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Released by: Arrow Video
Released on: March 18th, 2025.
Director: Renny Harlin
Cast: Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson
Year: 1999
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Deep Blue Sea – Movie Review:
Renny Harlin's fairly big budget take on shark horror, Deep Blue Sea, begins when a group of scientists discover that the cure to Alzheimer's Syndrome may be in an ingredient found only in the bodies of nature's most perfect killing machine - the shark. There's logic to this, as sharks do live a long time and don't really seem to age very much when compared to people. Regardless, a foxy scientist named Susan McAllister (Saffron Burrows) decides to spearhead a research project in which she'll get some corporate backing, catch some sharks and put them inside a giant super science facility in hopes of studying them and figuring out if anything can be done to help mankind.
That financial backing? It comes in the form of a rich dude named Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson), who she's convinced to spend a weekend at the facility along with herself and her assistant, Carter Blake (Thomas Jane). Everything seems to be going perfectly at first, they extract what they need from the captive shark and seem to be on the right track until an irritated shark mangles a scientist, unleashing a wave of attacks on and in the facility by scores of hyper intelligent Mako sharks. As their surroundings crumble and flood and the sharks move ever closer, the ocean itself begins to close in on them.
There really isn't much to this movie - the plot exists only to move us from one shark attack scene to the next, a skeleton really, there only to hang the set pieces in place. Keep your expectations in check when you go into this one and you can have quite a bit of good, completely disposable fun with it, but don't go in expecting the rich characters or foreboding tension of Jaws or the jawdroppingly ridiculous set pieces of some of the Shark Attack films that have earned a justifiable cult following over the years. This picture lays somewhere in the middle, trying to pass itself off as something semi-serious but not bothering to do much, story wise, to elevate itself about its very obvious B-movie trappings.
The film is entertaining, however. There are some pacing issues here and there and the whole thing feels about fifteen minutes too long for how thin the storyline really is, but the cast are having fun here. Saffron Burrows is sexier than any shark expert-scientist type has any right to be and plays her part well enough, while Samuel Jackson is Samuel Jackson and if he's not stretching much in this role, his screen presence adds a welcome charisma to the picture. Thomas Jane has also got an effectively macho screen presence here, playing his part with enough tough guy attitude to make it work - we can buy him as a shark expert, it's not much of a stretch.
Where Deep Blue Sea loses marks, however, is in the effects department. When the film is using live sharks, there is a fair bit of tension to enjoy, but when it reverts to computerized effects and mechanical sharks, well, by modern standards it doesn't hold up very well. Harlin shoots it all rather nicely and shows us that his expertise in technique hasn't waned one bit, but there are certain sequences that are obviously fake and that does hurt the picture a bit. But maybe I'm over thinking it. This is a film about hyper smart man-eating sharks wreaking death and destruction in an undersea laboratory, after all. It's meant to be a fun popcorn movie, not a new arthouse classic and on that level, aged effects or not, you can have a good time with this one.
Deep Blue Sea – UHD Review:
The HEVC encoded 2160p high-definition transfer, framed at 2.35.1, on this UHD release from Arrow Video is taken from a new 4k restoration of the film from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films approved by director Renny Harlin, with HDR10. Picture quality is very good here, with the transfer providing very sharp detail while retaining a natural, filmic quality throughout. There are no noticeable compression problems and detail, depth and texture are all very impressive. Colors look great and black levels are nice and deep. Skin tones stay lifelike and natural throughout and, overall, this looks really impressive in 4k.
The 24-bit DTS-HD 5.1 and Dolby Atmos tracks supplied here are goods one with plenty of aggressive channel separation present throughout the movie. Rear channels are used well and frequently and add a whole lot of nice ambient noise and directional effects to the proceedings while dialogue is well balanced and easy to follow. Bass is strong enough to carry some decent impact when the movie calls for it and there are no problems with hiss or distortion to complain about. Optional subtitles are provided in English only.
