Deep Rising

Rating:
Summary: better than expected
Review: this would have been a much better movie if baddies werent so hokie,and that noisy sidekick would have bit dust sooner(like in 1st 5 min).the effects were very good,but a better explaination as to the origin of the beasts,and a clearer reason for them attacking ship would have been usefull.treat williams was his grumpy self,femke was stereotypical as the badass rebel girl.the gist of this movie was treat and his merry band of sailors lend their services out to some baddies.they are to transport baddies to a yatch that is celebrating its maiden voyage.apparently a hijack is in the midst.unbeknownst to all is that the ship has been singled out for some really old,really hungry semi extinct over grown sea urchins.much chaos ensues when hijackers find an empty ship and lots of ''red stuff''.the plot/acting is nothing to brag about but there are quite a few scares here and the ending is better than most.this fast paced,often gross thriller/horror flick wont disappoint many and may even make some hope for a sequal. ...

Rating:
Summary: Devil and the Deep Blue C+
Review: Treat Williams and Famke Jansen team up to battle a really weird sea monster in the Stephen Sommers B-movie throwback, Deep Rising. Williams is a mercenary island runner with a souped up speed boat in the south China Sea whose cargo consists of a band of (warning: Cliche!) international special forces terrorists with a secret agenda. Turns out, they are after a state of the art cruise ship loaded with hundreds of the world's richest gamblers. Yet when they arrive aboard the liner, it's deserted. Only a handful of the paasengers emerge from food lockers and closets to tell of an attack by hideous creatures that have wiped out the rest of the ships compliment. Can Treat and the others make their escape before the things get them too? Deep Rising is rather a neat idea combining Diehard with the Creature from the Black Lagoon. The setting is isolated and spooky while cramped and darkened passageways keeps the "Yikes!" meter in the red for the majority of the film. Of course the dialogue is a bit stilted and hammy and the characters the epitome of cliche, but if you like action, monsters and seeing Famke Jansen wet then this is definitely your movie. Graphic violence and very graphic death scenes may not be suitable for younger viewers and those having dinner while watching the movie.

Rating:
Summary: Not THAT bad!
Review: Deep Rising is not an under estimated film, I would feel guilty saying that...but it is not THAT bad...the scenario was common with many cheap macho horror movies, but the whole thing was entertaining, or at least watchable. The actors were not fantastic (Treat Williams is Treat Williams...) but the atmosphere was creepy...sometimes. And somepeople liked the awful Virus with Jamie Lee Curtis better than this one...listen, Virus was a cheap and boring rip-off of this film (and this film was not a miracle at all) and I enjoyed this one a lot more than Virus. The special effects were plain cheap, and the blood seemed to be of a dark pink, but I don't know why, I didn't hate this film...maybe it's because I just saw End Of Days before, but for a cheap action/horror film, this one is the best. The ending was stupid and pathetic, but the rest of the film is almost okay...it's scaring me..! The film is about the crew of a small boat who discover that something killed the whole crew of another ship, a cruise ship. But now, they are attacked by these creatures from the deep ocean. Not THAT bad, but still stupid...

Rating:
Summary: "Deep Rising" hops between genres, and does so swimmingly
Review: In 1987, a very peculiar film called "Extreme Prejudice" came out. At first, it was a simple love triangle - two men loved the same girl. Then it became a good guy/bad guy tale with one of those men being a sheriff and the other a drug kingpin. THEN, as if that weren't enough, a US special forces team doing some shadow ops shows up, and puts themselves right into the middle. "Extreme Prejudice" wasn't easily definable, but it was enjoyable. "Deep Rising" is a descendant of sorts.

The movie starts off with a band of mercenaries carrying a band of mercenaries to a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, where an inside contact is sabotaging the ship. It's modern-day piracy, and all is going to plan until....something...happens and when the mercenaries arrive, the entire ship is empty with nary a sign of any life.

That's all in the first 15 minutes.

Directed by Stephen Sommers (of "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns") fame, "Deep Rising" is a hodge-podge of different genres, but Sommers manages to pull it off with the same ingredients that made his "Mummy" franchise such a success. The writing is smart and wicked, blending together comedic and suspense elements seamlessly. The casting is pitch-perfect, with Treat Williams playing the wisecracking protagonist and Kevin O'Connor wonderful as his sidekick Pantucci. Perhaps even more appealing is the band of pirates, familiar faces all, led by Wes Studi (Last of the Mohicans), and featuring Djimon Hounsou (Amistad), Trevor Goddard (Mortal Kombat), and Jason Flemyng (Snatch) among others. These are all well-versed character actors who have covered similar territory before, and bring the necessary panache and confidence to their roles. Jerry Goldsmith gives it all the right tone, with a quirky score that fits to a tee this genre-hopping film.

