.'', ''Another 48 Hrs.'', '' Silverado'', '' Tango & Cash'', ...

as General Stubbs

Reception

John Ferguson of ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' awarded the film awarded the film two stars out of five and wrote that it has "an illogical plot and lame dialogue."

TV Guide TV Guide is an American digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, vi ...

gave a mixed review: "This far-fetched cold war thriller would've been more fun to watch had its creative personnel taken a more intentional tongue-in-cheek approach; as it is, the stars veer over the top whenever the action flags, but this comic attack seems less a desire to kid the material than an attempt to camouflage its weaknesses. Thanks to their chemistry together, Hannah and Weller's anti-extremist heroics compel attention far more than the Swain-versus-Goran contretemps. In fact, Berenger's scenes as Swain seem tacked-on for added marquee power, but far worse is the rickety script's unmasking of a truly preposterous surprise traitor."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 0171227 American action films