Movies:
Deep Blue Sea
DVD Release
- Release Date: 1999
- Documentaries
- Star/director commentary
- Deleted scenes
- Stills gallery
- Interactive menus
- Filmographies
- Theatrical trailer
- Scene access
- English subtitles
- Rating:
- Genre: Thriller
- Movie Type: Adventure Drama, Sea Adventure
- Themes: Terror in the Water, Experiments Gone Awry, When Animals Attack
- Director: Renny Harlin
- Main Cast: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, LL Cool J
- Release Year: 1999
- Country: US
- Run Time: 100 minutes
- MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Although mako sharks are among the fastest and deadliest predators in the ocean, they're not as smart as humans -- at least, they weren't. However, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has been using mako sharks as her test subjects for research on the regeneration of human brain tissues. McAlester has altered the DNA of several sharks, raising them close to the level of human intelligence; the sharks have also become faster and stronger in the process. While these DNA experiments have yielded fascinating results, they're also of questionable ethics and legality, earning her the distrust of several members of her crew, including shark authority Carter Blake (Thomas Jane and cook "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J). The financial backers of these experiments have also expressed skepticism, so when McAlester is ready to perform some major tests, financier Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives for the occasion. McAlester and her team are delicately extracting brain tissue from one of the altered makos when the animal regains consciousness - and becomes very angry. The shark not only attacks the researchers but also damages the floating lab, leaving the crew aboard a literally sinking ship, with the makos eager to go a few rounds - in an arena that favors sharks. Deep Blue Sea was directed by Renny Harlin, and filmed in Mexico at Fox Studios Baja in the underwater filming facilities created for James Cameron's Titanic. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie GuideReview
There are very few deep moments in Deep Blue Sea, a high-octane Hollywood shark-attack that just may satisfy action-starved audiences searching for a fish stick. Deep Blue Sea exists somewhere between The Abyss and Piranha 2: The Spawning in the spectrum of underwater monster thrillers. The plot is a model of unabashed movie clichés, as an unexpected storm (of course) strands a group of scientists on an underwater facility with super-sharks. Director Renny Harlin, who also gave birth to Die Hard 2 and the abominable Cutthroat Island, knows that his shark opus is nothing more than trashy genre schlock with characters that aren't worth developing because they will quickly become fish food. However, this is the sole reason that Deep Blue Sea possesses some worthy characteristics. Aside from the epic, water-soaked action sequences, there is one particular moment that makes this seemingly familiar film worthwhile -- a scene in which a lead character gives a speech to motivate his colleagues to triumph over the encroaching sharks. While it's the typical action-movie speech (punctuated, naturally, with inspirational music), as the speech comes to a close, a shark disrupts the moment with a maneuver that has to be seen to be believed. This unexpected surprise perfectly exemplifies Renny Harlin's tongue-in-cheek approach to the absurd material. He knows that his film is nothing more than Jaws meets Jurassic Park, but he manages to add in enough deep-sea surprises to break the typical monotony of the genre. What begins as a carbon copy of the predictable turns into a see-worthy adventure that is more than the average fish schtick.~ Adam Goldberg, All Movie Guide
Cast
- Thomas Jane - Carter Blake
- Saffron Burrows - Dr. Susan McAlester
- Samuel L. Jackson - Russell Franklin
- Jacqueline McKenzie - Janice Higgins
- Michael Rapaport - Tom Scoggins
- Stellan Skarsgård - Dr. Jim Whitlock
- LL Cool J - Dudley
Aida Turturro - Brenda Kerns
