Deep Blue Sea (1999 film)

Deep Blue Sea

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Renny Harlin
Produced by Akiva Goldsman
Robert Kosberg
Tony Ludwig
Alan Riche
Rebecca Spikings[1]
Written by Duncan Kennedy
Donna Powers
Wayne Powers
Starring Saffron Burrows
Thomas Jane
LL Cool J
Jacqueline McKenzie
Michael Rapaport
Stellan Skarsgård
Aida Turturro
Samuel L. Jackson
Music by Trevor Rabin
Cinematography Stephen Windon
Edited by Derek Brechin
Dallas Puett
Frank J. Urioste
Production
company
Distributed by Warner Bros.
Roadshow Entertainment (Australia & New Zealand)[2]
Release dates
  • July 28, 1999 (1999-07-28)
Running time
 105 minutes
Country United States
Australia
Language English
Budget $60 million[3]
Box office $164.6 million[3]

Deep Blue Sea is a 1999 science fiction thriller film, starring Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård and Samuel L. Jackson. The film was directed by Renny Harlin and was released in the United States on July 28, 1999.

Plot

At Aquatica, a remote former submarine refueling facility converted into a laboratory, a team of scientists is searching for a cure for Alzheimer's disease. Fluids from the brain tissue of three Mako sharks are being harvested as a cure for Alzheimer's. Unknown to the other scientists, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has violated the code of ethics and has genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, but this has the side effect of making the sharks smarter and more dangerous.

After one of the sharks escapes and attacks a boat full of teenagers, Aquatica's financial backers send corporate executive Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate the facility. To prove that the research is working, the team removes fluid from the brain tissue from the largest shark. While examining it, Dr. Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgard), one of the researchers, is attacked by the shark and his arm is bitten off. Brenda Kerns (Aida Turturro), the tower's operator, calls a helicopter to evacuate Jim but as he is being lifted the cable jams and Jim falls into the shark pen. The shark grabs the gurney and pulls the chopper into the tower, killing Brenda and the pilots. As the others try to figure out what made the explosion, one of the sharks uses Jim's body as a battering ram to smash an underwater window, flooding the research facility and freeing the other sharks. Susan then confesses to the others that she and Jim genetically altered the sharks.

Susan, Russell, Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), Janice Higgins (Jacqueline McKenzie) and Tom Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) make their way to the top of the center. While delivering a dramatic speech emphasizing the need for group unity, Russell is dragged into the water by the largest shark and killed. While climbing up the industrial elevator, a ladder falls and gets wedged between the walls of the shaft, leaving them dangling over the water. Janice loses her grip and falls, and despite Carter's attempts to save her, she dies. Meanwhile, the cook, Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J) is attacked by the first shark, but manages to blow it up by throwing a lighter into the kitchen's oven that had been turned on. He then runs into Carter, Tom and Susan.

Traumatized by Janice and Russell's deaths, Tom goes with Carter to the flooded lab because the controls to open a door to the surface are in the lab. The largest shark attacks them and kills Tom. Susan heads into a room to collect her research material. The second shark follows and almost eats her but she manages to electrocute it with a power cable, killing it instantly, though at the cost of destroying her research in the process. Carter, Susan and Preacher go to the top of the research center through a decompression chamber and swim to the surface. Preacher is caught by the third shark and is dragged through the water, but swims to safety after stabbing the shark in the eye with his crucifix, forcing it to release him.

Carter then realizes that the third shark is trying to escape to the open sea, and that the sharks had made them flood the facility so that they could escape through the weaker mesh fences at the surface. Susan, in an effort to distract the third and final shark, cuts herself and dives into the water. When she attempts to climb out, the ladder breaks, and she is killed by the shark. Carter at this point dives in to try to save her but is too late. Managing to dodge the shark's attack and grab hold of its fin, he is pulled through the water by it. Preacher, despite his injuries, grabs hold of the harpoon and shoots the shark through its dorsal fin, but the spear also goes through Carter's thigh. As the shark breaks through the fence, Carter is still attached to the shark by the harpoon and tells Preacher to connect the trailing wire to a car battery, sending an electric current through the wire and to the explosive charge in the harpoon, blowing up the final shark in a spectacular fashion. It is revealed that Carter managed to free himself in time and he swims to the wreckage of the facility and joins Preacher in time to see the workers' boat en-route on the horizon.

Cast

Production

According to an interview in The Los Angeles Times, Deep Blue Sea was originally inspired by Australian screenwriter Duncan Kennedy's witnessing firsthand "the horrific effects of a shark attack when a victim washed up on a beach near his home." This brought on a recurring nightmare of "being in a passageway with sharks that could read his mind." The interview mentions that Kennedy "purged those dreams by sitting down and writing a screenplay that eventually evolved into (the) Warner Bros. thriller, "Deep Blue Sea."" Kennedy acknowledged that "whenever anyone mentions a shark movie, they naturally think of Steven Spielberg. The problem with approaching a shark movie is how do you do it without repeating Jaws?"[4]

Renny Harlin describes the production on the film's commentary.[5] The film was shot entirely in Mexico. The sets used for the interiors of the facility were built so that they could be submerged in a water-tank to create the illusion of the facility sinking practically. However, for windows, separate water-tanks with lights shining through them were used.

