Un cri dans l'océan

The effects aren't bad for the late 90's and had decent acting and pretty good action.

In the South China Sea, the Argonautica, a luxury cruise ship, is enjoying its maiden voyage, with owner Simon (Anthony Heald) welcoming the rich and powerful to a major party in the middle of the ocean. Racing to the ship is John (Treat Williams), a captain-for-hire who's unsure about the pack of mercenaries he's working with, led by Hanover (Wes Studi), who are planning something nefarious for the Argonautica, unsettling crew member Joey (Kevin J. O'Connor). Approaching the ship, it becomes clear the mercenaries are intending to rob the passengers and blow up the Argonautica, putting John in a difficult position of compliance without proper weaponry. However, the mission is disrupted by the arrival of a tentacled creature from the depths of ocean, and one that feeds on humans, using its pliable body and sea-based instinct to find victims, devouring everything it can find. Joined by pickpocket Trillian (Famke Janssen), John and Joey search for a way off the ship, trying to return to their damaged boat and get away from an unstoppable creature.

1998's "Deep Rising" didn't have an easy time finding an audience during its initial theatrical release. It came out a year after "The Relic" (which delivered a similar monster-in-a-contained-area premise), a month after "Titanic" (which satiated audiences hungry to see a massive ship endure a slow destruction), and two weeks after "Hard Rain" (which also enjoyed some Jet Ski action in tight hallways). The planets didn't align for writer/director Stephen Sommers, but this noisy ode to B-movies of the past eventually found something of a following on home video and basic cable, and it's not hard to see why, with the helmer arranging plenty of mayhem, quips, and gore to delight those in the mood for something violent but cheeky. Though the true comedic value of "Deep Rising" is up for debate.

I remember owning "Deep Rising" on VHS back in the day, and I do remember it as being a fairly entertaining movie. So when I got the chance to sit down and watch it again in 2017, I did of course jump at the chance to do so.

Memory did serve me well, because "Deep Rising" really was and still is a rather entertaining movie, and one that actually still is capable of standing up to movies made even today.

The effects in the movie are surprisingly good, especially when taking into consideration that the movie is from 1998. The CGI effects were really impressive back in the day, but still stand up to many movies that are made even today. And on that account, the special effects team really pulled their weight with their work on "Deep Rising".

"Deep Rising" is a story that is quite simple to follow, but at the same time it is also a story that is entertaining and has a good amount of action and even some sense of dread and claustrophobia to it. Wríter and director Stephen Sommers did manage to put together a very entertaining movie and one that has a lot of replay value.

For a movie back from 1998 then the cast list really does have some familiar names and faces to it; Treat Williams, Famke Janssen, Anthony Heald, Kevin J. O'Connor, Jason Flemyng, Cliff Curtis and Djimon Hounsou are some of the prominent and very familiar faces that portray characters in "Deep Rising". It was without a doubt Kevin J. O'Connor in the role of Joey Pantucci who stole the spotlight in this movie.

I found the movie to be entertaining from beginning to end, and there is a great level of action and fast pace to the movie which never loses momentum.

The only real bad thing about the movie was the ending, which was just about as anti-climatic as it could possibly be, not to mention also incredibly ludicrous and stupid.

All in all, "Deep Rising" is a great movie if you enjoy creature features and things with tentacles. My rating of "Deep Rising" is a solid 6 out of 10 stars.

This is one fun, intense monster movie. They blew it with the title (what the hell does Deep Rising actually mean? - Things From the Deep would have at least meant what it was), but the execution was admirable. This came out the same time as "Phantoms," which depicted a lot of people disappearing on land; in this one, a lot of 'em disappear at sea, on The Argonautica, the latest fancy cruise ship. As in Phantoms, the monster is tough to kill and human beings are easy prey. Like Phantoms, this was ignored at the box office, unlike the director's later hits, "The Mummy" movies. But it has the same level of entertainment. The band of mercs, along with a few other reluctant tag-alongs, make for a darkly funny ensemble as they make their way through the new ship of horrors. O'Connor provides a lot of the humor with wry line delivery, but lead actor Williams is also amusing. As the corrupt ship owner, Heald also steals a scene or two, and turns out to be the only one knowledgeable (for some odd reason) on these monsters infesting the ship. The creature or creatures really are horrible to see in their work - there's some gross mass death scene stuff going on, at odds with the humor; it's almost as if the characters need that humor to keep from going crazy, though some of them do anyway. Janssen, as the main femme fatale among the macho men, does some of her best work here. There's a good, chilling atmosphere in the constant rain and the dark, in the middle of the ocean somewhere. There are no real slow spots and many viewers will probably want to check this out again someday soon. You can do much worse than kick back with this pic on a dark night.

Deep Rising is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's one of those films I rented on a whim and and simply fell in love with.

Is it a great film? No.

Does it have a great script? Not really, and it's downright silly in parts.

Does it have great acting? Eh, there's been better...

But the effects are good, the characters are likable, the creature is neat, and somehow it all comes comes together to make an enjoyable B schlock horror/comedy that, in my case anyway, leaves me with a big smile on my face.

Oh and as an added bonus, Famke Janssen is simply lovely in this film. Rent it on a rainy day and you won't be disappointed.