DEEP BLUE SEA (1999)
4 stars
Arrow Video. Limited Edition UHD/Limited Edition Blu-ray. 17th March
The film introduces its toothy terrors early on – two couples are partying on a catamaran when a huge shark attacks their boat. As they scramble to save themselves the menace is stopped in its tracks when Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) harpoons it. It seems it has escaped from the test facility where Blake works.
Which is why Dr Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) is summoned to the office of her investors, as Russell Franklin (Samuel L Jackson) is understandably worried about the bad publicity affecting his multi million dollar investment. She asks for 48 hours, to complete their work, as they are close to being able to reactivate human brain cells, which is a possible cure to Alzheimer’s – something close to her heart as her father had it.
To keep Franklin on side she flies him out to their base of operations, which is an old navy submarine refuelling station in the middle of a vast expanse of sea. Now called Aquatica it has pens, which house the test sharks and underwater labs to carry out the research. During their work they have boosted the brain power of their test subjects – which you know will come back to bite them… literally!
Of course it isn’t long before things go pear shaped – whilst extracting the needed protein, lead scientist Jim Whitlock (an under used Stellan Skarsgård) has his arm chomped off! With a storm raging up top, the emergency chopper sent to pick him up crashes and explodes, damaging much of topside and the rest of them find themselves trapped in the underwater levels, as fires burn above them and deadly denizen circle in the water outside their enclave.
Director Renny Harlin, was no stranger to this kind of action movie at the time (with movies like DIE HARD 2 (1990) and CLIFFHANGER (1993) on his CV). He has helmed an exciting, if sometimes dumb but fun thriller with some great action sequences – especially involving gallons of water. The strong cast give it their all and spend much of the movie getting very, very wet! The shark attacks are really well done, utilising animatronics rather than the more common, usually bad, CGI we see these days. The film was shot at the same Baja studio where TITANIC was filmed. The music by Trevor Rabin is a touch over emphatic.
Early in proceedings there is a fun reference to the ground zero of shark movies – the licence plate pulled from the sharks mouth is the same one as found in the tiger shark in a certain Spielberg production.
The film looks great on this 4K release – it being a restoration from the original camera negative and approved by the director.
The film had two sequels
EXTRAS
4 stars
3 audio commentaries – screenwriter Duncan Kennedy/filmmaker and critic Rebekah McKendry and an archive one by director Renny Harlin and star Samuel L. Jackson
From the Frying Pan… into the Studio Tank: interview with production designer William Sandell (25 mins)
Beneath the Surface: visual essay by film critic Trace Thurman (19 mins)
When Sharks Attack: archival making of in 4×3 (15 mins)
The Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea: archive featurette in 4×3 (8 mins)
Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by director Renny Harlin (8 mins)
Theatrical trailer and Image gallery
You also get a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece, a 60-page perfect bound collector’s book containing new writing by film critics Josh Hurtado, Jennie Kermode, and Murray Leeder, plus previously unseen production art and designs. A double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece and Postcards from Aquatica.
