Synopsis
An ocean floor lab is attacked by intelligent sharks. Subsequently, sleazy oceanographer con-artist Lorenzo Lamas and partner-in-crime Simmone Jade MacKinnon (she of the extremelyshaky American accent) are forcefully recruited by the man Lamas blames for the death of hisfather. They are forced to take Lamas’ private sub down to the lab. Everything goes wrong, andin the wake of another shark attack, the survivors are picked up by a US sub commanded by alunatic. The sub is the headqu…rters of the research that turned the sharks into weapons, and ourheroes must escape both the marines and the sharks.
“The jellyfish… they’re spooked.” As I write this, we are only a few months into 2004, but Ithink we already have a serious contender for most ridiculous line of the year. This pricelessmoment is contained in a script that has more than its share of absurdities (in fact, it has the shareof three other movies). Despite (or perhaps because of) all this, and despite the fact that thesharks themselves play a disappointingly small part in the action, this energetic B pic is lots offun. The action is non-stop, the attitude is somehow paranoid and nonchalant at the same time,and MacKinnon kicks butt with tremendous exuberance. And if, unlikely as this seems, there arefans of Deep Shock out there, there’s a reference to its principle submarine (the USSJimmy Carter, hyuk) included here.
Audio
Music and sound effects are given a massive rear speaker presence on this 2.0 track. Thoughthe environmental sensations are thus very strong, there is too much thrown into the surround, atthe expense of the front speakers. At times, the surround effects are entirely appropriate, assounds that should be audible only from the front come from the rear too. As well, the overallvolume of the soundtrack could do with a boost. The dialogue is crisp and clear, and isn’tdrowned out by all the mayhem.
Video
The picture is very soft, and the fullscreen aspect isn’t much of a help, either. The colours areokay, if a bit murky, and the grain level is variable, becoming quite bad when the screen isdominated by red. Edge enhancement isn’t a problem, but the picture is so soft, the halos wouldhave been difficult to spot.
Special Features
The menu is scored, and the trailer is the only extra.
Closing Thoughts
I’m becoming quite fond of Philip Roth’s Monsters, Military and Corridors movies. Theymay not be high art, but they’re move fast and are filled with ambitious SFX.
Special Features List
- Trailer
