Deep Blue Sea (4K UHD Review)
- Review Date: Aug 15, 2025
- Format: 4K Ultra HD
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Director
Renny HarlinRelease Date(s)
1999 (March 18, 2025)Studio(s)
Warner Bros. (Arrow Video)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: A
- Audio Grade: A
- Extras Grade: B+
Review
Renny Harlin had made three blockbuster hits almost back to back—A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 4: The Dream Master, Die Hard 2, and Cliffhanger—before his fortunes changed for the next three projects, especially the notoriously problematic production and ultimate failure of Cutthroat Island. The release of 1999’s Deep Blue Sea certainly allowed him to stick around in Hollywood for a little while longer, grossing nearly $165 million against its $80 million plus budget. Though the film spawned two direct-to-video sequels that have more or less been forgotten (despite how recent they are), the original film is considered to be a classic nineties B movie, with critics and audiences on both sides of the aisle equally praising its greater and lesser qualities.
Headed by lead scientist Dr. Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows), the underwater research facility “Aquatica” is experimenting with sharks in order to find a possible cure for Alzheimer’s disease. One of the sharks attempts to escape and is recaptured by shark wrangler Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), but it raises the eyebrows of the project’s financial backers, specifically Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson). He decides to tour the facility and see these genetically altered sharks and the work the scientists are doing there first hand. Fellow scientist Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgård), marine biologist Janice Higgins (Jacqueline McKenzie), and the facility’s engineer Tom Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) all take part in the primary experiment, to extract a protein complex from one of the sharks, which proves successful. However, it’s short-lived when the sharks, now enhanced and more capable of thinking, break loose and ultimately flood the facility, attempting to kill everyone in their path, including the facility’s chef, Preacher Dudley (LL Cool J). Also among the cast are Aida Turturro as Aquatica’s tower operator, and an uncredited Ronny Cox as Russell’s boss.
Renny Harlin always seems to be at his best when he’s creating the kind of action schlock seen in Deep Blue Sea. The script is overrun with thinly-drawn archetypes rather than characters, and the dialogue can be absolutely laugh-inducing, but Deep Blue Sea is a pure crowd-pleaser, and a well-made one at that. Like so many great special effects films, it uses a combination of approaches, from animatronics to CGI to real sharks, to sell its monsters. The CGI sharks hold up the least, not just in terms of textures, but in movement, yet the fact that the special effects crew went to the trouble of creating some amazing animatronics at all is a feather in the film’s cap.
The plot itself is pure B movie: a group of scientists are trying to do some good for humanity, and because of their hubris, they go too far, leaving everyone in their wake to pay the price. They’ve been making these kinds of films since the 1950s. In a way, Deep Blue Sea is comparable to Alien in that the filmmakers decided to take a low budget premise and put money into it in an attempt to make an A picture. In the case of Deep Blue Sea, they both succeeded and failed, meaning they got the film in front of audiences with mainstream Hollywood support, but the film doesn’t hold up in the way that Alien does. I’m aware that’s some unfair assessment on my part, since Deep Blue Sea knows exactly what it is and what it’s doing. Nowhere is that more evident than Samuel L. Jackson’s famous exit from the picture, as well as the altered ending in which one of the characters is killed off instead of the other, simply due to the test audiences’ reactions.
Deep Blue Sea was released in a busy movie summer season, July of 1999, a month that also saw the release of Eyes Wide Shut, The Blair Witch Project, Lake Placid (a monster movie cousin of sorts), The Haunting, Runaway Bride, and American Pie, all high profile and most major financial successes. Fortunately, Deep Blue Sea was also a money maker, inadvertently reviving the killer shark genre (now categorized as “sharksploitation”) that has continued to thrive to this day, seeing a number of entries, from the highest in quality to the bottom of the barrel, and everything in between.
Deep Blue Sea was shot by cinematographer Stephen Windon on Super 35mm film (Kodak Vision 500T 5279) using Panavision Panaflex Millennium cameras and Panavision Primo lenses, finished photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 2.39:1. Arrow Video debuts the film on Ultra HD with a new 4K restoration from the original camera negative, which has been graded for High Dynamic Range in HDR10 and Dolby Vision, encoded by David Mackenzie of Fidelity in Motion and QC’d by Aidan Doyle of Finlay Fox, approved by director Renny Harlin, and presented on a triple-layered BD-100 disc. It’s a thoroughly organic presentation with heavy to medium grain that’s generally tight with only minor speckling, and a bitrate that tends to sit between 80 and 100Mbps. Some of the late 1990s CGI doesn’t hold up, usually depending on how it’s being used and how it’s lit, but outside of the computer-generated sharks, it blends with the surrounding material well enough. The HDR grades are surprisingly restrained, boosting color and detail and giving everything a more normal appearance, rather than a highly saturated one. The titular blues, greens, and reds are rich, as to be expected, while flesh tones are quite natural. The image is stable and solid from one end to the other, offering a sharp, film-like picture.
