Deep Rising

Summary

“To the Argonautica – good times forever! ”

The late Nineties are an era that sparks a lot of debate amongst horror fans. Almost everyone who loves horror films can agree that the era with the most content of value was probably the Eighties and early Nineties. The peak of Italian horror films is arguably in the Seventies. By the late Nineties and early oughts, much of the horror content coming out of Hollywood seemed to try a little too hard and failed to make a lasting impression. That said, there were some really enjoyable movies in that time frame that are worth a second glance.
Deep Rising was originally released on Blu-ray in a no-frills edition from Mill Creek. Fans had to be dismayed to see the film denied any special features, but the audio specs were good and the video specs looked okay in 2012. Thankfully, Kino Lorber understood that this film was a diamond in the rough worthy of a true Collector’s Edition to celebrate its twentieth anniversary. The new Blu-ray features a brand new 4K remaster and a bevy of supplements. 

The film was a critical and commercial failure upon its initial release. Director Stephen Sommers’ next film was The Mummy which launched a huge franchise. This film may have sunk To the bottom of the box office, but it has managed to maintain a fan base over the years. The film is definitely a B-movie, and should be seen through that lens. It takes elements of Under Siege, The Poseidon Adventure, Alien, and John Carpenter’s films and mashes them together with a cast led by B-movie icon Treat Williams. It does not take itself too seriously and seeks to entertain. Somehow, the fun the film attempted to provide was completely lost on the critics. They must have been perplexed why this film failed to address serious topics and issues. Roger Ebert listed it as one of his most hated films. Ebert sometimes got things right (loved Peckinpah’s films) and sometimes got it wrong (gave Rushmore two stars?, gave Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull four stars?) What I am trying to say is that, I can understand why someone may not enjoy a big dumb B-movie like this, but if they hate B-movies, maybe they should avoid writing reviews for them and leave that to the people who enjoy them. So, with all that said, here is the plot of the film. 

Below the South China Seas an underwater mountain range exists that is as large as the Himalayas. Many ships have disappeared over these waters for reasons unexplained. In a storm, a well equipped ship careens towards an unknown destination. The captain of the ship is John Finnegan (Treat Williams) who goes wherever people pay him to go. His motto is simply “if the cash is there, we do not care.” In this case, Hanover is carrying his crew and a band of mercenaries led by Hanover (Wes Studi.) He has no idea what they are doing and is just going where he has been told. Meanwhile, the most expensive luxury ship ever created, the Argonautica, sails the same stormy seas. On board is the cavalier developer Simon Canton (Anthony Heald) who has worked his whole life to create the Argonautica. Also on board is a pickpocket named Trillian St. James (Famke Jansen) who has boarded the ship with the hope of finding easy marks. Back on Finnegan’s ship, the nosey engine man Joey Pantucci (Kevin J. O’Connor) discovers that the ship unbeknownst to the crew is carrying numerous Soviet torpedoes. The mercenaries on board draw their weapons and deliver a beating to Joey. Meanwhile, the Argonautica has a saboteur that kills the power to the ship’s engines and leaves it floating but open to attack. To the surprise of those onboard the Argonautica, the attack that hits the ship is from a large underwater creature that begins to kill everyone onboard. As the mercenaries approach the ship, they are surprised to see that it is damaged and seemingly abandoned. They force Finnegan and Joey aboard and begin to inspect the ship. 

Deep Rising was released in 1998 by Hollywood Pictures, and it used a mixture of amazing practical effects and not-so-amazing CGI effects. The CGI ages the film, but the film has enough energy and humor to keep people like me engaged. I often rally against the toll that CGI has taken on storytelling in film in general, but the films from the Nineties with their dated CGI still appeal to me. I suppose this makes me a hypocrite, but the heart wants what the heart wants. The film is not particularly gory (aside from one memorable sequence) for a horror film, has no sexual content, and aside from some cursing probably could be played on television with very few edits. It is meant to be an all around good time and crowd pleaser with a few jump scares, and in my opinion the film met my expectations.

