Deep Blue Sea(1999)

R
Rated R for graphic shark attacks, and for language
1h 45m

Release Date: Jul 30, 1999 | Wide

Searching for a cure to Alzheimer's disease, a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the prey, as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.

Official Website

Releases

Original Release | Jul 30, 1999

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Box Office Results

Results

Opening Weekend US & Canada:
$19,107,643
Total US & Canada:
$73,648,142
Total International
$91,000,000
Total Worldwide:
$164,648,231

Current Showtimes

Your Location or

(U.S. Only)

Director & Top Cast

Renny Harlin
Director

Thomas Jane
Carter Blake

Saffron Burrows
Dr. Susan McAlester

Samuel L. Jackson
Russell Franklin

Jacqueline McKenzie
Janice Higgins

Michael Rapaport
Tom Scoggins

Stellan Skarsgård

Jim Whitlock

LL Cool J

Preacher

Aida Turturro

Brenda Kerns

Cristos

Boat Captain

Daniel Rey

Helicopter Pilot

Valente Rodriguez

Helicopter Co-Pilot

Brent Roam

Helicopter Winch Operator

Eyal Podell

Helicopter Winch Operator

Erinn Bartlett

Girl #1

Dan Thiel

Boy #2

Sabrina Geerinckx

Girl #2

Tajsha Thomas

Friend of Janice

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: DTS,Dolby Digital,SDDS

Aspect Ratio: 2.39 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States,Mexico

Language: English,Spanish

Summaries

Plot Summary

In a remote underwater facility, doctors Susan McCallister (Saffron Burrows) and Jim Whitlock (Stellan Skarsgård) are doing research on Mako sharks to help in the re-activation of dormant human brain cells like those found in Alzheimer's disease patients.After one of the sharks escapes the facility and attempts to attack a boat full of young adults (who were saved at the last minute by wrangler Carter Blake (Thomas Jane) who shot darts into the shark and reigned it back into the holding pen of the research facility), financial backers (who have sunk $200M into the research) send corporate executive (Chimera Pharmaceuticals) Russell Franklin (Samuel L. Jackson) to investigate the facility (which was originally built by the Navy as a submarine refueling station during the war).The facility has 3 test sharks, 2 1st gen, and 1 2nd gen female. The facility runs on a skeleton crew over the weekend as most people return home. The facility engineer Tom Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) is adamant that he closed the pens (titanium laced) as per protocol and hence the shark escaped some other way. The fences around the pens are 8 feet above the water. Carter warns Susan that the test sharks have started to hunt in packs, a behavior that is unexpected for sharks. Susan warns Carter not to say anything to Russell, else she will fire him and with Carter's criminal background, he will never get any more jobs anywhere.Susan and Jim prove their research is working by testing a certain protein complex that was removed from the brain tissue of their largest shark (when Carter captured the shark in the pen, it demonstrated that it recognized weapons and could also swim backward), which bites off Jim's right arm upon awakening in the laboratory. Susan releases the shark before Carter can kill it. Brenda Kerns (Aida Turturro), the tower's operator, calls a helicopter to evacuate Jim, but as he is being lifted, the cable jams and it causes Jim to fall into the shark pen. The largest shark (the Gen 2 female) grabs the stretcher and pulls the helicopter into the tower, killing Brenda and the pilots, as well as causing massive explosions that severely damage the facility (The fuel dumps and the seaplane all explode).In the laboratory, Susan, Russell, wrangler Carter Blake, marine biologist Janice Higgins (Jacqueline McKenzie), and engineer Tom Scoggins witness the shark smash the stretcher against the laboratory's main window, which then shatters, drowning Jim and flooding the facility. The group goes to the facility's wet entry (level 3), where they plan to take a submersible to escape. Susan confesses to the others that she and Jim genetically engineered the sharks to increase their brain size, as they were not large enough to harvest sufficient amounts of the protein complex; this had the side effect of making them smarter and more deadly. When the group reaches the wet entry, they discover that the submersible has been damaged. While delivering a monologue emphasizing the need for group unity (he was trying to encourage the group to don wet suits and swim to the top. Its 230 ft to the top, humans swim 2 feet/sec while sharks swim 50 feet/sec), Russell is dragged into the submersible pool by one of the sharks and devoured.The remaining crew opts to climb up the elevator shaft at the risk of destabilizing the pool (if there isn't enough pressure inside the shaft, the wet pool destabilizes and lets the entire ocean in). As they climb, explosive tremors cause the ladder to break, and Janice loses her grip and falls into the shark-infested water. Despite Carter's attempt to save her, one of the two remaining sharks drags Janice under, killing and devouring her.In the facility's kitchen, which has been partially flooded, cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J), whose parrot is devoured in the process, manages to kill the first shark with an explosion (He hides himself in the oven. The shark triggers the gas. So, Sherman moves into the upper half of the oven and lets the shark break into the lower half, while he triggers the explosion to kill the shark). He then makes his way to the elevator shaft (on level 2), where he encounters Carter, Tom, and Susan.Carter and Tom go to the flooded laboratory to activate a control panel that drains a stairway to the surface, while Susan heads to her room to collect her research material. Carter and Tom reach the control panel, but the largest shark storms in, killing and ripping Tom apart, and sabotaging the controls.In the other room, Susan encounters another shark and electrocutes it with a power cable, destroying her research in the process.After regrouping, Carter, Susan, and Preacher go to a decompression chamber and swim to the surface (There is no other option as the station is filling up with water and will structurally collapse anytime). Preacher is grabbed by the last shark but is released when he stabs the shark in the eye with his crucifix, though he escapes with injuries to his leg. Only 1 test shark is left now.Carter realizes that the sharks made them flood the facility, so they could escape through the weaker mesh fences at the surface. Carter prepares a harpoon with an explosive charge inside, rigger to a battery that will send a current. In an effort to distract the shark from escaping to the open sea, Susan cuts herself and dives into the water. Although she manages to distract the shark, she is unable to get out of the water, and is devoured, despite Carter's efforts to save her.While Carter is grabbing hold of the shark's dorsal fin, Preacher shoots the shark with a harpoon, but also pierces Carter's thigh. As the shark breaks through the fence, Carter orders Preacher to connect the trailing wire to a battery, sending an electric current through the wire and to an explosive charge in the harpoon, killing the shark. In the end, Carter reveals that he had managed to free himself in time and joins Preacher to see a workers' boat en route on the horizon.

