Product Details

• Actors: Thomas Jane, Saffron Burrows, Samuel L. Jackson, Jacqueline McKenzie, Michael Rapaport
• Directors: Renny Harlin
• Writers: Donna Powers, Duncan Kennedy, Wayne Powers
• Producers: Akiva Goldsman, Alan Riche, Bruce Berman, Don MacBain
• Format: Color, Dolby, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: June 6, 2000
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (379 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00002E23V
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #673,616 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

With a voracious trio of mako sharks wreaking havoc, Deep Blue Sea dares to up the ante on Jaws, but director Renny Harlin trades the nuanced suspense of Spielberg's 1975 blockbuster for the trickery of the digital age. In other words, why build genuine terror when you can show ill-fated humans getting torn into bloody chunks? The aforementioned makos have been lab rats in an effort to harvest a miracle cure for Alzheimer's disease from the brains of sharks, but the research has an unfortunate side effect: the sharks get smarter, and they're determined to break out of Aquatica, the deep-sea complex where they've been penned.

Model-actress Saffron Burrows plays the researcher; Thomas Jane pulls double-duty as shark expert and action hunk; Samuel L. Jackson's the corporate sponsor who chooses the worst time for an Aquatica tour; and rapper LL Cool J is nicely cast as Aquatica's cook and comic relief. Michael Rapaport, Jacqueline McKenzie, and Stellan Skarsgård round out the cast, most of whom are turned into shark food as the makos turn Aquatica into a floating junkyard. Harlin takes devilish pleasure in providing sudden, unexpected shocks--no small feat in such a derivative thriller--and as a series of action set-pieces, Deep Blue Sea never disappoints. It's inevitable that Burrows should end up in her underwear like Sigourney Weaver in Alien, but even then the movie offers a credible reason for the strip-down; that Deep Blue Sea can be simultaneously ridiculous and sensible is just another one of its shlocky charms. --Jeff Shannon

From The New Yorker

A degraded cross between "Jaws" and "Frankenstein." Medical researchers, with the best intentions, create super-intelligent sharks, which then turn their teeth on the scientists. Scary, absurd, inessential. With the spectacular Saffron Burrows as a singularly stupid scientist, Samuel L. Jackson as the pompous financial backer of the project, and many other actors, including Thomas Jane and LL Cool J, playing characters with varying class backgrounds. They all get chomped except for two; at least it's fun to guess who will survive. The disgraceful script is by Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, and Wayne Powers. Directed with occasional flashes of nasty wit by Renny Harlin. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Deep, but not so wide, July 21, 2003

By 

K. Fontenot "Prairie Cajun Lives!" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Blue Sea (DVD)

"Deep Blue Sea" is one of those monster flicks that makes an attempt at being an intelligent man's horror film. The genetically-altered, Alzheimer cure-all mako shark idea was a good one, and a little more unique than most creature films, but in essence this is a man-screws-with-nature-nature-screws-back sort of tale. There are a couple of suspenseful moments, and the makos look great throughout the majority of the film. Other reviewers accuse the acting as being standard and weightless, but remember that this is a creature feature and the first rule of this genre is that the creature is the star. I found nothing terribly wrong about the acting, and much like "Anaconda," this film has a token rapper(LL Cool J) who does a good job. The rest of the cast is fairly standard, but none of their performances are that bad. Samuel L. Jackson gives "Deep Blue Sea" a solid actor, and he seemed to enjoy his time on screen in this film. Thomas Jane is another standout who plays the heroic lead, although little is left for our hero to save. Saffron Burrows does an excellent job as the good-meaning, yet slightly mad scientist who you really want to see get bit by a mako.
Overall, this is an above-average flick. It isn't as cheesy as "Lake Placid," and it doesn't make the sharks quite as smart as the raptors of "Jurassic Park" fame, but it takes parts of both of these films and combines them with a little suspense and terror a la "Jaws" and serves up a fish dinner that just about anyone can enjoy.
Also, notice the nod given to "Jaws" during Jackson's initial landing at Aquatica.(Hint: Check that license plate)

19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars deep blue sea, December 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Deep Blue Sea (DVD)

This DVD was far better than I had hoped for. The special effects were awesome! After watching this DVD I'm not so sure I want to go in the ocean again.If what you like is to watch a shark tear a person apart, then this one is for you! This has become our all time favorite .The more you watch it the better it gets. This movie will NOT disapoint the the person that likes to sit on the edge of the seat. p.s keep your feet out of the water.

59 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Just another action movie, May 16, 2000

By 

Mike London "MAC" (Oxford, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Deep Blue Sea (DVD)

This is a bad action flick. The basic plot is they (scientists) try to cure Alzheimer's and other brain diseases. There is a serum in the shark's brain, but to make adequate amounts, they break some code of ethic (it is named in the movie, but it escapes my memory). Well, in the process of doing so, it makes the sharks smarter. It is a very run of the mill action movie, bringing little invention to the genre. It's a Jaws wannabe.

One redeeming factor, however, is it will surprise you on who will live and who will die. During one scene, a character is making a good speech, and then WHAM! Everything JAWS tried, it succeeded. I've heard the sequels are terrible, but I haven't seen them.. But if you hold this against JAWS, this fails terribly. There is no suspense or terror in this movie as in JAWS. It saddens me that Jackson, a fine actor in his own right, was in this movie. He is also another redeeming factor in this movie. The cast does an alright job, bringing the script up a little - but still, a pretty dismal effort.