Extras start off with a new audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Rebekah McKendry that covers the use of CGI created sharks in the movie industry around the time that this movie was made, the boom in popularity of shark films in the late nineties, the topical way in which the movie deals with science, how the movie feels very different from Jaws while still following many of the tropes that the granddaddy of all shark movies laid down, thoughts on the cast and crew's work on the movie, how the increase in the public's knowledge of sharks has increased since the release of Jaws and how this has affected the audience's reaction to shark movies and more.
A second new audio commentary features screenwriter Duncan Kennedy who talks about the different drafts that he did for the script before it was sold to Warner Brothers, how well he got along with his producers, revisions that were made to the script after he departed the project, what he was and wasn't involved with during the making of the movie, how the earliest draft was basically Jaws meets Jurassic Park or Alien, thoughts on Renny Harlin's directorial choices on the movie, how long it took the movie to get made, how strange it is to see something you've dreamed up in your head come alive in a movie and how often it differs in some ways, the world building that goes into writing a film script, thoughts on the cast and their takes on the characters he created, the advertising and marketing that Warner Brothers put behind the movie's theatrical release and loads of other details about the film and his part in creating it.
Carried over from the previous DVD release is the commentary track with director Renny Harlin and star Samuel L. Jackson. This is a fairly straightlaced, scene specific talk that pays a fair bit of attention to what it was like working alongside some giant mechanical sharks and the problems that can arise under shooting locations such as that. Other topics covered include casting, effects work, locations versus soundstage shooting, script revisions and critical reception to the film. It's a decent, if fairly predictable talk, that covers all the bases that you'd want it to.
From The Frying Pan... Into The Studio Tank is a new interview with production designer William Sandell running twenty-five minutes. This goes over how he got into the production designer business, different filmmakers that he's worked with over the years, how being raised around Los Angeles and working for Roger Corman was his film school, some of the early projects that he was involved with, making important connections in his younger days, working his way up the ladder and getting bigger jobs on bigger productions on films like Scorsese's Mean Streets, the importance of being able to learn on the job, befriending Paul Verhoeven and working with him on Total Recall, getting the job on Deep Blue Sea, working with Renny Harlin (who he says was "like a Viking"), collaborating with the art department and art director on the film, some of the challenges involved in putting together the sets for the movie and having to incorporate the fake sharks and actors in them, the collaborative nature of the production, how a test screening resulted in a change to the ending of the movie and how he feels about the movie since working on it.
Beneath The Surface is a new visual essay by film critic Trace Thurman. Here, over twenty-minutes, he goes over the film's place in the pantheon on aquatic horror and killer shark movies, what makes it more than just a "cheesy B-movie," who the real villains in the film are, the themes that the movie explores and how it toys with ideas of gender roles and patriarchal ideology, thoughts on certain framing devices employed in the movie and how this ties into some of the character's traits in the narrative, some of the symbolism on display in the film, the sexualization of some of the death scenes and how all of this ties into the "true horror of Deep Blue Sea."
When Sharks Attack is a fifteen-minute archival behind the scenes piece that focuses on using real sharks versus mechanical sharks, how computers play a part in this, what it's like working with these creatures, and how it all comes together on film. Also carried over from past editions is Sharks Of The Deep Blue Sea, which is an eight-minute segment that covers the shark attack sequences in the film.
Rounding out the extras are five deleted scenes available with optional commentary from Harlin, the film's original theatrical trailer, a still gallery, menus and chapter stops. All of the supplements on this disc are presented in standard definition.
Note that as Arrow has only supplied test discs, we can’t comment on any packaging or physical inserts included with this reissue.
Deep Blue Sea – The Final Word:
Deep Blue Sea isn't, well, deep at all but on a superficial level it's a fair bit of fun. Shark movie junkies will appreciate it more than most, but the movie is an entertaining if vapid mix of action, horror and adventure speedily directed by Renny Harlin and featuring an interesting and game cast. Arrow Video’s UHD looks and sounds great, and it features a really nice selection of extra features. Recommended to fans of the film, this is a nice upgrade.