Deep Blue Sea (1999)

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.

Director:

Renny Harlin

Writers:

Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers,

Stars:

Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson

2 wins & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Jane	...	Carter Blake
Saffron Burrows	...	Dr. Susan McCallister
Samuel L. Jackson	...	Russell Franklin
Jacqueline McKenzie	...	Janice Higgins
Michael Rapaport	...	Tom Scoggins
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Jim Whitlock
LL Cool J	...	Preacher
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

Storyline

A businessman sinks $200 million into a special project to help fight Alzheimer's disease. As part of this project, medical biologist Susan McAlester rather naughtily figures out a way to genetically enlarge shark brains, so that disease-battling enzymes can be harvested. However, the shark subjects become super smart and decide they don't much like being cooped up in pens and being stabbed with hypodermics, so they figure a way to break out and make for the open sea...

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Plot Keywords:

shark | research | alzheimer's disease | storm | shark attack | 

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Taglines:

Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.

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Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for graphic shark attacks, and for language

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. (alternate)

Country:

USA Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

28 July 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

Alerta en lo profundo

Filming Locations:

Fox Baja Studios, Rosarito, Baja California Norte, Mexico

Box Office

Budget:

$78,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£1,946,454 (UK) (15 October 1999)

Gross:

£8,087,585 (UK) (3 December 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros, Village Roadshow Pictures, Groucho III Film Partnership

Technical Specs

Runtime:

105 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Renny Harlin:  [Finland]  There is a small Finnish flag in Janice's room. In the kitchen there is a dry erase board with a shopping list. The first item is "Finnish pancakes." Helsinki (Finland's capital city) is also mentioned. Finlandia vodka drunk in some shots also comes from Finland.

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Goofs

After Preacher is caught by the shark, he uses his cross to poke the eye of the shark; in later scenes, the shark's eye is fine.

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Quotes

The Parrot: Eat me, asshole.

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Crazy Credits

Members of the shark effects team have shark-related nicknames, for example, Peter 'GreatWhite' Smith.

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Connections

References Out of Sight (1998)

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Soundtracks

"Get Tha Money (Dollar Bill)"
Written by DJ Quik (as David Blake) and Crawford Wilkerson
Produced by DJ Quik
Performed by Hi-C Featuring DJ Quik
DJ Quik Appears Courtesy of Arista/Profile Records

User Reviews

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.