Deep Blue Sea (Exclusive Series) (Netflix)

Initial release date: July 30, 1999

Studios: Warner Brother/Village Roadshow

Tagline: Bigger. Smarter. Faster. Meaner.

Your worst fear is about to surface

Plot: On an island research facility, Dr. Susan McAlester is harvesting the brain tissue of DNA-altered sharks as a possible cure for Alzheimer’s disease. When the facility’s backers send an executive to investigate the experiments, a routine procedure goes awry and a shark starts attacking the researchers. Now, with sharks outnumbering their human captors, McAlester and her team must figure out a way to stop them from escaping to the ocean and breeding.

Cast

Thomas Jane (The Predator) - Carter Blake

Saffron Burrows (Netflix’s You) - Dr. Susan McAlester

Samuel L. Jackson (The Protege; The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard) - Russell Franklin

Jacqueline McKenzie (Malignant) - Janice Higgins

Michael Rapaport - Tom Scoggins

Stellan Skarsgard (Mamma Mia 2) - Jim Whitlock

LL Cool J (NCIS: Los Angeles) - Preacher

Aida Turturro - Brenda Kerns

Writer(s): Duncan Kennedy

Donna and Wayne Powers (The Italian Job)

Director: Renny Harlin (The Legend of Hercules; 12 Rounds; Die Hard 2)

Rated R for graphic shark attacks, and for language (105 minutes)

When you think of classic shark movies, generally everyone will think ‘Jaws.’ But, in 1999, another shark movie was released and is kind of considered to be a “modern classic.” That shark movie is ‘Deep Blue Sea.’

‘Deep Blue Sea’ really delivers great action and some very fun moments. The plot about genetically modified sharks that are smarter is still pretty awesome today and is really entertaining.

There are quite a few moments that are quite predictable. Yet, you can still easily have a great time watching this movie. I’ve seen it numerous times and it’s still extremely fun to watch in my opinion.

The movie also features lots and lots of tense shark action and some comic relief from LL Cool J. So, if you have seen this many times and still enjoy it, you can find ‘Deep Blue Sea’ on Netflix.

FYI - ‘Deep Blue Sea’ is a little over 22 years old and doesn’t seem like this movie has been around for a couple decades now!!

Here are some interesting tidbits about ‘Deep Blue Sea’: *a couple of these tidbits may contain spoilers*

• For one scene, Thomas Jane had to swim alongside a real live shark. He was only allowed to shoot this once he had completed all of his other scenes.

• The license plate pulled from the shark’s teeth is the same one found in the tiger shark in ‘Jaws.’

• Shot in the same Fox Studios Baja complex where ‘Titanic’ was filmed. Having made ‘Cutthroat Island’ at sea, Renny Harlin was determined to make this movie under the most controlled circumstances possible.

• Samuel L. Jackson was interested in marine biology in college before becoming an actor.

• The three sharks are killed in the same ways and in the same order as the three sharks in ‘Jaws,’ ‘Jaws 2’ and ‘Jaws 3D’: blown up, electrocuted, and incinerated, respectively.

• The story of ‘Deep Blue Sea’ was conceived by Australian screenwriter Duncan Kennedy after he witnessed a “horrific” shark attack on a beach near his home. The tragedy contributed to a recurring nightmare of him “being in a passageway with sharks that could read his mind.”

• This motivated him to write a spec script, while acknowledging the challenge of approaching a shark film without repeating Spielberg’s ‘Jaws.’

• ‘Deep Blue Sea’ had a budget of $82 million and represented a test for Harlin, who hadn’t made a commercially successful film since ‘Cliffhanger’ in 1993.

• The film’ ending was changed shortly before its theatrical release. Originally, Burrow’s character would escape the shark infested water and live. However, the test audience, who saw the film less than a month before its release, disapproved of the ending because she was behind the shark experiments and was seen as the film’s villain.

• ‘Deep Blue Sea’ performed well when it opened in July 1999. In 2,854 theaters, finishing 3rd and grossing around $18.6 million at the US weekend box office. Grossed over $73.7 million domestically and over $165 million worldwide.

• ‘Deep Blue Sea’ has often been cited as one of the greatest shark films of all time. In 2012, PopMatters ranked the film 3rd, behind ‘Jaws’ and ‘Open Water.’ In 2015, Den of Geek!, a publication of Dennis Publishing, ranked the 1999 movie only behind ‘Jaws’ and credited it for its action-packed scenes and intelligent sharks.

• A direct to DVD sequel, ‘Deep Blue Sea 2’ was released in 2018. A third movie, ‘Deep Blue Sea 3,’ was released on July 28, 2020. Neither of these sequels are related to this movie.

https://youtu.be/oSz9MDN-iac