From Renny Harlin comes Deep Blue Sea, a shark-infested action-thriller where everyone is on the menu. At an isolated research facility in the middle of the ocean, a team of scientists, led by Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows), are working on a cure for Alzheimer’s by genetically altering the brains of sharks. When a shark escapes and attacks a pleasure boat, the company sponsoring the research threatens to pull its funding and sends corporate executive Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate. McAlester has just 48 hours to prove the value of her work, but her experiments have made the sharks smarter. No longer happy to be injected, prodded, and caged, they begin to turn the tables. As a freak storm causes chaos on the surface, making it impossible to leave, the facility is flooded and the scientists must fight to survive against the rising water and the hungry sharks that now swim freely through the corridors.
What We Thought:
Deep Blue Sea is one of my all-time favorite guilty pleasures. Is it classic cinema? Absolutely not, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun and has one of cinema’s best surprise kills. If you’ve seen the movie before, you know exactly which one I’m talking about.
If Jaws is the granddaddy of shark films then Deep Blue Sea is on the level of The Meg. It’s over-the-top, but not intentionally ridiculous like the Sharknado franchise. It’s at least based in reality with scientists, well at least movie reality. Those scientists are trying to find the cure to Alzheimer’s and accidentally turn one of nature’s greatest killers into an even more intelligent predator. Trapped on a remote ocean based research lab, bodies start dropping in this fun and fast-paced man vs. nature flick.
For people that know the film, as soon as you mention it they start talking positively about it. With a cast including Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jane, LL Cool J, Saffron Burrows, and Stellan Skarsgård, it has way more talent than it needs. It’s also from Renny Harlin who at one point was an action director god. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t find the movie entertaining. That’s the best word to describe the film, entertaining.
Is the science of Deep Blue Sea realistic? Who knows and who cares? It’s got LL Cool J and Tom Jane fighting sharks swimming through the lab! It has explosions and one liners and everything you want in a film like this. I hadn’t seen it in a while so I popped in the new 4K pretty quickly. The restoration looks really good and it’s jam packed with bonus features including multiple commentaries, deleted scenes with commentary and much more. As a fan I enjoyed the add-ons of the 4K. If you are a fan of the film (and you should be) then this new restored 4K release is…
Highly Recommended!
Bonus Features:
- Brand new 4K restoration of the film from the original camera negatives by Arrow Films approved by director Renny Harlin
- 4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation
- Original DTS HD-MA 5.1 and Dolby Atmos audio options
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
- Brand new audio commentary by screenwriter Duncan Kennedy
- Brand new audio commentary by filmmaker and critic Rebekah McKendry
- Archive audio commentary by director Renny Harlin and star Samuel L. Jackson
- From the Frying Pan… into the Studio Tank, a new interview with production designer William Sandell
- Beneath the Surface, a new visual essay by film critic Trace Thurman
- When Sharks Attack: The Making of Deep Blue Sea, an archive featurette
- The Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea, an archive featurette
- Deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by director Renny Harlin
- Theatrical trailer
- Image gallery
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece
- 60-page perfect bound collector’s book containing new writing by film critics Josh Hurtado, Jennie Kermode, and Murray Leeder, plus previously unseen production art and designs
- Double-sided fold-out poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Luke Preece
- Postcards from Aquatica
The Nerds Templar 