DEEP BLUE SEA

US, 1999, 90 minutes, Colour.
Saffron Burrows, Thomas Jane Carter, LL J Cool, Jacqueline Mc Kenzie, Stellan Skarsgaard, Samuel L. Jackson.
Directed by Renny Harlin.

Deep Blue Sea is a shark-devouring-humans movie. However, while it does resemble Jaws in many ways, it is one of those films which is critical of scientists who go beyond accepted bounds.

Saffron Burrows portrays a very serious-minded obsessive scientist who, in thinking of her parents' Alzheimer's, experiments with shark brains in order to find protein for injections to remedy Alzheimer's. Samuel L. Jackson portrays the business head of the firm which supports her. Included in the supporting cast are Michael Rapaport as a computer scientist, Jacqueline Mc Kenzie as a computer biologist, Thomas Patrick Jane as a former criminal who is a shark wrangler. There is also an entertaining performance by L.J. Cool as the cook.

The film also resembles The Poseidon Adventure insofar as the group has to go from the bottom of the floating plant to the top in order to escape - and there is, as with films with a small cast and a disaster theme, the disappearance, one by one, of the scientists. The sharks, becoming intelligent, have their revenge for humans usurping the power over nature. (However, the characters do not die in the order one anticipates!)

The film is full of special effects and action, the specialisation of Finnish director Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2, Cliffhanger, The Long Kiss Goodnight).

1. An entertaining blend of action disaster movie with a message film about science and human responsibility?

2. The resemblance to Jaws and the Jaws tradition? Disaster movies and the Poseidon Adventure tradition?

3. Widescreen photography, the seascapes, the storms? The sharks and the special effects? The musical score?

4. The title and the indication of mystery?

5. The prologue and the resemblance to Jaws, the two couples on the boat, the violence of the shark attack, the shooting of the shark - and the couples not harmed?

6. The nature of the project: the financial backer and his assistant, Susan and her going to make her plea for the money, for the time? The stockholders? The Alzheimer's background, her experience, her being obsessed? Her making her case? The reality of her cutting corners, wanting the money, the deadline?

7. The tour of Aquatica: the elaborate set-up, a feat of engineering on the sea, the elaborate scientific machines, the technology? The sharks and the mystery - the shark initially being shot? Computer experts, wranglers, marine biologists, doctors? The secretary and her role, the cook? A self-contained world?

8. The background of sharks and human response to sharks, the theory about their brains? Accepted codes of experimenting with animals for chemical purposes? The wrangler and his skill, riding the shark? The personnel on the Aquatica and their commitment to the project?

9. The experiment, the taking of the shark, Susan rendering it unconscious? Taking the protein? The presentation of a valid scientific experiment for the good of humankind?

10. The range of the crew, their personalities and types? Janice and her biological background, Carter, Michael Rapaport and his skills, the cook?

11. Susan and her type, her intensity, her hopes and ambitions, the background, the illness, her quest, unscrupulous, the domination of science? Her interrelationships with all the characters? Relentless?

12. The reaction to the situation, the sharks being loose, the taking of the scientist at the beginning and his losing his arm, the helicopter and the attempted rescue, its failure and crash, the explosion, the woman at the switchboard and her death? The trapped victims? The cook and his being trapped, coping?

13. The development of strategies and possibilities? The scientist without his arm, crashing into the pane? The helicopter failure? The emotional response, bickering amongst themselves, blame? Susan and her confession of the truth? The money executive, his reputation, his being on the project, his survival in the Himalayas?

14. The speech that he made, its impact, moral reinforcement, the sudden shock of his being taken?

15. The water flooding the plan, the cook, the parrot, the oven and his escape? The sharks pursuing him and the chase? The religious symbols, the crucifix and his religious belief?

16. Janice and her death, the climbing of the ladder? Her contribution to the expedition?

17. The others who were taken, the gradual lessening of the characters? The sharks and their own plan, isolating the victims?

18. Susan, her return for her notes, the sharks and their strategies, pursuing her?

19. The build-up to the finale, the cook, his enterprise, his faith, his being chewed by the sharks - yet saved?

20. Carter, his prison background, his being used by Susan, the exercise of leadership, his own fears? His relationship to Susan, willing to give himself up to die? The initial riding of the sharks - and his using it to destroy them? The explosion? The irony of Carter and Susan and the cook surviving?

21. The effect of the film as an action thriller? Special effects? Suspense and tension?

22. The film as a moral parable, a warning against scientists being too arrogant and the consequences of arrogance?