Deep Blue Sea (1999)
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The story
In a remote underwater facility, doctors Susan McAlester and Jim Whitlock conduct research on mako sharks to find a cure for Alzheimer's disease. They seek to harvest a specific protein complex from the sharks' enlarged brain tissue. The situation turns dire when one of the sharks escapes the facility and attacks a nearby boat. Following the incident, corporate executive Russell Franklin is sent to investigate the facility. The scientists' secret decision to genetically enhance the sharks' intelligence to increase their brain size backfires, making the creatures significantly more intelligent and dangerous, leading to a desperate struggle for survival as the facility becomes a death trap.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In a remote underwater facility, doctors Susan McAlester and Jim Whitlock are researching mako sharks to find a cure for Alzheimer's. They have secretly genetically engineered the sharks to have larger brains, making them highly intelligent and dangerous. After a shark escapes and attacks a nearby boat, corporate executive Russell Franklin arrives to investigate. The situation escalates when a shark in the lab attacks Jim, and a subsequent rescue attempt leads to a catastrophic explosion that damages the facility and floods it. The remaining crew—including Carter Blake, Janice Higgins, Tom Scoggins, and the cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley—must navigate the flooded corridors while being hunted by the intelligent sharks. As the group attempts to reach the surface, they face various hazards, including a malfunctioning submersible and a collapsing elevator shaft. The sharks are revealed to be intentionally flooding the facility to escape into the ocean. In the climax, the survivors must devise a plan to destroy the final shark. Susan sacrifices herself as bait, and Preacher and Carter ultimately manage to destroy the final shark before it can breach the surface fence, leaving the two of them as the sole survivors.
- Original title
- Deep Red
- First release year
- 1999
- Runtime (minutes)
- 105
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Renny Harlin
- Writers
- Duncan Kennedy · writer; Donna Powers · writer; Wayne Powers · writer
- Cast and characters
- Thomas Jane · Carter Blake; Saffron Burrows · Dr. Susan McAlester; LL Cool J · Sherman "Preacher" Dudley; Jacqueline McKenzie · Janice "Jan" Higgins; Michael Rapaport · Tom "Scoggs" Scoggins; Stellan Skarsgård · Dr. Jim Whitlock; Samuel L. Jackson · Russell Franklin
- Genres
- science fiction; horror
- Themes
- man vs. nature; consequences of genetic engineering
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; action-packed
- Setting
- An isolated underwater research facility.
- Premise and plot tags
- shark attack; underwater; science fiction
- Franchise connections
- Deep Blue Sea
- Reception
- The film received generally mixed reviews, with praise for its action and suspense but criticism for its unoriginality. Retrospective reviews have been more positive.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 60% · scale: percentage · review count: 116; Metacritic · score: 54 · scale: 100 · review count: 22; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Production trivia
- The film used a mix of animatronic, computer-generated, and real sharks.; The license plate in the film is the same one found in the shark's carcass in Jaws.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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