One reason the film is enjoyable is that it has a great cast. Treat Williams is one of the most prominent B-movie actors of all time, and fits the lead role of Finnegan perfectly. Famke Janssen is obviously having a great time in the role of Trillian, and is also just as beautiful as she was in Goldeneye. The rest of the cast is made up of a terrific group of character actors including Wes Studi, Kevin J. O’Connor, Cliff Curtis, Jason Flemyng, Djimon Hounsou, and Anthony Heald in a nice smarmy role. That is as stacked a cast as I can recall appearing in a high budget B-movie. Director Stephen Sommers draws out appropriate performances from all involved and keeps the energy levels high for the proceedings. The film’s cinematographer Howard Atherton does a good job of capturing all of the elaborate action sequences but many of the digitally generated sequences look very dated now. The nostalgic side of me didn’t mind that. I also was pleased to hear another score from the legendary Jerry Goldsmith. 

Overall – Deep Rising is a big dumb expensive B-movie that put a big dumb smile on my face. If you are into this sort of thing, Kino Lorber’s release comes highly recommended.

Video

Kino Lorber have provided a great looking transfer of the film using an MPEG-4 AVC codec in 2.34:1 aspect ratio from a new 4K remaster from the original camera negative. The results are very good. Fine detail is very good, especially considering the entire film takes place at night time. The film’s cinematography does have a decent amount of computer tweaking at times which shows the film’s age, but fans should be incredibly happy with the new transfer.

Audio

Similar to the video transfer, Kino has provided an English DTS-HD MA 5.1 track that sounds fantastic. The surrounds are extremely active throughout the film. The score by Jerry Goldsmith gives so much to the film and sounds awesome in this lossless track.

Supplements:

• Audio Commentary by Director Stephen Sommers and Editor Bob Ducsay
• Interview with actor Wes Studi – the actor who played the mercenary Hanover discusses working on the film. Studi tells some good stories including what it was like to lay there as the special effect of the monster was applied to his legs.
• Interview with actor Kevin O’Connor – the actor who played Joey Pantucci discusses his memories from filming. He also discusses his good working relationship with Stephen Sommers and how he first met Famke while working on the film Lord of Illusions.
• Interview with actor Anthony Heald – the actor who played Simon Canton reveals how he dealt with a serious foot infection while filming and his disappointment that the film was not as successful as he had hoped at the box office.
• Interview with second unit director Dean Cundey – the legendary cinematographer discusses his experience on the film as the second unit director. My favorite interview on the disc.
• Interview with VFX John Berton (ILM)
• Interview with VFX Van Ling (Banned from the Ranch Entertainment)
• Interview with Brad Proctor (SFX/Make-Up)
• Interview with Doug Morrow (SFX/Make-Up)
• Interview with Cinematographer Howard Atherton – the cinematographer gives lots of details on how certain sequences in the film were shot and some of the difficulties of working in water.
• ILM Behind-the-Scenes Extras (Animatic Sequence/Creature/Tests/Etc.)
• Animated Image Gallery 
• Theatrical Trailer

Overall Scores:

Video: 4.5

Audio: 5

Special Features: 5

Overall – 4.5/5

Deep Rising is a satisfying blend of motifs from Under Siege, The Poseidon Adventure, Alien, and John Carpenter films with a good amount of humor thrown in. The film was a critical and commercial failure upon its release, but fans of B-movies will enjoy this $45 million dollar spectacle. I know that I had a smile on my face for the duration of the film. The film also has one of the best ensemble casts imaginable for this type of entertainment including Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Wes Studi, Kevin J. O’Connor, Cliff Curtis, Jason Flemyng, Djimon Hounsou, and Anthony Heald. The Kino Lorber Studio Classics release of the film features a new 4K remaster, an excellent surround sound track, and a ton of supplements. Fans of the film will want to upgrade from the no-frills Mill Creek release, and fans of ridiculous action films will surely enjoy this movie.