Editing On Deadly Ground (section)

===Critical response===
''On Deadly Ground'' received negative reviews from critics. {{Rotten Tomatoes prose|14|3.5|35|ref=yes|access-date=February 24, 2024}}  {{Metacritic film prose|33|18|ref=yes|access-date=May 4, 2020}} Audiences polled by [[CinemaScore]] gave the film a grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.<ref name="CinemaScore">{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|title=CinemaScore|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220122629/https://www.cinemascore.com/publicsearch/index/title/|archive-date=December 20, 2018}}</ref>

At the time of its release, [[Gene Siskel]] included the film in his "Worst of" list for 1994, singling out the melancholy tone of the film and the quality of Seagal's dialogue.<ref name="atm_review">[[Siskel, Gene]], [[Ebert, Robert]]. (1994). "Siskel and Ebert at the movies: Best and worst of 1994" [Television recording] Buena-Vista Entertainment Ltd</ref> On their syndicated TV show ''[[At the Movies (1986 TV program)|Siskel & Ebert]]'', Siskel called the film's [[pyrotechnics]] "low rent" and stated that he "didn't think the fight sequences were anything special." He noted that Seagal's speech at the end was "more interesting than the actual fighting."

[[Roger Ebert]], for his part, stated the movie was "limited to two basic qualities: it's violent and it's sanctimonious", and opined that while "it doesn't pay to devote close attention to the plot", "if you like to see lots of stuff blowed up real good, then this'll be a movie for you." His opinion on the ending speech was that it was "absurd", stating, "at the end after Seagal kills about 30 people and blowing up the largest oil refinery in the world, what happens? He's invited to the Alaska State Legislature to give a talk about ecology. I'm not sure, but blowing up oil refineries does not make you that popular in Alaska."<ref>{{cite AV media|people=[[Siskel, Gene]], [[Ebert, Robert]]|year=1994|title=Siskel & Ebert: Sugar Hill / On Deadly Ground / Eight Seconds (1994)|medium=TV|url=http://siskelandebert.org/video/SRGMG6R3XNSO/Sugar-Hill--On-Deadly-Ground--Eight-Seconds-1994|access-date= April 28, 2014|time=12:00}}</ref>

''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' film critic Leonard Klady referred to the film as "a vanity production parading as a social statement" and commented that the film seemingly borrowed heavily from the earlier film ''[[Billy Jack]]'', but opined that Seagal lacked "acting technique and the ability behind the camera to keep the story simple and direct" that ''Billy Jack'' star [[Tom Laughlin]] exhibited. Like Siskel, Klady also singled out the speech by Seagal's character at the end of the film.<ref name="klady_variety">{{cite magazine|date=February 21, 1994|last=Klady|first=Leonard|title=On Deadly Ground|url=https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/on-deadly-ground-1200435684/|magazine=Variety|access-date=January 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230727142516/https://variety.com/1994/film/reviews/on-deadly-ground-1200435684/|archive-date=July 27, 2023|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Harrington|first=Richard|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/ondeadlygroundrharrington_a0abae.htm|title=On Deadly Ground (R)|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=February 19, 1994|access-date=May 24, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210202004851/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/ondeadlygroundrharrington_a0abae.htm|archive-date=February 2, 2021|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the 1996 movie guide ''"Seen That, Now What?"'', the film was given the rating of "C−", stating "This combination action/environmental rights movie is an interesting hybrid in concept, but a filmic mess in execution, including embarrassing Eskimo shaman scenes and well-meaning lecture-finale on endangered species."<ref>{{cite book|last=Shaw|first=Andrea|date=1996|title=Seen That, Now What?: The Ultimate Guide to Finding the Video You Really Want to Watch|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vgVStU_SWRcC|publisher= Simon and Schuster|page=42|isbn=9780684800110}}</ref>

''[[Seagalogy]]'' author Vern considers ''On Deadly Ground'' to be one of Seagal's defining works, writing, "It's the corniest, most unintentionally hilarious movie of his career... But it's also Seagal's most sincere and his most ballsy," going on to claim, "You can't understand Seagal if you haven't seen ''On Deadly Ground''."<ref>{{cite book|last=Vern|date=March 2012|title=Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal|location=London|publisher=[[Titan Books]]|isbn=978-0857687227|page=69}}</ref> He points out that many of the most important themes and [[motif (narrative)|motif]]s that define Seagal's work are present in the film, and more overtly so than in any of his other films.<ref>{{cite book|last=Vern|date=March 2012|title=Seagalogy: A Study of the Ass-Kicking Films of Steven Seagal|location=London|publisher=[[Titan Books]]|isbn=978-0857687227|page=78}}</ref>

Caine's American accent in the film, which ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]]'' described as that of a "Texan that had been brought up in the mean streets of London," has made several "worst movie accent" lists.<ref>{{cite news |date=2019-04-19 |archive-date=2020-04-27 |title=The 16 worst movie accents of all time, from Anne Hathaway to Dick van Dyke |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200427052142/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/worst-movie-accents-time-anne-hathaway-dick-van-dyke/ |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/worst-movie-accents-time-anne-hathaway-dick-van-dyke/ |work=[[The Daily Telegraph|The Telegraph]] |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Lay |first=Duncan |date=2017-12-23 |title=What is the worst movie accent of all time? |url=https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/movies/what-is-the-worst-movie-accent-of-all-time/news-story/7b37c4e254f781a21283bdc258679302 |work=[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)|The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Black |first=Stuart |date=2016-01-18 |title=The Very Best and the Bloody Worst of Sir Michael Caine |url=https://londonist.com/2016/01/the-very-best-and-the-bloody-worst-of-sir-michael-caine/ |website=[[Londonist]] |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite AV media |people=Singer, Erik |date=2018-09-17 |title=Movie Accent Expert Breaks Down 28 More Actors' Accents |publisher=[[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] |time=8:28 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXyWwirLfcg |access-date=2025-02-19}}</ref>