Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Average Rating: 5.6/10
Reviews Counted: 91
Fresh: 51 | Rotten: 40
Aside from a few thrills, Deep Blue Sea is unoriginal and unintelligent.
Average Rating: 5.7/10
Critic Reviews: 24
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 9
Aside from a few thrills, Deep Blue Sea is unoriginal and unintelligent.
liked it
Average Rating: 2.8/5
User Ratings: 355,427
My Rating
Movie Info
Although mako sharks are among the fastest and deadliest predators in the ocean, they're not as smart as humans -- at least, they weren't. However, Dr. Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows) has been using mako sharks as her test subjects for research on the regeneration of human brain tissues. McAlester has altered the DNA of several sharks, raising them close to the level of human intelligence; the sharks have also become faster and stronger in the process. While these DNA experiments have yielded
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Cast
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Thomas Jane
Carter Blake -
Saffron Burrows
Dr. Susan McAlester -
Samuel L. Jackson
Russell Franklin -
Jacqueline McKenzie
Janice Higgins -
Michael Rapaport
Tom Scoggins -
Stellan Skarsgård
Dr. Jim Whitlock -
LL Cool J
Dudley -
Aida Turturro
Brenda Kerns -
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All Critics (109) | Top Critics (27) | Fresh (55) | Rotten (41) | DVD (29)
Call it silly. Call it obvious -- there's nothing more obvious than a shark attack. But this is one of the few big-fish horror films that still has the power to surprise.
Top CriticYou might guess that this movie will feature yelling, at least once, 'Let's get the hell outta here!'
A lame Jaws wannabe!
A neat package of terror, sharks and special effects!
An entertainingly trashy and derivative carnivore spectacular!
OK, I understand how gene therapy made the sharks smarter, but what made the scientists so stupid?
Was Britain and were Brits really this boring in the '40s and '50s?
Some upscale action-cheese -- plus who doesn't love Cool J? But the movie's exposition and plotting are mega-lame; Kurtzman & Orci probably pray to Deep Blue Sea every morning.
...making the sharks smarter enables them to swim backwards. It's a pretty dumb movie, actually. (Blu-ray Edition)
...silly, campy material presented as serious high adventure.
I can't imagine wanting to see Deep Blue Sea again, but as a one-time-only, low-expectation, Sunday-afternoon diversion, it kept me amused.
Harlin, perpetrated, I mean, directed CUTTHROAT ISLAND, but oddly enough, it did not stop studios from giving him big bucks to repeat his mistakes.
LL Cool J and Thomas Jane (are you looking for the new Steve McQueen? HE'S RIGHT HERE) keep the movie rolling.
It's stupid and violent, and proud of it.
Audience Reviews for Deep Blue Sea
I am usually a fan of Saffron Burrows, but this roles really didn't suit her and let's face it, LL Cool J has to be one of the worst Rapper turned Actors out there.
The set becomes repetitive and I found myself wanting them to escape just to see different scenery.
Super Reviewer
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- Russell Franklin: Somebody please tell me what that is.
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- Dr. Susan McAlester: That's a side effect, the sharks got smarter.
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- Dudley: [talking to shark] You ate my bird!
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| Iove this movie! | 30 days ago | 0 |
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Foreign Titles
- Deep Blue Sea (1999) (DE)
- Deep Blue Sea (1999) (CA)
There are so many leaps in logic and way too many holes in the script to be ignored. But as a entertainment it does work and mostly because Harlin is such an skilled director of action. He has proved to be talented action director who is capable of creating well made entertainment. Films like Cliffhanger and The Long Kiss Goodnight are perfect examples of his capabilities of making thrilling action adventures.
First half of Deep Blue Sea is actually very effective and i did like the setting which marries science fiction, horror and adventure very well. It is very sad to see that while Harlin's direction stays confident it is the weak sceenplay by Talley Griffith and Duncan Kennedy that makes the second half of this film feel much weaker than the first one. If you approach this film as a entertainment then it delivers. There are moments of terror, true suspense and quite many twists that are genuinely surprising.
For me this film was equally effective ride as Steven Spielberg's overrated Jaws was, maybe even better ride. With right attitude and expectations you can certainly enjoy this film. Yes, there are some weak efffects to be found here and as i said that the screenplay is not that impressive. But Harlin does fantastic job with his team and delivers one big shark filled action film that will give enough scares and thrills to make it worthwile enough.