The film made an extensive use of digital doubles for actors being eaten by sharks.[6] Depending on the scenes, the sharks were either animatronic (when interacting with actors) or computer generated (when in water). As an added homage to Jaws, the license plate pulled from the shark's teeth by Carter is the same plate found in the tiger shark carcass from the 1975 Steven Spielberg film.

Samuel Jackson was initially offered the role eventually played by LL Cool J. Jackson's management didn't like the idea of him playing a chef, so Harlin created the role of Russell Franklin for him.

Speaking with The Los Angeles Times, screenwriter Kennedy noted that in Jaws, the shark was 25 feet long, so Harlin had to do Spielberg one better. "He increased [our shark] to 26 feet," Kennedy said.[4]

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gave it a 56% rating with 51 positive reviews out of 91 reviews. Empire magazine gave the film three out of five stars, saying "It was never going to crash any parties come Oscar night, or usurp previous nature-fights-back epics (Jurassic et al), but Deep Blue Sea remains defiant. It's about giant sharks eating people. And that's exactly what you get."[7] Roger Ebert went further, saying of the film "In a genre where a lot of movies are retreads of the predictable, 'Deep Blue Sea' keeps you guessing."[8]

Writing in People Magazine, horror master Stephen King described his recovery from a near fatal accident: "My first trip after being smacked by a van and almost killed was to the movies (Deep Blue Sea, as a matter of fact; I went in my wheelchair and loved every minute of it.)" [9]

The film opened on July 28, 1999 and grossed $19,107,643 ($25,164,533 including Thursday screenings/previews) in its opening weekend and went on to earn $73,648,142 domestically and $164,648,142 worldwide.[10] The film was released on DVD October 26, 1999 and was ranked #1 release for the week ending October 31, 1999 and remained in the DVD rental top 10 for eight weeks.[11]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released on June 27, 1999 by Warner Bros. Records featuring rap and R&B music. The soundtrack made it to #55 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. Composer Trevor Rabin scored the original music for the film. The released soundtrack contains 10 tracks.[12]

In popular culture

Potential sequel

In 2008, it was stated that Warner Premiere was planning a sequel to Deep Blue Sea, according to a studio source. It was also announced that the film would be released direct-to-Video, hitting shelves in 2009. Renny Harlin confirmed no involvement. Since then, no news has been given on the sequel.[23]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Producer Spikings-Goldsman dies of heart attack". Variety Magazine. 2010-07-07. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
  2. ↑ "Film Distribution - Village Roadshow Limited". Village Roadshow Pictures. 2014-02-11. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  3. 1 2 http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=deepbluesea.htm
  4. 1 2 "'Blue Sea' Hopes to Be Box-Office Big Fish". Los Angeles Times. 1999-07-26.
  5. ↑ Deep Blue Sea, commentary by Renny Harlin and Samuel L. Jackson, Warner Home Video, 2000
  6. ↑ Friday, January 18, 2013 DEEP BLUE SEA
  7. ↑ Deep Blue See Review -Empire Online.com
  8. ↑ "Deep Blue Sea". Chicago Sun-Times. 1999-07-28.
  9. ↑ King, Stephen (1999-12-10). "The Reel Stephen King". Entertainment Weekly.
  10. ↑ Deep Blue Sea (1999) – Weekend Box Office Results – Box Office Mojo
  11. ↑ USA DVD Rentals: 12 December 1999
  12. ↑ "Deep Blue Sea (Trevor Rabin)". Filmtracks. 1999-08-24. Retrieved 2011-07-23.
  13. ↑ "10 surprise deaths in blockbuster movies". Den of Geek. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  14. ↑ "Deep Blue Sea – Mid-Speech Death – Greatest Movie Deaths of All Time". Greatestmoviedeaths.com. 2007-07-05. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  15. ↑ Anthony Morris (2011-04-12). "Top ten surprise movie deaths – Top10". Thevine.com.au. Retrieved 2014-02-28.
  16. ↑ MythBusters, Phone Book Friction, aired September 10, 2008
  17. ↑ Sealab 2010, Episode 19, production code 2210, aired December 8, 2002
  18. ↑ Peter Travers (2011-08-04). "Rise of the Planet of the Apes | Movie Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2012-02-18.
  19. ↑ https://twitter.com/chrisjrosen/status/608621982016516096
  20. ↑ http://www.darkhorizons.com/news/34864/-jurassic-world-gates-will-be-practical
  21. ↑ http://www.flickeringmyth.com/2015/04/deja-vu-isnt-jurassic-world-just-deep-blue-sea-with-dinosaurs.html
  22. ↑ "http://www.complex.com/pop-culture/2014/11/jurassic-world-trailer-reaction
  23. ↑ http://www.movieweb.com/deep-blue-sea-2-coming-straight-to-dvd

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