Posters for such movies typically used shadowy blues or reds, close-ups of characters looking pensive, and a hint of the lurking threat, be it explosions, water or an animal’s jaws. Jurassic Park had kicked off a renewed trend for action movies that focused on man’s struggles against nature, the threats of which ranged from aliens and crocodiles to twisters and volcanoes. Where a final orchestral piece from Rabin might serve better dramatically, it was still the ‘90s, so instead LL Cool J plays out the show with a hip-hop number that goes "Deepest, bluest, my hat is like a shark’s fin." Fans still puzzle over the meaning of those lyrics to this day.ĭeep Blue Sea is so archetypal of its time. Death scenes and dramatic climaxes are enhanced with choral accompaniment, which brings an almost hysterical human element to the horror. It has its own chillingly simple shark theme that uses a more conventional horror-style string arrangement as opposed to John Williams’ low woodwind, a creeping variation of which is used to imply the presence of the creatures among the vast dark water. Trevor Rabin’s tremendously evocative score understands the complexities of framing a scene with music. If Deep Blue Sea learned anything from Jaws, it was that music is more than background noise. Strong production design and musical scoring play key parts in building an atmosphere of foreboding. The vast, metallic confines of the sea lab and the use of blue and orange color palettes create a cold, clinical atmosphere where danger seems imminent. There are moments of misdirection from which unexpected surprises burst, such as the infamous demise of Stellan Skarsgård’s character, while other sequences take on a slow creeping menace as prelude to thrashing action. In typical late ‘90s fashion, it is action-heavy, and paces its sequences well to build suspense and get the most out of its climaxes. And every moment of it is unprecedentedly brilliant.Īs silly as the story and tone can get at times, the movie doesn’t lose its focus on delivering the thrills. beast story set in the real world, Deep Blue Sea leans fully into weird science, logical inconsistency and straight-up cheese. But in order to do so, they have violated a few ethical codes of conduct, and “as a side effect the sharks got smarter!” Where Jaws was a simple man vs. The very premise of Deep Blue Sea demonstrates its lovingly B-movie feel: a group of scientists working in an underwater lab have genetically engineered super-brained sharks in order to use their cerebral tissue as a cure for Alzheimer’s. While at a very different end of the shark movie spectrum than Jaws, it fit perfectly into the action/disaster cinema landscape of the late ‘90s, proving itself as wildly enjoyable popcorn entertainment, and ultimately, the "other" shark movie. Following a successful run at the box office, it grew in popularity with home video audiences, to the point that it became something of a cult movie. Many shark movies have come and gone in the decades since, but none has ever made the impact that Deep Blue Sea did. Almost 50 years after Jaws hit the big screen and became a defining work of cinema, its influence on the art of filmmaking and popular culture has never declined.
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