Considering how cinematic the creatures can be under the right circumstances, it’s a shame that shark movies so often aren’t worth their weight in gold. There are exceptions. Jaws was the genesis of the summer blockbuster and the first masterpiece of director Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed career. Underrated genre craftsman Jaume Collet-Serra also delivered finely tuned aquatic thrills with his 2016 puzzler The Shallows . But between Z-grade entries like some of the Jaws sequels, the recent Netflix movie that didn’t air Under Parisand whatever Sharknado movies are supposed to be, moviegoers looking to get their Carcharodon on have remarkably few options that don’t belong in the bargain bin.
Yet there is another shark movie that has managed to stand the test of time since its theatrical release 25 years ago: Renny Harlin’s. The deep blue seareleased on July 28, 1999. The sci-fi thriller about “intelligent” mako sharks received mixed reviews upon its release, garnering praise for its suspense and plethora of gory shark action, but was met with negative reviews for its cheesy tone and shaky script. The film isn’t perfect, and we’ll get to the story behind its bizarre ending soon, but revisiting Deep Blue Sea a quarter-century later reveals a film that has held up much better than one might expect. Let’s take a look at why Deep Blue Sea deserves, if not gold, then bronze.
The deep blue sea and intelligent sharks
Deep Blue Sea has a classic plot. It’s a “trapped in a house” monster movie, with the twist that the house is an underwater Alzheimer’s research facility, and the monsters are three sharks whose intelligence has been enhanced by the scientific team’s experiments. While most shark movies feature natural sharks that have become more aggressive toward humans for unknown reasons (unless you count the voodoo curse explanation from the Jaws novelization, which, yes, actually happened), Deep Blue Sea gives the sharks a tangible “goal” as antagonists beyond devouring anyone who isn’t secondary: to escape the facility they were raised in and escape into the wild.
It may seem odd at first, but giving both humans and sharks “motivations” that we can understand is what sets Deep Blue Sea apart from other shark movies. It allows the two factions to go back and forth as the characters try to escape the slowly collapsing facility, turning the entire film into a subconscious chess game of setup and denouement. The pacing and suspense that most critics have cited as the film’s best aspects come largely from this creative decision, and it’s a decision that balances well with its campy tone. The solid fundamental mechanics of What happening provides a solid foundation as the funny character beats and kills in an exaggerated manner, the how it happens, we can bounce back effectively from it.
The film also made sure that, despite the shark’s “smart” side, it didn’t push the idea so far that it broke the suspension of disbelief. Sharks are intelligent enough to herd their prey from the environment and recognize the function of equipment like guns or security cameras, but they aren’t SO The sharks are smart and don’t feel like animals anymore. The sharks are mostly reminiscent of the velociraptors from Jurassic Park: they’re smart, but not geniuses. Finding that balance is what keeps the movie from falling into parody, even though it’s often very funny. Making the stakes of a movie serious while still being hilarious is no easy task, and credit goes to the film’s good direction.
Make me some Mako
Deep Blue Sea was directed by Renny Harlin, who at this point in his career was best known for his humorous action thrillers. Some of the best-known examples of his work prior to Deep Blue Sea include Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone, and the particularly excellent Shane Black-penned action comedy The Long Kiss Goodnight. All of these films, along with the infamous (but honestly not great) box-office failure Cutthroat Island, illustrate Harlin’s preference for tactile action beats and strong sequence design. His films don’t always deliver perfectly, but they often feature signature sequences that stand out in the viewer’s memory, like the jaw-dropping opening shot of Cliffhanger, the incredible boat explosion in Cutthroat Island, or the surprise death of Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) in Deep Blue Sea.
This last example is a perfect example of Harlin’s strengths, as even people who haven’t seen the film are often at least aware of Jackson’s death scene. It’s a perfectly calculated beat, with the big heroic speech you’d expect at a somber moment from the character you think is about to take matters into his own hands suddenly subverted by his violent death. It’s even set up moments before the speech when Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) makes an offhand comment about not standing too close to the pool, which Franklin does anyway.
The playfulness with which Harlin approaches the scenes with the large sharks does not detract from the terrifying aspect of the creatures. While some of the CGI hasn’t exactly aged gracefully, the animatronic shots are spectacular, giving the sharks a real sense of weight and menace.
If Jaws is the epitome of a masterfully crafted entertainment film and The Shallows is the most brutal and unforgiving shark thriller, Deep Blue Sea is the best example of a shark movie that knowingly steps into camp classic territory. It’s absolute B-movie nonsense in concept, but it punches above its weight in its execution with poise and style. Even with the cheesiest elements, the film still works as a well-paced thrill ride, cementing its place in the shark movie pantheon. However, not all is rosy under the sea, as Deep Blue Sea has a key flaw that we need to talk about. Oddly enough, it’s one that the film almost avoided, if not for a poor choice in post-production.
Blood in the water
Because of its kitschy approach, Deep Blue Sea’s characters are mostly a collection of archetypes. Carter Blake, played by Thomas Jane, is a macho but good-natured hero, Russell Franklin, played by Samuel L. Jackson, is the authority figure who sacrifices himself to shore up the stakes, and Sherman “Preacher” Dudley, played by LL Cool J, is there for comic relief. The characters are supposed to be functional and charismatic, which they certainly are. The exception is Susan McAlester, played by Saffron Burrows, the scientist in charge of the shark program, who wants to use shark brains to harvest the protein she needs to cure Alzheimer’s. Because she broke the rules by genetically engineering sharks to make their brains bigger (and thus generate more protein), she is responsible for the events of the film and goes through a redemption arc where she realizes that, while well-intentioned, her actions have cost many lives.
There’s just one problem with this: the arc doesn’t come to a real conclusion. While Susan admits to the genetic tampering and then tries in vain to save her research data, she doesn’t actually manage to carry out the final clear step in her arc, which is to willingly destroy the final shark as a rejection of her previous choices. Instead, Susan is unceremoniously killed during the final battle, in a way that feels completely incongruous with the rest of the scene. If it feels like this moment comes out of nowhere, it literally does. Harlin admitted as much in a interview with CraveOnline Susan was originally supposed to survive the film and help defeat the last shark, but that was changed a month before release due to test audiences hating her. Harlin said, “In their minds, she was the villain and in our minds, she was the heroine and we thought saving her was the key. Basically, we had test cards that said, ‘Kill the bitch.'”
With that information in mind, it’s impossible not to see the lopsided way the film ends. As the only character who undergoes significant change, failing to complete Susan’s arc so she can redeem herself for her crimes (and also pay off the clear romantic undercurrent of her dynamic with Carter, something else the original version was meant to do) robs the ending of its impact. Deep Blue Sea is a solid film for 90 percent of its running time, and then it drags a bit to the finish line. After the reshot ending was revealed, fans of the film created a petition to have Warner Bros. release the original version, which was co-signed by Harlin and Thomas Jane. Now that we’re on the film’s 25th anniversary, let’s hope the powers that be allow some sort of Director’s Cut to be released, as the film feels incomplete without that final piece.
Still, Deep Blue Sea is a film that time has been kind enough to treat. It’s not a masterpiece, and it doesn’t try to be, but it is a wild and fun monster movie, made with real conviction and attention to detail. It’s exactly the kind of well-crafted film that shows that films of this type aren’t to have be of poor quality. We hope to see more good shark movies in the future, but for now, Deep Blue Sea is a movie that is definitely worth watching.
Carlos Morales writes novels, articles and essays about Mass Effect. You can follow his obsessions on Twitter.