Leviathan

Ah, yes, underwater sci-fi (and horror). From 'The abyss,' to 'SeaQuest,' to 2020's 'Underwater,' and everything in between, the niche genre has been a darling of enterprising filmmakers and studio executives. Reliably solid production design and art direction, robust effects and enticing designs for any associated creatures or entities, large casts, swell scores from well-known composers - 1989's 'Leviathan' fits the bill neatly. It really does look and sound great, and one notes what seems to me to be a fairly large budget to capitalize on what was at the time quite a trend in film. I'm not saying it's the most wholly engaging and essential of pictures, but this is a pretty good time all the same.

To repeat myself a bit, the contributions of all those behind the scenes are terrific. Costume design, hair and makeup work, effects practical and digital, props and weapons, set design and decoration, lighting, and all other such elements are superb; the facilities of the mining operation are a feast for the eyes. Direction, cinematography, editing, and the fundamentals of film-making are tight, with fine production values. There are recognizable names and faces among the ensemble, and I think everyone on hand gives swell performances.

More substantively, I think the screenplay is pretty capable in general. Characters and dialogue sometimes leave a bit to be desired, but the narrative is pretty strong, even if it's familiar in broad strokes. The scene writing is the best part of David Peoples and Jeb Stuart's contribution, with light humor in the suitable exposition that quickly gives way to growing mystery and mounting horror. And that's really the key: one could assess every little aspect day in and day out, but at the end of the day the real question is how effectively the sci-fi horror is realized - and in my opinion it's splendidly strong in 'Leviathan.' Yes, one can immediately discern clear inspiration from very famous previous titles, in multiple instances to the point of pure mimicry. That's a sure mark against this, but taken in and of itself the marine monster movie is stimulating and satisfying. The picture is filled with tinges of body horror, flashes of action-horror, and an abundance of creature feature fun. All the blood and gore, prosthetics, and fabricated creature effects are outstanding; for the strength of these alone I'd say 'Leviathan' is worth watching.

What it all comes down to for me is that by and large I think this is perfectly entertaining, with fantastic exploration of what sci-fi horror could be in the underwater setting. While it's imperfect in the first place, the biggest limiting factor is simply how how the picture undeniably borrows. If you've seen John Carpenter's 'The thing,' and if you've seen Ridley Scott's 'Alien,' then there's no small amount of George P. Cosmatos' 'Leviathan' that's going to feel recycled. It looks, sounds, and feels good, but the comparisons are so significant that they distinctly distract and detract from the viewing experience. I suppose on that note that the good news is, if you're approaching this with virginal eyes, it's going to be better still. For whatever issues it may bear, though, this is still a flick that's a sturdy recommendation for fans of the cast, and for the genre overall. So long as you don't mind abject parroting, 'Leviathan' is satisfyingly enjoyable, and not a bad way to spend 100 minutes.

I'd been wanting to see "Leviathan" since I had somehow, out of nowhere, heard of it. Negative reviews (from IMDb, FYI) dulled my interests, but finally, I figured what the hell, and as it turned out, this isn't a bad movie.

A deep-sea mining crew, counting down to its last few days (well, first, of their project, and later, of their lives--ouch, that was pretty promo-like, huh?) and, seemingly out of nowhere, one of the crew members becomes infected with an odd sort of skin disease, which may lead back to a small, spider-like sea creature brought on board. In any event, things don't look good, and this disease is apparently something more. Something very deadly. This may also explain the sunken Russian ship they find, with the mysterious captain's log and, well...one thing leads to another, and "Alien"-style fun ensues as members of the small crew are infected or killed (or, in one rather unique case, kill themselves), leading up to a somewhat flat climax, where the film falters.

Indeed, we'll start with that. "Leviathan" has a good amount of build-up. Bores the hell out of some people, but it really isn't boring. (And doesn't take THAT long for the screaming to start, so to speak.) We get to know the characters, and what is going on here, and what is causing this whole fiasco. I, for one, liked that, and liked the way the characters are developed. Peter Weller as the pacifist head honcho, Beck. Richard Crenna as the doctor, Dr. Thompson. Amanda Pays as the requisite tough-but-likably-innocent miner, Willie. Daniel Stern as the slimy Sixpack, and so forth and so on. All in all, a great group of characters. (Loved Ernie Hudson's Jones.) And you don't really want to see them all die. So, when it all goes down, the movie manages to envoke some sympathy for them all.

But once it's time to get into action mode (running around steam-filled corridors, toting a flame-thrower, screaming and hollering and all that fun stuff) the movie doesn't deliver. Sure, the final trio of survivors gets to do their fair share of it, and they do it well. But then it just seems like the ending came too quickly, and there was still more to be milked. Let's look at "Alien" again. (I think it's a prerequisite that anyone who reviews this movie mention that one, too.) In the end, after everyone but Ripley is killed, we get a pretty harrowing thrill ride through the soon-to-be-detonating ship. Sure, it goes to the extent of Ripley going back to get the cat, but it's SCARY! And you're on the edge of your seat the whole time. Here...well, no cat, but the the mining ship was going to implode, due to lack of oxygen. So, what happened to all that drama and suspense? I felt a little cheated. Would have loved to have knocked off the others and left Willie running around doing all that fun stuff, trying to escape before she ran out of air. Instead...well, you get the point.

