Deep Blue Sea

1999 Mystery & Suspense

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 fascinating results, they're also of questionable ethics and legality, earning her the distrust of several members of her crew, including shark authority Carter Blake (Thomas Jane and cook "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J). The financial backers of these experiments have also expressed skepticism, so when McAlester is ready to perform some major tests, financier Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) arrives for the occasion. McAlester and her team are delicately extracting brain tissue from one of the altered makos when the animal regains consciousness - and becomes very angry. The shark not only attacks the researchers but also damages the floating lab, leaving the crew aboard a literally sinking ship, with the makos eager to go a few rounds - in an arena that favors sharks. Deep Blue Sea was directed by Renny Harlin, and filmed in Mexico at Fox Studios Baja in the underwater filming facilities created for James Cameron's Titanic. more..

Director: Renny Harlin

Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows,Thomas Jane, Stellan Skarsgard, LL Cool J

Reviews

  • An example of how expert action filmmaking and up-to-the-minute visual effects can transcend a workmanlike script and bring excitement to conventional genre material.

    Kenneth Turan - Los Angeles Times

    19 January 2013

  • After slogging through the predictability of countless would-be action thrillers, I admired the sheer professionalism of this one, which doesn't transcend its genre, but at least honors it.

    Roger Ebert - The Chicago Sun-Times

    19 January 2013

  • One of the few big-fish horror films that still has the power to surprise.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    19 January 2013

  • Imagine a cut-rate "Titanic" stripped of romance and historical resonance and fused with "Jaws," shorn of mythic symbolism and without complex characters, and you have the essence of this live-action horror comic.

    Stephen Holden - The New York Times

    19 January 2013

  • This movie's entire raison d'etre (that's French for "shark meat") is to toy creatively with the "rules."

    Desson Thomson - The Washington Post

    19 January 2013

Awards

  • Trevor Rabin

    BMI Film & TV Awards (2000)

  • Favorite Supporting Actor - Action

    Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)

  • Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

    Image Awards (2000)

     
  • Best Visual Effects

    Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (2000)