Deep Rising

Starring: Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Anthony Heald, Kevin J. O'Connor, Cliff Curtis, Djimon Hounsou, Trevor Goddard
Directed by: Stephen Sommers
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Horror, Science Fiction
1998

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A group of mercenaries arrives to loot a gigantic passenger ship in the middle of the ocean. When they arrive, however, they find that all the passengers are mysteriously gone. They soon realize they have been killed by a terrifying sea monster- and they may be next.

Review:

Tim: I remember reading somewhere that Harrison Ford was considering playing the lead role of Finnegan, and when he dropped out, the budget was considerably downsized. That is exactly what this movie feels like to me- an interesting idea that suffers from too small a budget, hastily thrown together at the last minute. I think there might have been some potential with the script, but Stephen Sommers gives us a halfbaked, weak, amateurish film. It is hard to take anything in this movie seriously, because it is so over-the-top and ridiculous.

This movie suffers from horrendous dialogue. While there are a few good moments, most of the film will make you roll your eyes or possibly consider stabbing something in your ears to make the sounds stop. Most of the dialogue feels like it was written by a high school student. The movie is also so unbelievable, so bad, that it gives the impression that no one was really trying on this film. It feels like someone started the project with a lot of excitement and passion, which quickly vanished, and then they just continued on halfheartedly, intent only on finishing the movie as quickly and cheaply as possible.

Treat Williams is no Harrison Ford, and he makes a cheap, poor man's action hero. I didn't like him in the role, is performance is oftentimes pathetic, and he makes one of the most boring and bland action heroes in recent years. Famke Janssen is fairly decent in the role, but every time she opens her mouth and has to spew out Sommers' dialogue, she seems less and less strong. Kevin J. O'Connor is most just pathetically annoying, but he did have a few humorous lines ("But you don't even know me!"). I liked seeing a few semi-recognizable actors in supporting roles (like Djimon Hounsou), but mostly their presence here is wasted.

One of the film's major flaws is that this movie is truly without a "good guy." Every person in the film is unlikeable for one reason or another, so we really have no rooting interest in anyone. I didn't care who lived, who died, or what happened to any of these characters. That is a huge problem. It also doesn't help that these characters are all so one-dimensional that it is nearly impossible to see them as "real" human beings. Luckily, there are a few humorous one-liners throughout the movie that momentarily help us forget how bad the film is that we're watching.

Deep Rising does have a few tense moments and few interesting action sequences. With a bigger budget, the special effects wouldn't have been so bad and Sommers might have hired someone to improve on his script. However, as is, the movie is mostly a gigantic failure, a seeming lack of effort or care on anyone involved. This movie is a massive bomb- and that is saying something, because I generally love these kinds of guilty pleasure movies. Sadly, there is little to no pleasure to be had here.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 4



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Anaconda, Alien, Poseidon, Deep Blue Sea, The Mummy