12 things that helped Steven Seagal earn $600m in DVD sales

Steven Seagal movies have made over $600 million in worldwide DVD sales and there's a good reason for it.

Steven Seagal has been a household name among action junkies since the late 80s, starting with his breakout role in 'Nico : Above the Law'. He's up there with the likes of Van Damme, Schwarzenegger, Stallone and Lundgren, but what isn't so obvious is how he has been able to succeed so well.

While Seagal may no longer be playing leads in big blockbuster movies, his straight-to-DVD credentials are nothing short of heroic. So what helped him get that kind of success, and why do people keep buying his films?

12 things making Steven Seagal earn big
(warning, some images may disturb readers)

1. He always plays characters with a secret, dark past that you never quite understand, but they are somehow bent on seeking justice at the expense of all human rights.

2. The titles of his movies are unnecessarily violent but motivate your curiosity.

3. The odds of his survival are always so remote that you get a thrill out of seeing him wake up from a 7-year coma to seek revenge.

4. His trademark ponytail and dark clothing always contrast with everything in the natural order of his movies making him stick out in an over-the-top and entertaining way.

5. He uses excessive force to kill bad guys with swords instead of using regular tools like knives or guns.

6. Seagal talks so quietly you have to turn up the volume to hear him speak and when he does, usually someone dies, or gets tortured in a horrific, yet comedic way.

7. Anyone working with a Steven Seagal character is subject to severe criticism and is never quite good enough at the job to satisfy his unbelievable capabilities yet it somehow keeps you drawn to the absurdity of the storyline.

8. Seagal is always trying to educate mobsters or thugs how to fight properly, but ends up sending them to intensive care or the graveyard for his personal amusement.

9. Either he has to kill crooked Internal Affairs agents in every film or he has to take the law into his own hands and it's a real joy to see him come up with 'solutions'.

10. When things aren't going his way, he breaks furniture or causes millions of dollars in property damage to teach people a lesson.

11. Seagal's characters are so arrogant that when they do finally face up to the main bad guys, you know that they face a gruesome, and tragic end, and sometimes, you even feel sorry for them.

12. Every character he plays has close to zero emotion, even when his loved ones are killed, tortured, or he faces certain death. There's nothing more absurd in life, yet it keeps you amused because it's so brutal and unnatural.

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Steven Seagal attended the American Film Market this week and is set to star in a $25 million picture he wrote called 'Cypher' where he has to fight a group of terrorists that are being protected by the government. No director has been confirmed for the project according to Variety.

Iain Alexander

Founder - Film Industry Network

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