"Deep Rising" is enjoyable pulp cinema, pulled off with style by Sommers & Co. For anyone looking for a great popcorn film, track down this overlooked 1998 film and hop onboard for the ride.

Rating:
Summary: Deep Rising is extremely entertaining and some what fun.
Review: Deep Rising's director, Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, Adventures of Huckle Berry Finn), seems to always have a serious/tongue-in-cheek comedy horror film put together. I recently saw the Mummy returns and wow was that corny. Deep Rising is good enough to watch over and over again but has a terrible plot, pethetic actors and some of the stupidest dialogue I have ever heard. Awesome monster effects though and cool idea. I'm very glad Stephen didn't entitle this film, "Tentacles", "Deep Rising" is more creative.

Rating:
Summary: Deep Rising
Review: Thoroughly enjoyed the movie -- loved the interaction between Treat Williams and Kevin J O'Connor [hope their names are right] their humor and friendship -- ending left me wanting a follow up movie -- loved the big MoJo -- can't count the number of times I have watched it again and again etc.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Surprise
Review: I have to say that this is a quite entertaining piece of filmmaking. When people go in to this film expecting to see a horror/sci-fi film in the caliber of Alien, then of course they will be dissapointed. After seeing many of these types of films, I can say that this is a cut above the rest. I must also digress and disagree with my fellow reviewers by saying that this is a B-grade film, but that's okay. After all, Re-Animator was a B movie and it was one of the most brilliant horror films ever made. The things that propel this film above the rest of the junk out there are great things like character development, as well as characters you actually LIKE, a sometimes very involving story, and very skillful directing. Stephen Sommers no doubt was able to use this film as a stepping point to The Mummy and The Mummy Returns. While Deep Rising borrows from many films, this can not be looked down upon of as so many films borrow from others that it is common. It just depends on how you borrow, and Sommers does it in homage instead of in a cheap way which worsens films nowadays. This is a good film that is the perfect thing to watch if you want to see great action, likable characters, an interesting story, and some pretty good CGI effects. It is much better than most of what you can find out there, so give it a chance... you'll be delighted and surprised.

Rating:
Summary: The guiltiest of all pleasures.
Review: I feel like a hypocrite, I hated both Mummy movies by Stephen Sommers, but I love this movie! It is my number one guilty pleasure. It was all around cheese, but it knows it and doesn't care, therefore giving it a lot of room to have fun, which it does. The plot is thin, the fx, are decent, and the acting is...well there, but everybody looks like there having fun, I can imagine this movie was a blast to film. The action in the movie is well paced and exciting, especially the totally unbeleivable, yet thoroughly exhilarting jet ski chase through the belly of the ship at the end of the movie. The dialogue is 100% cheese, but fits the movie perfectly, even the one liners are pure gold. I'm not a big CGI fan, but I liked the fx in the film, the half digested villain is some of the best CGI I've ever seen, even rivaling Episode 1. This movie was lambasted by critics from all over, I should have done the same, but I did not have the heart, it was just too much fun. If you liked both of the Mummy movies by Mr. Sommers, you get a real kick out of Deep Rising!

Rating:
Summary: Good Fun
Review: Some people just take movies too seriously, this movie was not meant to be a Oscar winning drama, It is a fun popcorn movie that you can laugh at and has cool special effects and dialog. I am convinced that the majority of the critics who trashed this movie have just been so jaded by all the crap they have seen they just destroy any movie that does not surprise them or shock them with something new. This movie does no try to be anything it is not and that is just a fun adventure flick. So just relax and enhoy it.

Rating:
Summary: Not a bad flick, certainly not as bad as critics say.
Review: You don't need a well-developed brain capacity to get the gist of "Deep Rising," but it's not without its perks. The plot is pure contrivance and formula, relying on throwing its characters into situation after situation with little regard for originality or intelligence. But there is suspense to be had with the movie, and this use of non-stop action keeps it moving at a pace that keeps it enjoyable on a level which requires little thought. There is a surprising amount of intensity, but what really sells me on this movie is the witty dialogue from the cast and the nicely-crafted special effects.

