In 1975, a little movie came out called “Jaws”, it was a simple monster movie with a simple premise that revolved
around a killer shark that terrorized a local beach. May not sound all that
special, but though clever writing, and a sharp direction, the film went on to
become a motion picture classic, and one of Hollywood’s most beloved films. Ever
sense then, there have been countless movies revolving around killer sharks and
most of them are complete garbage. You could call it “Jaws” spoliation, because no joke ... there have been hundreds of silly killer
shark movies. Most of these rip-offs were made for TV movies on the Sci-Fi
channel, but there were some select shark movies released in the theater. One
of which was released in 1999 titled “Deep
Blue Sea”, and this film actually holds its own among all the different
crappie shark attack films out there. While this obviously wasn’t the first
movie to bank on the concept of a killer shark, it was one of the first to do
something original and creative that didn’t just revolve around a shark
terrorizing a beach. In fact, several of the silly shark movies that followed
tried to rip off “Deep Blue Sea”
instead of “Jaws”, and it’s become a
cult classic among horror movies and killer animal films. To be very honest, I
actually like “Deep Blue Sea” more
than “Jaws”, which isn't to say I think it's better ... far from it ... I just find this one a little more fun to watch.
The adventure
takes place in an underwater lab in the middle of the ocean, where scientists
are trying to find a cure for Alzheimer’s, and do to a sharks strange anatomy
and immunity for disease, their used as test subjects. The scientist’s are
successful in developing a cure, but their victory comes with a price. The Mako sharks
experimented on have doubled in both strength and intelligence, and their not
to happy being confined in this ocean prison. They want to escape and get back
out to sea to become the ultimate predators. When a hurricane strikes the lab,
the sharks take advantage of it and attack with full force. Soon the station is
flooded, and the chase is on as the team try to escape the sinking lab
while the sharks try to escape, and make meals of the survivors along the way. Think
of it as “Jaws” meets “The Poseidon Adventure” ... it’s about as
silly and as awesome as it sounds.
The characters
are your typical monster movie survivors, but their surprisingly memorable in
their own way. For example, I love this one black cook that everyone refers to
as “Preacher”, who's played by LL Cool J.
This guy is made of awesome, he’s the life
of the party, has some funny scenes and all the best one liners that people
still quote to this day. His most bad ass line comes when he blows up a shark
that ate his pet bird. The lead hero is called Carter and he’s serviceable at
best. The attractive female lead played by Saffron Burrows is the one
responsible for all the problems that happen, but she thankfully doesn’t become
either a clichéd villain or a clichéd love interest, and has an especially bad
ass scene in which she electrocutes one of the sharks.
Oh, and we can’t
forget about Samuel L Jackson, who plays a rich suit who came to inspect
everything. Forget about “Snakes on a
Plane”, this is the best animal attack movie Samuel L Jackson ever stared
in, and it features one of his most classic scenes. When our hero’s are trapped,
Samuel L Jackson delivers a motivating and inspiring speech about survival and
working together. Right when he’s at the height of his monologue, a shark pops
up from behind him and eats him whole. It’s so shocking, funny and awesome that
it’s become one of the most classic death scenes in horror movie history, and
the best part of the whole film.
The setting of
an underwater lab is perfect for a film like this, and offers lots of exciting sequences for the sharks to attack. One of the most memorable scenes is when
the Preacher’s kitchen gets flooded, which leads into an exciting cat and mouse
game between him and one of the Mako’s. It’s so crazy, he ends up getting
trapped in an oven where’s he’s almost cooked to death. There’s a scene in
which some ditsy teenagers get attacked on a boat, which is the only action
segment outside of the complex. Surprisingly, none of them get killed and there
thankfully aren’t any more stupid teenage characters in the film after that.
The pacing in the movie is great, giving you just enough excitement and
breathing time in-between all the attacks.
The only
thing that takes me out of the experience are the Sharks themselves. I like the
concept of the genetically enhanced, supper smart shark, but the effects
themselves are hit and miss. Sometimes it’s an animatronic shark head, and
those shots look great, even scary at times. Then there are other moments in
which the sharks are completely CG and they look like total garbage. Actually
most of the CGI in the film looks really bad, but the sets and practical
effects at least look state of the art. Killer sharks in general have never
looked perfect on film, even in “Jaws”
it looked fake, but it’s almost like a style, and you either accept them for how they look or not. While the sharks in this film do look bad, they certainly don’t
spoil the movies fun factor, and it’s still exciting when their on screen.
The Climax of
the movie is like something from out of the 1995 Kevin Costner movie “Waterworld”. Our survivors make it to
the surface of the lab where the last surviving shark is trying to make its
escape into the ocean. So the team split up and take action against the beast. There’s running around on rubble, lots of destruction, characters shooting
sharp objects, and lots of bloody explosions. The setting is perfect and there’s
some nice twists to common monster movie clichés. Usually in a situation like
this, the lead male and lead female are the only two survivors, while everyone
else dies. Yet in this movie, it's the lead girl who actually makes a noble sacrifice
move that helps our hero’s, and the black guy who was a small supporting
character actually lives along with the lead hero. That’s awesome, and I think more horror
movies need to do this.
Overall, you
can call “Deep Blue Sea” another
stupid killer shark movie that tries to bank on the success of “Jaws”, which it admittedly is, but it’s
very self aware, exciting and memorable in its own right. Heck, I’d go so far as to
say that it stands out as a B movie classic. There were some direct to video sequels, and the
lineup of silly killer shark movies only ignited with this film’s success. In
2011, there was another theatrical killer shark movie called “Shark Night”, and that’s what you call
a truly awful film, with stupid characters, no excitement and no originality.
It was the real “pore mans” version of “Jaws”,
where as “Deep Blue Sea” was at
least creative in its setting, it’s premise and did something unique and fun
with the tired killer shark concept. In my first review this month of the 1963 film “The Birds”, I stated that it was the greatest killer animal movie
ever made, even better then “Jaws”.
While I still stand by that statement, “Deep
Blue Sea” is my personal favorite killer animal movie I've ever seen, and the
one that I enjoy watching the most. The action is great, the characters are
memorable, the setting is original, and it’s entertaining as hell, but only if
you’re in the right mind set for a B monster movie.
Thanks for reading my review of 1999's B-list horror movie “Deep Blue Sea” ... and continue to enjoy the movies you Love!
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