| With so many movies being made these days and
many being remakes, spin-offs and homage's to some of the greats from yesteryear,
it’s hard to tell if the ones that some see as crap are the fun crap kind or the
reaaaally bad crap. Deep Blue Sea though a major box office smash hit is seen by many as
bad crap. Personally I found it to be good crap. After all Renny Harlin directed it, and
he really does make some fun movies….and to me that’s what movie-ing is all
about…..fun! A movie like Deep Blue can in no way be taken seriously and
unfortunately some people just don’t see it that way, they need it to be plausible,
and well, you ain’t gonna get that here!!!!! :) In
the middle of nowhere is an underwater facility dedicated to the research in Alzheimers
though the use of a fluid found inside a sharks brain! This Research is headed by the
lovely Dr Susan McAlester (Saffron Burrows). Along for the ride are her assistant-couple
Janice (Aussie's own Jacqueline McKenzie) & Jim (Stellan Skarsgard), Engineer Tom
(Michael Rapaport), the cook Preacher (LL Cool J) and last but not least Shark Wrangler
Carter (Thomas Jane).
With Hundreds of Millions of dollars being spent, investor
Russell Franklin (Samuel L Jackson) decides to visit the facility to see if it’s
worth the dosh.
As is the case with ANY movie where research is being done on a naturally violent creature
of earth, disaster ensues and people start getting off-ed….after a severe
thunderstorm trashes the facility, resulting in a helicopter rescue exploding,
allows the sharks to roam free and eat in between meals!!
It’s fun fun fun all the way!
So How Does This Transfer Hold Up?
VIDEO
As another Joint venture with Roadshow and Warner (just like The
Matrix), this DVD was authored over in the USA. Presented in it’s
original Theatrical aspect of 2.35:1 this Anamorphic Widescreen DVD is very nice
looking. Though the level of sharpness is played on the safe side, resulting in absolutely
no aliasing, it does leave the image ever so soft on larger (not CRT) displays, and lacks
any real image depth.
Colour Saturation and black level are however both very good and very accurate.
Overall it's quite a comfortable looking picture that is consistent in maintaining this
quality for the entire duration of the picture. (Sorry Renny but those CGI
sharks still look fake even on a smaller screen!)
AUDIO
One thing you can rely on in a Renny Harlin film is a good Multichannel sound mix, and DBS
does not disappoint! With only a Dolby 5.1 mix at ear (manipulated for mixdown to
2.0 if required) this is an in-your-face soundtrack that goes really bloody loud when
needed, and has incredibly subtle and accurate detail when needed (love the sound of water
dripping when it’s done this well). You’re in for a full 5.1 workout here.
EXTRAS
To add to this viewing pleasure are a nice collection of extras, starting with motion
& Music based menu and though I tend NOT to like Running Commentaries that are
separately recorded and intercut for the final track of a DVD, as has been done here with
Renny and Samuel. This one comes off okay, with the only letdown being that Samuel
disappears half way thru the movie. Though Renny carries on the rest of the film comm
track without too many lapses.
- When Sharks Attack is essentially 15 minute worth of ..the making of DBS, and
is 4x3 framed with a Dolby Surround Encoded Audio.
- Sharks of the Deep Blue Sea is a Featurette that shows how the sharks were made
and runs about 8 minutes
- 8 minutes worth of deleted scenes, with or without Renny Harlin Commentary.
(these scenes also have subtitles!!!!) All Deleted scenes should include a comm
track!!!
- The Obligatory Theatrical Trailer , presented in all its Anamorphic Widescreen
Glory with a very nice Dolby Surround only Mix (5.1 would have been better, but oh well!)
- To end the list of goodies is a very thorough cast and crew biography, a heap of Production
stills and the Condensed version of the Dolby Digital Rain Trailer
All in all DBS is a very well presented DVD worthy of any DVD collection, if not only
for it’s quality!
| PICTURE QUALITY |
8/10 very nice, but a bit flat |
| SOUND Quality |
9/10 smooth and very well detailed |
| FEATURES |
9/10 kick arse! |
| OVERALL |
7/10 pretty good goings |
Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717 (using RGB outputs)
Receiver/Decoder: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
Fronts: Quadral Phonolgue Gold Amun
Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
Rears: B&W 602
Subby: M&K V125
- Reviewed 26th May 2000 |
