Deep Blue Sea

By the time you reach a certain age you remember where you were when important world events happened: the fall of the Berlin Wall, the attack on 9/11, Samuel L. Jackson being torn apart by genetically-enhanced Mako sharks.  It might not have changed the world, but in the annals of pop-culture “jump scare” history, that scene in director Renny Harlin’s ridiculously entertaining killer shark movie, Deep Blue Sea (1999) has lingered longer than the film itself.  But as a pre-fab popcorn flick, it holds up well against the self-important blockbusters that Hollywood embraced after the turn of the millenium.

In pursuit of a cure for Alzheimer’s, a team of scientists increase the brain size in a trio of maneaters to the point where the sharks can strategize against their captors.  And when a hurricane traps them all in a lab sixty feet underwater, the humans are going to need every bit of brain power they can to survive.

Made up of equal parts Jaws, Alien and The Abyss, there’s nothing about Renny Harlin’s film that’s original.  But his approach to the material is so playfully gruesome you can’t help but buy what he’s selling.  With a cast that includes Thomas Jane as a buff shark wrangler, Stellan Skarsgard as yet another shady scientist and LL Cool J as a comic relief cook, Deep Blue Sea spends just enough time with each of them to get the audience invested…then unleashes the CGI killer machines.

Actually, unlike the infamous “Bruce” that plagued Spielberg, the effects hold up better in the scenes using animatronics.  Harlin’s cuts fast and furious, adding floods, explosions and shattered glass to the mix, so that his sharks always pop up when you least expect them.  Which brings us to Sam Jackson’s infamous demise, interrupting a long-winded action movie soliloquy with the sort of cruel comedic edge Hollywood hasn’t duplicated since.

Released concurrently in a limited edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray sets, Arrow Video gives this one a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative.  And, wow, does it deliver!  Swimming with blues, yellows and gorgeous shadows, Deep Blue Sea looks revelatory compared to the muted color scheme of modern films. Extras include all the old featurettes from the way-back release, but who cares when you get two new commentary tracks, interviews, visual essays, a 60-page collector’s book, poster and slick slipcover.  Guilty pleasures rarely look this good.

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