Storyline

A businessman sinks $200 million into a special project to help fight Alzheimer's disease. As part of this project, medical biologist Susan McAlester rather naughtily figures out a way to genetically enlarge shark brains, so that disease-battling enzymes can be harvested. However, the shark subjects become super smart and decide they don't much like being cooped up in pens and being stabbed with hypodermics, so they figure a way to break out and make for the open sea... — John Smith <John.Smith7@net.ntl.com> In high hopes of attracting investors for her ambitious Alzheimer's disease research, Dr Susan McCallister invites Russell Franklin in Aquatica: a state-of-the-art underwater laboratory and former submarine refuelling facility in the middle of the ocean. However, genetic modifications have transformed the sea's fastest predator--the streamlined, Mako shark--into the world's smartest killer, and what's even more terrifying, the laboratory's silent subaquatic assassins are now on the loose. Can the handful of survivors find their way back to the surface before the super-intelligent man-hunters eat them for breakfast? — Nick Riganas Close to finding a cure for Alzheimer's, a group of scientists have been using genetically engineered mako sharks as experiments to come close to benefiting mankind. Little do they know before they can save millions of lives, they'll have to find a way to save their own. When the facility gets torn down the now intelligent sharks have found their way into the facility that is now sinking with the scientists trying to find a way to the surface, while the sharks are tracking them down one by one. — alonzovillafra Believing she almost has the cure for Alzheimer's disease, Dr. Susan McCallister invites Russell Franklin with the hope that he would invest in her and the research. The research is taking placed on an isolated facility in the middle of the ocean with the test subjects being Mako sharks. What was supposed to be a visit for Russell Franklin turns into something more, when the sharks flood the facility and hunt down the team, and thanks to the team, the sharks are now smarter than ever. — FilmFanUk 1 more All