Audio is included in English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby Atmos (7.1 Dolby TrueHD compatible), with optional subtitles in English SDH. Both tracks offer highly immersive and explosive experiences, with the new Atmos track frequently moving atmospherics into the overhead speakers. Dialogue is prioritized well and Trevor Rabin’s score is given plenty of depth. Sound effects have a lot of push, especially in the lower registers during big action moments when the LFE is put to good use. Strangely the audio on the Dolby Atmos track cuts off at the 104:06 mark right as the closing credits are ending, which isn’t an issue on the 5.1 track. Otherwise, each track offers highly satisfying surround experiences. If it weren’t for the technical snafu at the end, the Dolby Atmos track would have the clear edge, but depending on how much of an issue this is for you, it might still.
The Arrow Video 4K Ultra HD release of Deep Blue Sea sits in a black Amaray case with three postcards from “Aquatica” and a double-sided insert with new artwork by Luke Preece on one side and the original theatrical poster artwork on the reverse. Also included is a double-sided poster with the same artwork options and a 60-page booklet containing cast and crew information, the essays Freedom, Faith, Redemption, Control and Survival: An Analysis of Motive in Deep Blue Sea by Jennie Kermode, Between the Devil Fish and the... Deep Blue Sea by Murray Leeder, Fight the Power! Closing of the Gap Between Man and Beast in Deep Blue Sea and Beyond by Josh Hurtado, a selection of original production artwork and designs, presentation information, a set of production credits, special thanks, and an acknowledgment of the late Lee Gambin. Everything is housed in sturdy slipcase packaging featuring alternate new artwork by Luke Preece. The following extras are included on the disc:
- Audio Commentaries:
- Audio Commentary with Rebekah McKendry
- Audio Commentary with Duncan Kennedy
- Audio Commentary with Renny Harlin and Samuel L. Jackson
- Out of the Frying Pan... Into the Studio Tanks: William Sandell on Designing Deep Blue Sea (HD – 25:08)
- Beneath the Surface: The Monstrous Feminine in Deep Blue Sea (HD – 19:30)
- When Sharks Attack! The Making of Deep Blue Sea (SD – 15:07)
- The Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea (SD – 8:19)
- Deleted Scenes w/Optional Commentary by Renny Harlin (Upscaled SD – 5 in all – 8:02)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD – 2:22)
- Image Galleries:
- Posters & Stills (HD – 28 in all)
- Production Art and Design (HD – 21 in all)
The first new audio commentary features filmmaker and critic Dr. Rebekah McKendry, co-host of the Colors of the Dark podcast. A lifelong fan of shark-related films, she details their history, but also highlights various elements of the film, rarely stopping to catch her breath. The second new audio commentary features screenwriter Duncan Kennedy, who talks about his various drafts of the script as an insider and an outsider on the production, bringing his viewpoint to what wound up in the final film. The final audio commentary features director Renny Harlin and actor Samuel L. Jackson, both of whom were recorded separately and stitched together later, which I’m actually in favor of. There are some quiet moments, but it’s a very educational track filled with some surprisingly off the cuff comments and production stories. All in all, it’s a nice set of commentaries.
In Out of the Frying Pan... Into the Studio Tanks, production designer William Sandell discusses how he got into the film business via Roger Corman, meeting various people and getting his start, making Rube Goldberg sculptures, working on Mean Streets and RoboCop, being brought in for Deep Blue Sea when the previous production designer was fired, the quality of the sets and the crew, problems on the set, re-shooting the ending, and looking for films that are challenging. Beneath the Surface is a new visual essay by film critic Trace Thurman about the psychology of women in authority roles in relation to Deep Blue Sea. When Sharks Attack! and The Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea are archival making-of featurettes with director Renny Harlin, underwater director of photography Pete Romano, dive master Damien Fitzpatrick, dive supervisor Stuart Cove, actors Thomas Jane, Samuel L. Jackson, Saffron Burrows, Michael Rapaport, Jacqueline McKenzie, LL Cool J, Stellan Skarsgård, shark effects supervisor Walt Conti, producers Akiva Goldsman, Alan Riche, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, and composer Trevor Rabin. The former generally covers the whole of the production while the latter highlights the animatronic sharks used in the film. Next are a set five Deleted Scenes with optional audio commentary by Renny Harlin. Last is the film’s theatrical trailer, and two Image Galleries, consisting of a total of 49 images of posters, production stills, production artwork, and storyboards. Unfortunately, the LL Cool J music video for Deepest Bluest hasn’t been included.
Arrow Video recently gave the spit and polish to Renny Harlin’s previous effort, 1996’s The Long Kiss Goodnight. Now with an excellent 4K Ultra HD release of Deep Blue Sea under their belts, I wouldn’t be surprised if they roll up their sleeves on another title or two of his. Regardless, the 4K UHD of Deep Blue Sea is definitely worth the upgrade and very much recommended for fans.
- Tim Salmons
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