Deep Blue Sea was a bridge between the bombastic ‘90s action movie and the increased CGI that would overtake the genre. There’s one big twist that it’s famous for, but even if you already know who gets eaten halfway through it’s still fun to watch survivors climb up a sinking research station being picked off by CGI sharks.
The good ‘90s film stock holds up in a 4K UHD, showing off the grain. The ocean looks good at night, not quite a deep black void because of the lighting, but ominous. The 1999 CGI sharks don’t quite hold up, if they ever did, but if we can have fun with Sharknado we can’t be sticklers here.
Surround sound puts splashing water and breaking glass behind you. The water rumbles throughout.
They still have not uncovered the original ending where Saffron Burrows lives after all these years. However, a part of the original ending where LL Cool J dies is shown in the production designer William Sandell career retrospective. He discusses his career up to Deep Blue Sea, and has some dirt on the movie along with some footage of the sets before they were flooded with water.
Trace Thurman’s video essay focuses on the scientist as the true horror and the legacy of women as monsters in horror movies. This includes analyzing the evolution of the Burrows character through rewriters.
Screenwriter Duncan Kennedy talks through the development of different drafts in his new commentary. He especially laments the test screening that sealed Burrows’ fate.
Dr. Rebekah Mckendry puts Deep Blue Sea in context of shark movies. That’s not entirely 105 minutes worth so she also hypes up the best moments.