Action

Thriller

The Patriot

Baldwin/Cohen Productions

Interlight

Seagal/Nasso Productions

United States of America

English

Steven Seagal

Gailard Sartain

Silas Weir Mitchell

Camilla Belle

Dan Beene

Damon Collazo

L.Q. Jones

Brad Leland

Molly McClure

Douglas Sebern

Ross Loney

Robert Harvey

Ayako Fujitani

Leonard Mountain Chief

Philip Winchester

Julius R. Nasso

Nile Niami

William Heine

Avram Butch Kaplan

M. Sussman

Patrick D. Choi

Stephen F. Windon

John Kingswell

Derek Brechin

Eve Cauley

Howard Baldwin

Victor Hwang

Dane Farwell

Joe Bucaro III

Stephen Edwards

Dean Semler

Heather Burton

Michael Wood

Dan DiPrima

Jon Johnson

Mark L. Mangino

Tim Eckel

David Atherton

Sandy Gendler

Michael Chandler

Shari Rhodes

Rosanna Norton

Mark A. Lanza

Jon H. Epstein

Diana R. Lupo

Diana Lee Inosanto

Troy Robinson

Karen Elise Baldwin

Jeff Flach

Doug Metzger

Phillip B. Goldfine

Christie Garan

Doreen Vantyne

Juliet Loveland

Mary L. Hart-Mastro

Douglas Kahelemauna Nam

Daniel Loren May

Paul Mones

Kristina Vogel

Bruce Stubblefield

Scott G.G. Haller

Danny Rogers

Brian Wood

**_Steven Seagal tackles a rebel militia group and a fatal virus in scenic Montana_**

A holistic doctor in the town of Ennis (Seagal) seeks to find a cure to a deadly disease unleashed by an unhinged paramilitary leader (Gailard Sartain). Meanwhile, a Federal biological response team seals off the area.

"The Patriot” (1998) smacks of a Western-in-the-modern-day, just meshed with elements of “Outbreak” from 3 years earlier. It’s no where near as compelling as that movie (which had twice the budget), but there’s quite a bit to appreciate, like the southwest Montana locations, the commentary on lethal viruses, the expected action sequences and the focus on medicinal plants & traditional medicine over popping pills, not to mention dubious vaccines.

Since Seagal is a Conservative who readily exposed the LIEberal “Russian Collusion” propaganda, I wouldn’t take the militia side plot as a demonization of militias or Conservatives. Seagal’s character in the story makes it clear that even a generally positive group of people can be tainted by a wacko leader and misled. The script simply needed a villain and, since there’s no ANTIFA-like groups in small town Montana, the writers opted for the easy target of a militia organization.

There’s a siege at the beginning reminiscent of the 51-day Waco siege in 1993, which involved the FBI & ATF’s controversial handling of the Branch Davidian compound. McVeigh had visited Waco during that siege and later described the Fed fiasco as a major factor in his radicalization. I’m sure Gailard Sartain’s character in the story, Floyd Chisolm, was modeled after someone like McVeigh.

This marked the beginning of Seagal’s second decade as a lead actor (he starred in ten movies in the previous ten years, 1988-1997, not including his cameo in “My Giant”). The $25 million budget is quite less than the $60 million it cost to make “Under Siege 2,” but it’s way more than his more recent direct-to-video flicks, which cost $5-6 million or less. Yet $25 million is more than enough to make a competent picture, keeping in mind that his most famous film, “Under Siege,” only cost $5 million more than that.   

It runs 1 hour, 30 minutes, and was shot in Ennis, Montana, as well as nearby Bozeman, which is an hour’s drive to the northwest.

GRADE: B-

The patriot

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The Patriot

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Cast

Steven Seagal

Gailard Sartain

Silas Weir Mitchell

Camilla Belle

Dan Beene

Damon Collazo

L.Q. Jones

Brad Leland

Molly McClure

Douglas Sebern

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