Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers (WGA):

Duncan Kennedy (written by) and
Donna Powers (written by) ...

Release Date:

28 July 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.

Plot:

Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.

Plot Keywords:

Shark | Research | Alzheimer's Disease | Storm | Shark Attack

Awards:

2 wins & 3 nominations

Cast

Thomas Jane	...	Carter Blake
Saffron Burrows	...	Dr. Susan McCallister
LL Cool J	...	Sherman 'Preacher' Dudley
Michael Rapaport	...	Tom "Scoggs" Scoggins
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Jim Whitlock
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Russell Franklin
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Janice Higgins
Aida Turturro	...	Brenda Kerns
Cristos	...	Boat Captain
Daniel Rey	...	Helicopter Pilot (as Daniel Bahimo Rey)
Valente Rodriguez	...	Helicopter Co-Pilot
Brent Roam	...	Helicopter Winch Operator
Eyal Podell	...	Boy #1
Erinn Bartlett	...	Girl #1
Dan Thiel	...	Boy #2 - Kevin Crawford

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic shark attacks, and for language.

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:R (certificate #36877) | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:14 (original rating) | Iceland:16 (video rating) | Malaysia:18SG | Netherlands:16 (VHS/DVD rating) | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Belgium:KNT | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | Finland:K-16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | New Zealand:M | Norway:15 | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Korea:12 | Spain:13 | Sweden:15 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | UK:15 | Philippines:PG-13 | Canada:PG

Filming Locations:

Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The 11 February 1998 draft of the script credits the following writers: Duncan Kennedy and John Zinman, Simon Barry, Michael Frost Beckner, C.M. Talkington, Donna Powers and Wayne Powers. Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers and Wayne Powers are the only writers credited in the final film.

Goofs:

Factual errors: At the end of the film, Dr. McCallister jumps into the water having cut her hand to attract the attention of the shark with her blood. The time taken for the shark to detect her blood is extremely short - far, far shorter than the time it would take for it to diffuse through the water even if there were considerably stronger currents than were visible.

Quotes:

Preacher: Ooh, I'm done! Brothers never make it out of situations like this! Not ever!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Chappelle's Show: (#2.1)" (2004)

Soundtrack:

I Can See Clearly Now

Fun and entertaining

After the opening scene of *Deep Blue Sea*, in which (predictably) a shark terrorizes a quartet of partying teenagers on a boat, I decided I was in for a crappy movie. A crappy movie that would contain basically every movie AND horror movie cliche I could think of. I was right. And wrong.

I will say that the premise for this movie is great: super-intelligent sharks. Sharks are bad enough, but...smart sharks? Immediately you have terrifying possibilities running through your mind. The sad fact, though, is that this is one of those movies where the screenwriters (and I can't believe it took three people to come up with this) threw some dice and picked which character was going to die next. That's what the plot boils down to: things go wrong; someone dies. More things go wrong; someone else dies. And so on. People whom you couldn't care less about die. People who you really don't want to see die die.

The people are an interesting band of characters. The female scientist, pleasing to the eye and the ear (I'm a sucker for accents), is utterly consumed by her research. (And for all you testosterone-driven males, she does strip down to her underwear in one scene.) Samuel L. Jackson goes about saying his lines as president of a pharmaceutical company. I just love the way Michael Rapaport talks: he's welcome in any movie. LL Cool J deftly provides the comic relief and was clearly the audience favorite. Sure, there are some other characters, but pretty much everyone's one-dimensional, as expected.

I think I've bashed this movie enough. It's time to get to the crux of the argument: this is an entertaining movie. As soon as the movie entered the lab facility, I became completely immersed in the film. As the movie progressed, I didn't think about how long it had gone on and mentally calculate how much was left. Once the trouble started, the movie grabbed me and never let go. I was not perhaps literally on the edge of my seat, but no outside thoughts penetrated my mind. It's not that the movie is scary or anything; it's that it's suspenseful. Predictably suspenseful, but suspenseful nonetheless. There is one scene in the film (I cannot conclusively tell whether it falls nearer or the beginning or the middle because, as I said, I lost track of time) during which I sensed the ENTIRE AUDIENCE jumping out of their seats. At the risk of getting off on a tangent, the sharks were believable. And the speed at which they moved unnerved me. They did succeed at their purpose: to keep a continual shudder running through my body. Let's just say you couldn't get me within ten miles of that facility. Oh, look, I did get off on a tangent, just great. At times I of course found myself wondering why some of these characters were so unbelievably stupid in their actions, but it's all part of the fun. And that's what I ended up deciding about this movie: it was fun. Blood-soaked, cringe-inducing fun.