“Deep Blue Sea” (1999) directed by Renny Harlin / Z-View

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

Director: Renny Harlin

Screenplay:  Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, Wayne Powers

Stars:  Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport, Stellan Skarsgård, Aida Turturro, Samuel L. Jackson and Ronny Cox, Renny Harlin.

Tagline: Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.

The Plot…

At a remote research facility located on the deep sea, Dr. Susan McAlester leads a small group of scientists working to find a cure to Alzheimer’s disease.   McAlester’s research involves using proteins from the brains of three captured sharks.

When one of the sharks uses an object as a battering ram to bust through an observation window, McAlester admits that she genetically altered the sharks’ brains to make them bigger.  Now the small research team is stranded in a sinking research facilty surrounded by sharks that are…

Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.

Thoughts (beware of spoilers)…

Ronny Cox appears uncredited as an Executive.  Renny Harlin appears uncredited as a worker.

*** SPOILERS – MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW***

In the original cut at the end of the film Saffron Burrows was the hero.  Audiences in test screenings hated it because she was the reason the sharks were changed.  Some of her scenes (that made her more sympathetic) were cut.  Reshot footage had a shark kill her and made LL Cool J’s character the hero.

Suddenly killing off Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) well before the end of the movie was inspired by Tom Skerritt’s character’s demise in Alien.  Killing the best known actor and lead character put the survivors in more jeopardy.  When I first saw Deep Blue Sea, I was totally shocked when Samuel L. Jackson was killed.  Well played, Renny Harlin.

Deep Blue Sea (1999) rates 3 of 5 stars.