The movie opens with two separate stories, one involving a water transport service led by John Finnegan, who is unaware that his passengers are transporting massive firearms to their undisclosed destination. This revelation sparks a takeover of the boat by the gruff passengers, leaving Finnegan and his two crew members, Joey and Leila, at their mercy. As this is happening, the new cruise ship Argonautica is out on its maiden voyage until a mysterious person tampers with the computer mainframe of the vessel and causes the ship to lose any and all control. To complicate matters for the passengers, the ship is brought to a terrifyingly jolting halt, accompanied by spooky noises from outside the ship's hull.

The two stories converge at this point, as Finnegan's vessel arrives at its destination: the disabled cruise ship, at which point everyone but one of the bandits and Leila board the ship. Armed with machine guns and a vast array of weapons, they search the ship from top to bottom, only to discover that the passengers are nowhere in sight, save for the beautiful Trillian St. James, a seductively crafty thief whose attempts to rob the ship take a backseat to staying alive, and the ship's captain, Simon Canton, the pouty whiny jerk of the story.

At this point, things begin to get a little clearer. We learn the secret connection between Canton and the arrival of the gun-laden bandits, while also discovering that the ship has become infested with worm-like creatures with a taste for humans. They don't merely eat humans, but drink them and then rid themselves of the skeletal remain, which will turn more than a few stomachs in the audience. The story segues into a race for survival, as they struggle for a way out of the ship before they are all digested by the creatures.

The story itself is mostly juvenile, and despite its R rating, it is given a pretty basic treatment that most preteens would be able to understand. This is due to its never-ending formulaic plot twists and contrived attention-grabbers that pop up at least once every minute. Scenes which pit the surviving members of the group against the dangerous monsters always leave a way out for them, and it is because of this that we are able to predict so early on who will end up making it off the ship. There seems to be a mantra for the story that if you can't find a way out of a situation, then the most ludicrous scenario you can imagine turns up being the way out. The movie follows this mantra in almost every action sequence, and I found myself heaving an "Oh, please" through a good bit of the film.

Writer/director Stephen Sommers shows no apparent shame in borrowing from almost every disaster movie involving a creature or a ship that we've seen done before. There are elements of "The Poseidon Adventure" present in a scene that requires our heroes to swim through underwater sections of the ship to reach a safety spot. The composition of the creatures comes dangerously close to copying the "Anaconda" craze, and let's not forget to mention how they travel through the ship, which is resonant of "Alien," in which the alien made its way around through air-conditioning vents (here, our creatures use water pipes).

What comes as a surprise to me is the amount of suspense the film totes along with this formula and contrivance. All of those plots twists and attention-grabbers may be old, but they certainly have not lost their touch, and I found myself watching with increased attention and jumping in certain scenes. This movie uses a lot of fast shocks, especially ones accompanied by sudden, shrill chords of music, and these work quite well in delivering shocks and thrills. And those situations where they always find a way out? Well, they may get out, but it's not without the close calls and the heightened rush of adrenaline you get from watching scenes like this. You know they'll make it to safety, but there's always that little area in your mind which questions that fact.

What really makes the movie enjoyable is the way Sommers incorporates humor and witty dialogue into the story to balance out the thrills and shocks. This is becoming increasingly fervent in his films, and was the case with his remake of "The Mummy." In the midst of all the intensity and violence, we are still given a chance to laugh at the characters' remarks, mostly from Trillian and Joey. Trillian is played by Famke Janssen, who has such a knack for turning colorful phrases and making them completely convincing (if you don't believe me, watch 1999's "House on Haunted Hill"). And Kevin J. O'Conner plays Joey, whose subtle timidity and high-pitched voice make him a stand-out for comedy.

Treat Williams plays a good action hero as John Finnegan, and while his character may seem a little too hammy (and maybe a little too insightful as to the connection between the captain and the villians), he plays it well and looks like he's having fun with it. Anthony Heald is our whiny, two-faced antihero as captain Canton, and his segue is well-acted and convincing. The supporting cast also includes Wes Studi, Derrick O'Connor, Jason Flemyng, Cliff Curtis, Clifton Powell, Trevor Goddard, Djimon Hounsou, Una Damon, and Clint Curtis.

Despite its many flaws, "Deep Rising" can be a fun and exciting ride that is not without its suspense factor. It does prove, on a mediocre level, that formula and contrivance can sometimes be fun. Wit and humor abide very nicely within this film, which allows us to laugh while jumping in fright at just the right moments.