Deep Rising (1998)

Simply Perfect

Fresh and Exciting

It's hard to see any effort in the film. There's no comedy to speak of, no real drama and, worst of all.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Plot; The captain and crew of a boat for hire and a group of mercenaries find themselves locked in a battle for survival against tentacled monsters aboard a doomed luxury liner. The ironic thing about B-movies not aspiring to be more than that is that as a result they often end up being more than that. Deep Rising is one such movie. Directed by Stephen Sommers (who would perfect that craft with his next movie, The Mummy) it plays like an amalgam of The Poseidon Adventure and Aliens. Never pausing long enough for its seams to show, the quips and clips are each emptied and reloaded with an almost gleeful vigor by its top notch cast. Headlined by the immensely underrated and underappreciated Treat Williams, they know exactly what kind of movie they're in, and the movie is all the better for it.Deep Rising ain't high art, but it is good fun, and there's nothing wrong with that.

Plot The captain of a small transport boat, his engineer friend, and a group of badass mercenaries board a seemingly abandoned cruise ship in the middle of the south china sea, unbeknownst to them however, the ship has become taken over by a massive sea monster which fully intends to kill anyone who dares enter it's domain. Also along for the ride are a jewel thief and the ship's owner and captain. The rest of the story plays out as a survival saga as our heroes fight their way off the ship through superior fire power and lots of exploding sea creature anatomy.This film has been a favorite of mine since i first saw it luckily, back in February 1998 during it's original theatrical run. I'm a huge fan of monster movies and action pictures, so to see a film that combined the two so seamlessly and inventively was a treat. The special effects are top notch with good practical effects work from Rob Bottin of John Carpenter's The Thing fame. Special mention should be given to the half digested man scene which to this day still gives me the creeps. The creature is a well realized menace of pure aquatic terror, resembling a mix between a T-Rex, octopus, snake, and starfish, it truly resembles something one would not want to encounter in real life but also an original beast, one which has it's own uniqueness and personality which hasn't been seen on the big screen since. The CGI to bring the creature to life is great and as good as anything seen in Jurassic Park. The tentacle effects, especially the scenes depicting their movement throughout the ship in pipes and hallways, has a sense of realism rarely seen in monster pictures, the way they slither like a snake and slowly crawl towards their victims before eating them shows a sign in intelligence not just in the main body in the creature but in the the individual parts as well. It's like the tentacles have brains of their own. Besides the effects of the film, which still hold up to this day, the production design and art direction are spectacular, the interior of the ship is incredibly detailed, with the ship before the monster's arrival looking like a luxury resort, filled with bars, a massive staircase, a casino, and a stage area on the main floor, it truly is a paradise on the high seas. I especially like all the touches of Chinese memorabilia and history sprinkled throughout the party room where all the activity of the ship is held. The sets of the ship being abandoned and the halls of the ship being flooded also are well done and do a nice job of showing the geography of the ship and just how massive it truly is. Regarding the performances, special mention must be made of Treat Williams very entertaining Han Solo sequel performance as John Finnegan. Williams brings so much swagger, charm, and self-awareness to the role that u enjoy spending time in his company and hope he makes it to the end in one peace. He also holds his own in the films action sequences especially in a very neat homage to Terminator 2 towards the end of the film involving him, a jet ski, closed elevator doors, and a shotgun. It's very unrealistic and over the top but who cares it' s a hell of a lot a fun. The supporting cast is excellent especially Famke Janssen as the thief/love interest to Williams character. She's a strong female character who holds her own with the men. Kevin J O Connor is funny as Williams comic relief sidekick. Anthony Heald as the owner of the ship has fun as a slimy villain. The actors who play the mercenaries all are good and memorable and have a few bits of funny dialogue during their characters introduction scene. Everyone who was apart of this film seemed to be having a blast making it, which shows in the final film, making it easier for me as an audience member to want to go on the ride. The writing in the film is top notch and is filled to the brim with funny one liners. The direction is just as good, Stephen Sommers the man who would later bring us the Brendan Fraser mummy movies and Van Helsing, knows the kind of film he is making and just goes for broke delivering a completely satisfying monster action movie. He doesn't waste time on needless exposition on what the monster is or where it came from. He directs action well and keeps the film moving at a brisk pace. The look of the film also is of note with almost the entire setting taking place during a thunderstorm, surrounded by pouring rain and low hanging clouds which give the film an ominous atmosphere, further pushing the idea the sense of danger and isolation in which our characters find themselves. So wrapping up my thoughts I love this movie it's a fun and fast paced thrill ride with good performances, solid direction, a cool and unique creature, and last but not least features one of the coolest movie guns ever put to celluloid (the M1-L1 triple pulse rifle is something to behold). It goes without saying I highly recommend this film and will continue to watch it for many years to come, hopefully with my review I can bring more awareness to the film's existence and it can grow a bigger cult following, it deserves it. So thanks for reading my review and good day.