Since we're talking about characters a little, let's move on to the acting. For the most part, the cast gives a good show. Peter Weller is leading man material, and he pulled it off well. Richard Crenna never gives a downright bad performance, and I liked him here. Loved Amanda Pays's British accent, and she gave a good performance. Would have liked her a little bit more gun-ho, though, she seemed to need some saving a little too much. Daniel Stern has a surprisingly smaller role, considering his billing, but he does well with what he has to do. Ernie Hudson is a dependable actor, and you can always trust him to give a great performance. Here, he does it again. I really liked his character, he was probably the one I liked the most of them all. Another great actor is Hector Elizondo, and here he gives another very Hector Elizondo performance, and he does a great job. Lisa Eilbacher also gave a great performance, and I really liked her. Michael Carmine may have seemed a bit like the "we'll think of a character later" Hispanic, but I thought he did quite well, too. Last but not least, Meg Foster, who actually only appears on a television communicating with Beck (she sent them all down there) and a little bit in the end, but, well...she's got the most amazing eyes I've ever seen, and that's the most I could say for her.

The special effects are excellent, and with all this CGI crap we have today, its great to see these "genuine" effects, and they look great.

Overall, the movie isn't bad. It sustains a good amount of suspense in parts, and George P. Cosmatos can handle a swift action scene quite well. Check out "Cassandra Crossing" (the only other Cosmatos movie I've seen--I'll be sure to check out more), it's very Italian but it's a pretty good 70s disaster flick of his. The Jerry Goldsmith score is good, too. Not "The Omen" good, but he never fails to give a pretty rousing score.

So, in the end, "Leviathan" ain't bad. Try the much frowned-upon "Sphere" (I liked it) or "The Abyss" for similiar fun. Enjoy.

This movie is always going to be compared to Deep Star Six and The Abyss, because all three films came out at the same time. It is an underwater "Alien" movie, but it doesn't rip off The Abyss, which came out third of the three and none of them did any real business.

Anyway, this movie was one of those films that is engrossing in the theater and transfers very poorly to television and video. I would venture a guess that a wide-screen DVD version may be able to pick-up most of the considerable detail that was placed into this film. The acting is not awful and the story is well-paced, which is a step ahead of the other two 1989 underwater movies. This isn't Shakespere folks, so don't expect it. A little more polish to the script would have helped this movie greatly, but it is a fairly B horror flick so it was expected.

The cast is Weller, Hudson, Crenna, and Pays doing their things. They don't exactly phone it in, but they aren't expected to deliver that many lines convincingly anyway. Whatever happened to Amanada Pays? After seeing this I thought she had a chance to break through, but instead she disappeared.

The setting and special effects are the keys to this one, though. Visually, it is as tough as they come. Like I wrote before, stick to the DVD version, because I already know the VHS version stinks because it is so cloudy and out of focus. Watch the DVD and I can almost guarantee that you will find this movie to be better than you have been lead to believe by others.

In the Atlantic Ocean, 16,000 feet deep, the Tri Oceanic Mining Corporation keeps a eight-men crew with the mission of extracting silver and other precious metals. The geologist and leader Steven Beck (Peter Weller) works with Dr. Glen 'Doc' Thompson (Richard Crenna) managing the miners astronaut wannabe Elizabeth 'Willie' Williams (Amanda Pays), the prankster Buzz 'Sixpack' Parrish (Daniel Stern), Justin Jones (Ernie Hudson), Tony 'DeJesus' Rodero (Michael Carmine), Bridget Bowman (Lisa Eilbacher) and G. P. Cobb (Hector Elizondo). He is also the liaison with the Tri Oceanic executive Ms. Martin (Meg Foster).

In their next to last day, Willie and Sixpack are assigned to work outside the base and Sixpack falls in a hole. Willie seeks him out and finds a Russian vessel named Leviathan. Sixpack finds a safe inside the vessel and brings it to their base. They find money, vodka, a videotape and documents and Beck keeps the content of the safe. However Sixpack steals a bottle of vodka and drinks with Bowman. Meanwhile Beck and Doc watch the videotape and the Russian Captain explains a problem that killed his crew. On the next morning, Sixpack does not feel well and stays in the sickbay. Soon Doc learns that his patient has a genetic mutation. When Bowman shows the same symptoms, Beck asks Ms. Martin to rescue them. But there is a hurricane on the surface and the rescuing mission is not possible.

"Leviathan" is an Alien rip-off underwater, but it is nostalgic to see this movie in the present days to admire the excellent cast in the late 80's. The lovely Amanda Pays shines with her beauty and is always good to see the eyes of Meg Foster. Peter "Robocop" Weller, Richard Creena and Hector Elizondo, all of them in good shape, is another attraction. Another good point is the special effect with the monsters, usual in the 80's and 90's and different from the exaggeration of the CGI in the present days. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Leviathan"

Note: On 11 July 2023, I saw this film again.

Leviathan is one of those films that has "rip-off" written all over it.

Alot of it you've seen before in better films. The most obvious comparisons being Alien ( several isolated crew members, the dubious doctor, the suits etc.) and of course The Thing (a gooey monster spawned from human beings, it getting to the blood supply). I've viewed this one a few times and although it is an inferior movie it does have some pretty neat special effects, a recognizable cast and a decent music score by Jerry Goldsmith.

Not a total wet squib - it certainly has its moments. I'd give it 7/10.