I thought this film was good and I'm surprised some people hate it. This Film has a lot of Action and a very exciting story. The story is about a crowd of people who get attacked on a cruise ship by a giant creature. I have to say I like the look of the creature I thought it looked really cool and the effects of the creature were okay,you could see some CGI but not much. Treat Williams and his friends along with a group of soldiers decide to get on the ship because they were in an accident and their boat would not work. Obviously they were unaware that a sea creature had killed people on the ship otherwise they would not have got on. Things get interesting when the characters find out the ship is empty and when they find people dead they realise someone or something killed them and they search the ship and they find survivors who tell them what happened and they soon come face to face with the creature and have to work together to destroy it. The film was fast paced and had good action set pieces and Fun scenes with the bad guys shooting the creature with huge guns. Also the bad guys were fun to watch and sometimes they were funny,they were bad guys you love to hate. Treat Williams and Famke Janssen gave good performances and the rest of the cast were okay. Treat Williams played a cool character and I liked him a lot in this movie,I found him to be a kick ass and take names guy and he was fun to watch. The film also has a lot of fun tongue in cheek humour in it. The dialogue was Fun and the characters were fun and I liked the main three characters. You can tell that the people are never totally serious and sometimes I like that in a movie and I think it worked well in this movie. I thought Kevin J O'Conner was Funny in this film and I really liked his character. He was treated like a pushover but he proved to everyone that he was no pushover,and he defended himself,he was also a total blast to watch and made me crack up on many occasions,I especially like the scene where one of the bad guys says to him I don't like you and his response is (Like Me you don't even know Me!.) Pretty funny scene in my opinion and the look on Kevin's face was priceless.I also thought the creature was really badass and he was fun to watch,he's definitely a creature you don't want to mess with.The film also had a very exciting and intense Ending that I really enjoyed,we also get to see Treat Williams on a Jet ski which was really cool! And The film ended with a Bang. The Film is Very Underrated and deserves more praise because it's a really Fast Moving Fun Film and its Very Rewatchable and I highly recommend it.

Although "Deep Rising" was a big budget movie made by a major Hollywood studio, there were times (make that MANY times) I thought I was watching a slightly glossier B movie made for the SyFy network. Some parts of the movie do look slick and expensive, but many times the movie has a cramped cardboard feel. This includes the monster of the movie, which is rendered by CGI effects that look somewhat cut-rate. (I must add that the effects of the ship at sea also look pretty bad.) But a better look to the movie wouldn't solve all its problems; the movie takes quite a while to get going, for one thing. Also, the movie's characters are pretty familiar stereotypes, which may be why most of the cast doesn't give very enthusiastic performances. However, Kevin J. O'Connor does get his comic relief character to give some badly needed spark to the movie. Is there anything else of merit? Well, some of the gore effects are quite pleasing. And I will admit I was never BORED by the movie, though as I said, the movie does take a while to start taking off. But at the same time, I was telling myself that I could be watching a much better movie. I would only recommend this movie on an especially slow night when you can't find anything better to watch.